Recruiting Manager RH — Accounting Operations

🎯 Role Definition

The Recruiting Manager RH — Accounting Operations is responsible for owning full lifecycle recruiting for accounting and finance operations roles, partnering closely with hiring managers in Finance and Accounting, HR Business Partners, and HR Operations to drive hiring strategy, candidate experience, and measurable recruiting outcomes. This role combines hands-on recruiting, process design, people leadership, and cross-functional stakeholder management to build scalable, compliant, and inclusive hiring programs for transactional and technical accounting functions.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist (Accounting/Finance)
HR Business Partner with TA specialization
Senior Corporate Recruiter (Finance & Accounting)

Advancement To:

Senior Manager, Talent Acquisition — Finance & Accounting
Director, Talent Acquisition / Head of Recruiting Operations
HR Lead / Head of HR Operations for Finance

Lateral Moves:

HR Operations Manager (Payroll / HRIS)
Talent Partner / Strategic Recruiter (Finance)
Workforce Planning / People Analytics Lead

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Own end-to-end recruitment for Accounting Operations roles (AP, AR, GL accountants, payroll specialists, financial operations analysts, reconciliation specialists), including sourcing, screening, interviewing, negotiating offers, and closing candidates to meet hiring targets and SLAs.
Design and execute a targeted sourcing strategy for both high-volume transactional roles and specialized finance hires using Boolean search, LinkedIn Recruiter, referrals, job boards, and external agencies when necessary.
Partner with Finance leadership and HR Business Partners to define role profiles, success criteria, and career ladders for accounting operations positions, ensuring alignment with organizational objectives and budget.
Manage performance of the recruitment funnel with weekly/monthly dashboards (time-to-fill, time-to-hire, source of hire, offer acceptance rate) using ATS and HRIS data to identify bottlenecks and drive continuous improvement.
Lead and coach a team of recruiters and sourcers dedicated to accounting and finance, setting clear goals, conducting regular 1:1s, and developing training plans to increase recruiter capability and productivity.
Implement and maintain ATS workflows (Greenhouse, Lever, iCIMS, or Workday Recruiting), ensuring data integrity, candidate experience, compliance with internal processes and legal requirements.
Develop employer branding and candidate attraction campaigns targeted to finance and accounting professionals, collaborating with marketing and employer brand teams to highlight culture, career progression, and benefits.
Execute inclusive hiring practices and diversity sourcing strategies to increase representation in the accounting organization and remove bias from selection processes through structured interviews and rubrics.
Run competency-based and behavioral interview programs with hiring managers, providing interview training, scorecard templates, and calibration sessions to improve hiring quality.
Lead offer strategy and compensation negotiation for accounting hires in collaboration with People Operations and Finance, ensuring market competitiveness and internal equity.
Manage relationships with contingent workforce providers, staffing agencies, and external recruiting vendors for contract accounting and payroll resource needs; negotiate SLAs and cost models.
Coordinate campus and early-career recruiting programs for accounting internships and entry-level hires, including university outreach, campus presentations, and intern-to-hire conversion initiatives.
Partner with HR Operations and Payroll to ensure seamless handoffs for background checks, pre-employment screening, onboarding logistics, and timely access provisioning for new hires.
Ensure recruitment processes are SOX-aware and compliant with finance regulations, data privacy laws (GDPR, CCPA as applicable), and internal audit requirements for personnel in finance functions.
Drive cost-per-hire and sourcing efficiency initiatives, implementing referral programs, talent pools, and pipelining strategies to reduce agency spend and time-to-fill for mission-critical roles.
Lead workforce planning and headcount forecasting exercises with Finance and People Analytics to prioritize hiring needs across accounting operations and to support budgeting cycles.
Create and present regular executive-level recruitment updates and strategic hiring plans to Finance and HR leadership, translating recruiting metrics into business impact and recommendations.
Manage recruiting budget for accounting hires, including advertising spend, vendor fees, travel and relocation, and candidate experience investments while maintaining ROI.
Develop and maintain role-specific competency frameworks and interview scorecards for accounting operations to ensure consistent assessment and to track candidate quality trends.
Implement candidate experience improvements — streamlined interview scheduling, timely feedback, clear communications — and measure NPS/CSAT for the hiring process.
Troubleshoot complex hiring escalations, counter-offer situations, and sensitive personnel communications with diplomacy and confidentiality.
Lead initiatives to integrate HRIS (Workday, ADP) and recruiting tools with finance systems where applicable, improving data flows for headcount, payroll onboarding, and reporting.

