Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Recruiting Manager RH — Finance & Accounting

🎯 Role Definition

The Recruiting Manager RH — Finance & Accounting leads end-to-end talent acquisition for finance and accounting functions, partnering closely with Finance leadership to design role profiles, define competency frameworks, implement sourcing strategies, and deliver high-quality hires with a strong focus on candidate experience, diversity, and time-to-fill optimization. This role blends strategic workforce planning, recruitment operations (ATS/CRM), compensation benchmarking, hiring manager coaching, and data-driven recruiting to build a resilient and scalable finance talent engine.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Senior Recruiter — Finance & Accounting
Talent Acquisition Partner (Finance & Accounting)
HR Business Partner with a recruiting focus

Advancement To:

Head of Talent Acquisition — Finance & Accounting
Director of Talent Acquisition / HR Business Partners
Global Recruiting Lead — Corporate Functions

Lateral Moves:

Compensation & Benefits Specialist (Finance hires)
HR Business Partner (Finance organization)
Talent Strategy / Workforce Planning Manager

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Develop and execute a comprehensive talent acquisition strategy for finance and accounting, aligned to business objectives, headcount plans, and anticipated capability gaps.
Lead full-cycle recruiting for mid-to-senior finance and accounting roles (e.g., Staff Accountant, FP&A Manager, Tax Director, Treasurer, Internal Audit Lead), ensuring high-quality candidate selection and a consistent interview experience.
Partner with Finance leadership to define role profiles, core competencies, and success criteria; translate business needs into clear job descriptions and hiring scorecards.
Build and maintain robust candidate pipelines for critical finance functions using proactive sourcing, talent mapping, executive search, and campus engagement to reduce time-to-fill.
Manage relationships with external search partners, RPO vendors, and contract recruiters; negotiate SLAs and fees and oversee vendor performance to maximize ROI.
Design and implement structured interview frameworks and competency-based interview guides tailored to accounting, FP&A, tax, treasury, and controllership roles.
Own the offer process and salary negotiations for finance hires; provide market-based compensation guidance and partner with Total Rewards to secure competitive packages.
Implement and optimize Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) and candidate relationship management (CRM) workflows for finance hiring, ensuring accurate requisition management and reporting.
Monitor, analyze, and present recruiting metrics (time-to-fill, time-to-hire, source of hire, quality of hire, offer acceptance rate) to HR leadership and Finance stakeholders to drive continuous improvement.
Coach and train hiring managers and interview panels on effective interviewing techniques, unconscious bias mitigation, compensation communication, and onboarding best practices.
Lead a small team of finance-focused recruiters — including hiring, mentoring, setting goals, and conducting performance reviews — to scale the talent function.
Drive diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) recruiting initiatives specific to finance and accounting, including targeted sourcing, partnerships with affinity groups, and diverse slate strategies.
Design campus recruiting and early-career programs for accounting and finance, partnering with universities, professional associations (e.g., AICPA), and internship coordinators.
Conduct workforce planning workshops with Finance leadership to forecast hiring needs, critical skill gaps, succession plans, and contingency pipelines.
Manage compliance and background screening processes for finance hires, working closely with legal and compliance teams to ensure regulatory, data privacy, and industry-specific requirements are met.
Run compensation benchmarking and market analysis for finance roles to advise on grade leveling, salary bands, and total compensation design for competitive hiring.
Create compelling employer branding and recruitment marketing content that highlights finance career paths, technical training, and the company’s finance culture to attract passive candidates.
Lead process improvement initiatives across the recruiting lifecycle (sourcing, screening, interviewing, offers, onboarding) to reduce friction and improve conversion rates.
Implement candidate experience metrics and NPS surveys for finance hires, identifying friction points and driving actions to enhance employer reputation among finance professionals.
Facilitate transitions and onboarding for finance hires, coordinating with HR operations, payroll, IT, and Finance managers to ensure new hires are productive from Day 1.
Manage recruiting budgets for finance hiring, including advertising spend, job board optimization, university program costs, and external search fees to ensure fiscal efficiency.
Coordinate internal mobility and redeployment for finance talent, advising managers and employees on career development and lateral movement opportunities.
Serve as a subject matter expert for hiring forecasts, providing scenario-based hiring plans during reorganizations, M&A, or business expansions that affect finance and accounting functions.

