Senior Manager – External Audit, Statutory Compliance

Job Purpose The Senior Manager – External Audit, Statutory Compliance & Reporting is responsible for leading statutory financial reporting, external audit coordination, and regulatory compliance activities across a complex portfolio of multiple countries, legal entities, and business accounts. The role ensures statutory financial statements and regulatory requirements are completed accurately and on time, while maintaining strong financial controls and audit readiness. It serves as a key point of contact for external auditors and works closely with Finance, Controllership, Tax, Legal, Compliance, and other stakeholders to resolve complex accounting and reporting matters. The Senior Manager will also drive standardization, process improvement, and stronger governance across statutory reporting and external audit activities.

Key Responsibilities
Statutory Reporting & Compliance
• Manage statutory accounting, reporting, and compliance requirements across multiple legal entities, countries, and business accounts.
• Oversee the preparation and review of statutory financial statements and required regulatory reporting.
• Ensure compliance with applicable IFRS, local GAAP, statutory requirements, and accounting policies.
• Monitor statutory filing requirements and reporting deadlines across assigned jurisdictions.
• Review complex accounting and reporting matters and coordinate appropriate resolution with relevant stakeholders.
• Maintain appropriate documentation, reconciliations, supporting schedules, and financial records to support statutory reporting and audit requirements. External Audit Management
• Lead the end-to-end external audit process for assigned countries and legal entities.
• Coordinate audit planning, requests, deliverables, financial statements, supporting documentation, and issue resolution.
• Serve as a primary Finance contact for external auditors and internal stakeholders throughout the audit cycle.
• Manage multiple concurrent audits and competing statutory deadlines across jurisdictions.
• Track audit findings and coordinate remediation of identified accounting, control, or reporting issues.
• Identify recurring audit issues and implement sustainable corrective actions to improve future audit readiness. Multi-Country & Multi-Entity Governance
• Manage a portfolio covering multiple legal entities, jurisdictions, and/or business accounts.
• Establish effective governance and tracking mechanisms for statutory reporting and external audit deliverables.
• Work closely with local, regional, and global Finance stakeholders to address country-specific accounting and regulatory requirements.
• Identify emerging risks, overdue requirements, and significant issues and escalate them appropriately.
• Promote consistent application of accounting, reporting, and control standards across the portfolio. Financial Controls & Risk Management
• Support a strong internal control environment for financial reporting and statutory compliance.
• Review financial reporting processes to identify control gaps, compliance risks, and areas requiring remediation.
• Work with Internal Audit, Risk, Tax, Compliance, Legal, and other functions on financial reporting and regulatory matters.
• Ensure appropriate controls and supporting documentation are maintained for audit and statutory purposes.
• Drive timely resolution of audit findings and control deficiencies. Process Improvement & Transformation
• Identify opportunities to standardize, simplify, and automate statutory reporting and external audit processes.
• Drive improvements in financial reporting quality, audit readiness, controls, and operational efficiency.
• Support finance transformation, system implementation, and process migration initiatives relevant to statutory reporting.
• Develop standardized reporting templates, operating procedures, controls, and governance practices across countries and entities.
• Use performance indicators and reporting to monitor compliance, audit progress, risk, and delivery. Team Leadership & Stakeholder Management
• Lead and develop a team of accounting, reporting, and/or audit professionals.
• Provide technical guidance and coaching on complex statutory reporting and external audit matters.
• Manage workload and priorities across multiple countries, entities, and deadlines.
• Build strong relationships with Finance leadership, Controllers, external auditors, and other key stakeholders.
• Communicate significant accounting, audit, reporting, and compliance issues clearly to senior stakeholders.
• Promote a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, collaboration, and strong financial governance. Qualifications & Experience Required Qualifications
• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related discipline.
• Professional accounting qualification such as CPA, CA, ACCA, ACA, or equivalent is strongly preferred.
• Typically 10+ years of progressive experience in external audit, accounting, statutory reporting, controllership, or a related Finance function.
• Demonstrated experience at Senior Manager level or equivalent leadership scope, including management of teams and complex finance deliverables.
• Strong experience managing external audits and statutory financial reporting across multiple legal entities.
• Demonstrated experience handling a portfolio spanning multiple countries, jurisdictions, business units, and/or accounts simultaneously.
• Strong working knowledge of IFRS and/or relevant local GAAP, statutory accounting, external audit requirements, and financial controls.
• Experience coordinating with international or major external audit firms, with Big Four experience or exposure considered advantageous.
• Proven track record of managing multiple audit and statutory reporting deadlines in a complex, high-volume environment.
• Strong experience in stakeholder management, including interactions with senior Finance leaders, Controllers, auditors, Tax, Legal, and Compliance teams.
• Demonstrated people-management experience, including coaching and developing managers and/or experienced finance professionals.