Associate Director, Financial Controls & Compliance

Job Description Summary

#LI-Hybrid

This position will be located at the East Hanover, NJ site and will not have the ability to be located remotely.

The Associate Director, Financial Controls & Compliance (FC&C) will plan, execute, and deliver high quality compliance, controls testing, and risk advisory that meet Novartis Financial Controls Manual (NFCM) methodology standards, strategies and directives and SOX 404 requirements. This position will also lead FC&C team members in activities including assessment of business/information technology risks and evaluation of related internal controls.

 

Job Description

Key Responsibilities:

• Effectively lead Financial Compliance team, taking responsibility for the team members, including delivering on-boarding and coaching to new team members, providing technical support and feedback. Rate potential and capacity of team members and provide feedback to FC&C management.

• Master key company policies that FC&C provides assurance on, including their implementing guidelines and procedures. This includes a comprehensive understanding of NFCM and SOX 404 requirements to ensure compliance with those requirements and US specific needs.

• Apply effective project management to various assignments to deliver work which meets quality standards, deadlines and the expectations of stakeholders.

• Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of financial statement risks and business risks, along with the ability to evaluate their implications for the control environment.

• Independently test effectiveness of NFCM controls. In coordination with the control owner, ensure a timely reporting of control deficiencies to regional /global team members and agree on any necessary remediation actions.

• Perform control deficiency impact evaluations. Identify root causes of control issues, evaluate actual impact and potential impact, evaluate mitigating controls, investigate, analyze and advise on resolution and remediation actions with responsible management. Prepare impact assessment memos evaluating exposure, control impacts, etc. and aggregation assessments as appropriate.

• Assess and conclude on control impacts for new projects implementations performed by the business (e.g. system upgrades, implementation of automated controls, interfaces, bots, and other business/finance transformation projects). Prepare related documentation for conclusions on control impacts. Demonstrate thorough understanding of IT control testing including identifying IT controls (automated controls, key reports, etc.) and understanding of SOC 1 requirements to perform these assessments.

• Identify potential risks and opportunities for simplification, operational improvements, and/or efficiencies and lead implementation of solutions. Perform special projects and lead initiatives to improve the technical and operational effectiveness and of the FC&C team.

• Establish and maintain key-contact relationships with local management and/or functional area(s) of responsibility to support the Regional FC&C head in assessing risks across the region and developing overall effective compliance strategy for US units.

• Build effective business partnering and advisory relationships with external auditors as well as Group stakeholders (Global Process Owners, Global FC&C, Internal Audit, etc.). Support with preparation of key deliverables for leadership.

• Effectively manage competing priorities, demonstrate effective time and workload management, problem-solving skills, agility and adaptability, strong communication skills. Ability to recalibrate priorities to align with strategic priorities and risk areas.

• Identify opportunities to implement use of digital tools, leveraging data analytics and AI to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of processes. Demonstrate agility in adapting to new technologies and approaches driving innovation within the team.

Essential Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree, preferably in Business, Finance, Accounting or related; Master’s degree and/or CA/CPA/CIA certification a plus

• 6+ years of accounting, compliance, audit experience required, with 4+ years of Financial Controls & Compliance (SOX testing) experience

• Strong interpersonal and communication skills to influence / motivate others under different geographies / cultural and hierarchy setting

Desirable Requirements:

• Multi-national, multi-dimensional and/or pharmaceutical industry/manufacturing experience

• Global exposure or experience collaborating across regions is a plus.