Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Finance Process and Systems Development Manager

🎯 Role Definition

The Finance Process and Systems Development Manager leads end-to-end finance process design, ERP and finance systems development, and continuous improvement initiatives. This role partners with Finance, IT, and business stakeholders to translate strategic objectives into scalable finance process redesigns, technical requirements, and automated solutions that improve accuracy, reduce cycle times (close-to-cash, procure-to-pay, order-to-cash), and maintain strong compliance and control environments. The role requires deep knowledge of finance operations (AP, AR, GL, Fixed Assets, Revenue Accounting), ERP configuration, project management, and change management.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Senior Financial Analyst with process improvement or systems experience
Financial Systems Analyst / ERP Analyst
Finance Transformation Analyst or Senior Accountant with ERP project exposure

Advancement To:

Senior Manager, Finance Transformation or Head of Finance Systems
Director of Finance Operations & Systems
VP Finance Transformation / Chief Accounting Officer (for large organizations)

Lateral Moves:

ERP Program Manager
Finance Process Excellence Lead
Business Systems Product Owner (Finance)

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead the end-to-end requirements definition, design, configuration, testing and deployment of finance system enhancements and ERP modules (e.g., GL, AP, AR, Fixed Assets, Revenue, Intercompany), ensuring solutions align with finance strategy, compliance (SOX) and industry best practices.
Own the roadmap for finance process and systems development, prioritizing projects based on business value, risk mitigation, cost savings, compliance requirements and stakeholder impact.
Partner with Finance leaders, IT, tax, treasury and business units to identify and quantify process improvement opportunities and define business cases for automation, ERP upgrades, consolidations and integrations.
Drive finance systems architecture and integration strategy, specifying APIs, middleware, data flows and reconciliation points between ERP, FDM, EPM, procurement systems, banks and third-party vendors.
Design and implement automation solutions including RPA, workflow engines, and low-code/no-code tools to streamline high-volume transactional processes such as invoice processing, payment runs, bank reconciliations and month-end close activities.
Lead complex system configuration and master data governance initiatives (chart of accounts design, cost center hierarchy, vendor/customer master cleanup) to improve data quality, reporting reliability and consolidation accuracy.
Develop, maintain and enforce finance process documentation, standard operating procedures (SOPs), control matrices and process maps to ensure consistency, segregation of duties and SOX compliance.
Manage cross-functional project teams and external consultants through full project lifecycle (initiation, planning, execution, testing, deployment, hypercare), using structured project management methodologies (Waterfall, Agile/Scrum).
Own user acceptance testing (UAT) planning and execution, coordinate test scripts, manage defects and ensure business sign-off prior to production release.
Define and track KPIs and SLAs related to finance process performance (days payable outstanding, days sales outstanding, close cycle time, invoice exception rates), and report improvements to senior stakeholders.
Serve as the primary liaison between finance stakeholders and IT/product teams to translate finance requirements into technical specifications, ensuring solutions meet business needs and maintain auditability.
Implement continuous monitoring controls and post-deployment reconciliations to detect anomalies and remediate data mismatches between source systems and ERP.
Lead change management, employee training programs and communications to drive adoption of new finance systems, processes and self-service reporting tools.
Develop detailed cost-benefit analyses and total cost of ownership (TCO) for proposed system changes, upgrades, or new tool acquisitions, advising leadership on investment priorities.
Oversee vendor selection, contract negotiation and management for third-party finance applications, payment providers, and implementation partners.
Drive consolidation and harmonization projects for multi-entity environments to streamline close processes and standardize chart of accounts and accounting policies.
Implement security and access control frameworks for finance systems, ensuring least-privilege principles and periodic user access reviews to meet compliance requirements.
Provide subject matter expertise for audits, internal control testing, and continuous improvement initiatives, responding to auditor requests and remediating findings promptly.
Lead data migration strategies and execution for system implementations, ensuring clean legacy data conversion, reconciliation, and archival approaches.
Coach and mentor a team of finance process analysts, system analysts and business process owners, building capabilities in finance technology, process design and analytics.
Evaluate and implement reporting and analytics solutions (Power BI, Tableau, native ERP reporting) to provide finance teams and leadership with actionable, real-time insights.
Coordinate and prioritize incident, problem and change management for finance systems with Service Desk and IT operations to minimize business disruption.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
Provide quarterly process health reviews and continuous improvement recommendations tied to strategic finance objectives.
Assist in budgeting and forecasting process system improvements to support rolling forecasts and driver-based planning.
Support robotic process automation (RPA) governance and cadence for bot monitoring, exception handling and ongoing bot improvement.
Serve as an escalation point for complex finance system incidents impacting month-end close or revenue recognition.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Deep experience with ERP systems (SAP S/4HANA, Oracle Cloud ERP, NetSuite) including configuration for finance modules (GL, AP, AR, Fixed Assets, Revenue).
Strong understanding of finance process flows: Record-to-Report (R2R), Procure-to-Pay (P2P), Order-to-Cash (O2C), Intercompany and Revenue Recognition (ASC 606 / IFRS 15).
Proven capabilities in finance systems implementation lifecycle: requirements gathering, design, build, test, migrate, deploy and hypercare.
Proficiency with automation technologies: RPA (UiPath, Automation Anywhere, Blue Prism), workflow platforms and scripting (Python, SQL) for data transformation and reconciliation.
Experience with integration technologies (APIs, middleware like Dell Boomi, Mulesoft, Informatica) and real-time data synchronization strategies.
Strong data modeling, ETL and data governance skills; familiarity with master data management and data quality frameworks.
Knowledge of financial controls, SOX compliance, control design and testing, and audit response processes.
Reporting and analytics expertise: Power BI, Tableau, Oracle Analytics, or native ERP reporting tools, including experience building dashboards and KPIs.
Project management skills with certifications preferred (PMP, Prince2, Agile Scrum Master) and experience managing cross-functional and vendor-led teams.
Competence in vendor management, RFPs, contract negotiation and third-party implementation oversight.
Hands-on experience in data migration tools, reconciliation techniques, and cutover planning for system implementations.
Familiarity with cloud-based finance solutions, SaaS models, security best practices and access control frameworks.

Soft Skills

Strong stakeholder management and cross-functional collaboration skills; ability to influence senior leaders and IT partners.
Excellent written and verbal communication; able to translate technical details into business-focused benefits.
Analytical thinker with structured problem-solving skills and attention to detail to identify root causes and sustainable fixes.
Change leadership and training aptitude to drive user adoption and sustained process improvements.
Prioritization and time management skills in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment (month-end, quarter-end pressures).
Coaching and team leadership abilities to develop technical and process capabilities within the finance organization.
Resilience and adaptability to manage ambiguity, competing priorities and large-scale transformation programs.
Customer-focused mindset with a bias for delivering measurable operational improvements and exceptional service.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Information Systems, Business Administration, Computer Science, or related field.

Preferred Education:

Master's degree (MBA, M.S. in Finance, Accounting or Information Systems) or relevant graduate certification.
Professional certifications such as CPA, ACCA, CFA, or Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) are a plus.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Finance
Accounting
Information Systems / Management Information Systems (MIS)
Business Administration
Computer Science / Software Engineering

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 7–12+ years of progressive experience in finance operations, ERP implementations, finance process improvement, or finance systems roles.

Preferred:

8+ years of combined experience in finance process design and systems implementation.
Demonstrated track record leading ERP projects or finance transformation programs across multi-entity, global environments.
Prior experience with SOX compliance and external/internal audit interactions.