Secondary Functions

Maintain and refine talent mapping and succession plans for high-impact finance roles; proactively identify internal and external successors.
Support ad-hoc compensation requests, headcount audits, and hiring audits for finance leadership and HR operations.
Drive adoption of recruiting automation tools (sourcing automation, interview scheduling, assessment platforms) to streamline finance hiring workflows.
Collaborate with People Analytics to design dashboards that surface recruiting insights specific to finance and accounting domains.
Participate in cross-functional HR projects (performance calibration, leadership development) that influence finance talent strategy.
Represent Talent Acquisition at finance leadership meetings and provide regular business reviews on hiring performance and talent risks.
Curate and maintain a library of finance-specific assessment tests and case studies to evaluate technical accounting and financial analysis skills.
Manage contingency planning for hiring surges (e.g., quarter-end closings, audit seasons) to ensure adequate staffing and temporary resource plans.
Facilitate internal training programs to upskill finance teams in interviewing and candidate selection best practices.
Support employer branding events such as finance career fairs, panel discussions, and finance-focused webinars.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Full-cycle recruiting expertise for finance & accounting roles (staff accountants, controllers, FP&A, tax, treasury, internal audit).
Proficiency with Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) and CRMs commonly used in enterprise recruiting (e.g., Workday, Greenhouse, iCIMS, Lever).
Advanced sourcing techniques: LinkedIn Recruiter, boolean search, X-ray, passive candidate engagement, talent mapping.
Strong data and reporting skills: building dashboards, KPI tracking, and deriving actionable insights from recruiting analytics.
Experience with compensation benchmarking, market pay analyses, and creating salary bands for finance functions.
Knowledge of professional certifications and technical skills (CPA, ACCA, CMA, IFRS, US GAAP, SOX controls) to assess candidate fit.
Familiarity with assessment tools and technical tests for accounting and financial analysis (case studies, Excel modeling tests).
Vendor and RPO management experience including negotiating contracts, SLAs, and vendor scorecards.
Legal and compliance awareness for hiring (background checks, right to work, confidentiality for sensitive finance roles).
Project management and process improvement capabilities (Lean, Kaizen, or similar methodologies beneficial).

Soft Skills

Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills to drive hiring consensus with Finance leaders and senior management.
Excellent written and verbal communication tailored to finance audiences and technical hiring managers.
High emotional intelligence, empathy, and candidate-first mindset to deliver exceptional candidate experiences.
Strategic mindset with the ability to translate business goals into long-term recruiting plans and workforce solutions.
Coaching and leadership skills to develop recruiter capability and advise hiring managers.
Negotiation and persuasion skills to close offers while balancing budget constraints and market dynamics.
Analytical thinking and problem-solving to diagnose recruiting bottlenecks and implement data-driven fixes.
Resilience and adaptability in fast-changing hiring environments, particularly during fiscal year-end or audit periods.
Attention to detail and organization to manage multiple requisitions, approvals, and cross-functional handoffs.
Commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion with experience implementing DE&I sourcing strategies.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Human Resources, Business Administration, Finance, Accounting, or related field.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree in Human Resources, Business Administration (MBA), or a relevant finance/management degree; or HR certifications (SHRM-SCP, CIPD).

Relevant Fields of Study:

Human Resources Management
Finance, Accounting, or Economics
Business Administration
Organizational Psychology

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 5–10 years of progressive talent acquisition experience, with at least 3–5 years focused on recruiting finance and accounting talent.

Preferred:

7+ years of recruiting experience including people leadership and managing full-cycle recruiting for mid-to-senior finance roles.
Experience in corporate finance environments, public accounting firms, or finance centers of excellence.
Demonstrated success with ATS implementations, recruiting analytics, and designing finance talent programs.