Barden have asked to act on behalf of a global technology company to lead the appointment of their Head of Technology Programme Management to oversee global technology enablement and automation projects supporting a significant change in their financial reporting brought about as a result of their public listing relocating from the UK to the US.
"This person will take on a key leadership role in one of the biggest financial transformation projects any company is undertaking globally in 2025.
It's a unique seat that will have significant impact."
Global CIO This ambitious global finance transformation programme, focused on Internal Control over Financial Reporting (ICFR), will span over 3 years involve a team of circa 100+ people spread across four, interdependent pillars, including: IT Controls including ERP elements Business/ Internal Controls including SOX, US GAAP, ERP Technology Enablement and Automation Transformation Governance, Risk and Compliance The transformation programme goes across all facets of the business including data, systems, people, organisation design and global process owners.
This role will lead Pillar 3 above and a have ultimate responsibility for the delivery of technology enablement and automation projects to support the other 3 Pillars.
Ultimately leading a global team of circa 25-30 Snr Project Managers and Project Managers this individual will be a part of a 5 person leadership team, report into executive level, and own all technology and related projects from vendor selection to implementation to adaptation.
This is a hugely strategic role that will also have hands on responsibility for some significant, critical, projects.
ABOUT THE ROLE Lead the delivery of a significant portion of the short-term transformation and long-term transformation included in the ICFR project plan, focused on technology enablement and automation of the ICFR annual cycle as well as both business and IT controls at the group and within the divisions.
This includes IT general controls across the full spectrum of IT domains and IT automated controls.
Technology enablement and automation may include but is not limited to; the generating of information used in controls, balance sheet reconciliations, substantive analytical reviews, risk assessments, continuous controls monitoring, segregation of duties monitoring, automation of business and/or IT controls, GRC tool enablement, controls testing, and processes within the ICFR annual reporting cycle.
Manage the internal and external support, to deliver a significant portion of the ICFR project plan, focused on technology enablement and automation, according to the planned costs and timetable.
Prepare status reporting for the ICFR Lead to the finance transformation Steering Committee, which includes the Group CFO, COO and CIO.
Propose revisions for the ICFR project plan on a periodic basis to the ICFR Lead, reflecting recommended changes to scope, timetable, resources and dependencies.
Provide strategic insight and recommendations on a continual basis regarding the Group's ICFR vision, incorporated into the ICFR project plan, and propose where new tools, methods, processes or other innovations can be incorporated and then subsequently delivered.
Work in partnership with the team headed by the Director of Internal Controls who leads the existing ICFR processes, in particular management's testing activities.
Interact with the Group's external auditors on relevant portions of the ICFR project plan, in particular to incorporate their feedback and findings into it, to ensure delivered projects are consistent with the requirements of PCAOB Auditing Standards.
Support the ICFR Lead to draft periodic reporting to the Audit Committee on the status of the ICFR project plan, in particular regarding the remediation of deficiencies for SOX 404 (a) and (b) purposes, delivered through tech enabled and automated solutions.
Collaborate with the teams of other key internal stakeholders who have ownership in some or all of the ICFR project plan, to deliver the necessary transformation and address concerns they may have.
This is likely to include teams reporting to Divisional CFOs and Divisional CIOs, and other senior members of the Group Functions such as Tax and Treasury.
Collaborate with technology teams to identify, communicate requirement and implement automated and technology enabled solutions across the group.
Identify opportunities to improve the ICFR annual cycle and assess the potential impact and cost of solutions to provide informed strategic advice on the direction of the companies efforts within technology enablement.
ABOUT THE PERSON Experienced Technology/IT Programme/Project leader with circa 15 years of experience Strong experience of delivering technology transformation within finance in a global organisation.
Experience in a SOX Controls environment a distinct advantage.
Strong project management and organisation skills, in order to be able to manage the delivery of multiple workstreams to short-term and long-term deadlines.
Strong management skills, for directing the day-to-day activities of the internal and external support.
Excellent communication skills, to be able to clearly articulate the status of work and the risks that may cause timetable or cost challenges.
Strong technology deployment and maintenance skills are essential, preferably including GRC tool deployment and maintenance.
Able to operate in a fast-paced environment in a management role that is empowered to deliver change.
Curious?
You should be.
Hit apply or contact Ed Heffernan (******) and Ed and his team will take things from there.
Simple.