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.
Maintain documentation of recruiting processes, playbooks, and interview guides tailored to accounting teams to accelerate hiring ramp-up and knowledge transfer.
Conduct competitor and market research on accounting salaries, talent supply, and skills trends to advise hiring leaders on market realities and compensation bands.
Facilitate learning and development partnership for new hire assimilation and ongoing skill development relevant to accounting operations roles.
Support internal mobility initiatives by partnering with HRBP and managers to identify cross-functional candidates and design internal transfer pathways.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Advanced experience with Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) such as Greenhouse, Lever, iCIMS, or Workday Recruiting; proven ability to configure workflows and extract recruitment analytics.
Strong sourcing skills including Boolean search, LinkedIn Recruiter, GitHub/StackOverflow for technical adjacent roles, and creative pipeline building for accounting talent.
Proficiency with MS Excel (pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, advanced formulas) and experience building recruitment dashboards in Excel, Google Sheets, or BI tools (Looker, Power BI, Tableau).
Familiarity with HRIS and payroll systems integration (Workday, ADP, PeopleSoft, NetSuite) and basic understanding of headcount and payroll data flows.
Solid knowledge of accounting operations roles and terminology (AP, AR, GL reconciliations, month-end close, payroll processing, tax filings) to screen and evaluate candidates effectively.
Experience with recruitment marketing platforms and employer branding channels (LinkedIn, Glassdoor, Indeed, programmatic job advertising).
Track record managing recruitment vendors, staffing agencies, and RPO relationships including negotiation of SLAs and performance KPIs.
Understanding of employment law basics, background check processes, visa and immigration considerations, and compliance requirements for finance personnel.
Experience running structured interviews, competency frameworks, and building scorecards to reduce bias and improve hiring decisions.
Basic HR analytics and ability to translate recruiting metrics (time-to-fill, quality-of-hire, cost-per-hire) into business-facing insights.

Soft Skills

Exceptional stakeholder management and consultative partnering skills with Finance leaders and HR peers.
Strong verbal and written communication tailored for technical and non-technical audiences including executive updates and hiring playbooks.
Proven coaching and people development skills to mentor recruiters and improve team performance.
High emotional intelligence, confidentiality, and discretion when handling sensitive candidate and employee information.
Results-oriented mindset with ability to prioritize competing demands in fast-paced hiring cycles.
Problem-solving and process improvement orientation; comfortable running pilots and scaling repeatable hiring workflows.
Negotiation and influence skills for offer management and hiring decision alignment.
Adaptability to changing business priorities and the ability to lead change with calm and clarity.
Attention to detail and organizational skills for managing multiple concurrent requisitions and compliance activities.
Data-driven decision making with curiosity to test hypotheses and measure impact.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Accounting, Finance, or related field (or equivalent professional experience).

Preferred Education:

Bachelor's + HR certification (PHR, SHRM-CP) or advanced degree (MBA, MHR) with focus on talent management, HR analytics, or finance.
Continued learning credentials in recruiting, DE&I, or HR systems implementation are a plus.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Human Resources Management
Accounting or Finance
Business Administration
Organizational Psychology

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 5–10+ years total recruiting experience with 2–4 years managing recruiters or leading a recruitment program specializing in accounting/finance hires.

Preferred:

7+ years recruiting experience with demonstrated success in high-volume and niche accounting operations hiring.
Experience working in matrixed environments, partnering directly with Finance leaders and HR Ops.
Prior exposure to recruiting for global teams, cross-border hiring, and familiarity with local employment regulations and immigration processes.