Internal Controls Manager EMEA

Job title: Internal Controls Manager EMEA

Department: Finance

Location: Southampton, UK

Working hours: Monday to Friday 37.5 hours (hybrid working)

A brighter future awaits you

CooperVision is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of soft contact lenses with a presence in over 100 countries. Being part of CooperVision means helping improve the way people see each day. It’s more than making contact lenses, it’s about giving lens wearers freedom and confidence to move about their daily lives. We’re all about bright futures – for our people and those who wear our contact lenses.

At CooperVision, we’re big on belonging. Everyone’s contribution counts, and that’s why inclusion and diversity are so important. It isn’t just the right thing to do; it’s what makes our company the best it can be. We are committed to creating an inclusive and engaging workplace. Our Employee Resource Groups offer employees to grow within a safe and inclusive space. So be yourself, whoever you are, and let’s achieve amazing things together.

Job summary – What to expect: 

As our Regional Internal Controls Manager, you’ll help manage the control environment through oversight of risk management, controls and governance activities across the EMEA region which currently includes 24 entities with approximatively $1B in gross trade revenue. Our operations cover large manufacturing, packaging, and distribution facilities, as well as a complex shared services centre. 

In addition, you will: 

• Develop strong business partnerships with key regional stakeholders, local controllers & control owners, remaining embedded in the business and coordinating any required trainings to ensure compliance requirements are known and understood.
• Manage communications between the business and global Internal Controls management to ensure full transparency and collaboration (accounting / policy inquiries, changes in policy or accounting guidance, any control issues or accounting errors, business concerns requiring additional support, etc).
• Actively participate in global Internal Controls strategic discussions and propose continuous improvement opportunities to drive automation, efficiency, visibility, and accountability in the maintenance of the control environment. Able to think creatively and utilize existing tools and resources in the execution of proposed improvement opportunities.
• Lead control rollouts at locations (new or not previously formalized) to ensure a complete risk and controls framework exists with proper control ownership identified.
• Track changes in key personnel and/or processes (either planned or implemented) and assess for impact on the control environment – communicate impact, risks requiring mitigation, and required updates to control data and/or documentation.
• Review annual control certification / self-assessment responses and work with control owners to ensure control records and documentation in the Control Management System are kept up to date and accurate prior to audits (includes IC Memos, Related IPE Documents, Systems used, Control Thresholds, Process Flowcharts, etc).
• Liaise with the internal and external audit teams to align on audit plan and discuss any new expectations or changes in approach, advocating on behalf of the business where needed.
• Monitor audit status, outstanding audit requests, issues identified and remediation status to ensure integrity of data reported in the Control Management System and alignment of required actions by the business.
• Understand and discuss validity of audit issues (both SOX & Non-SOX) with regional audit and local teams, demonstrating ability to clearly articulate risks and communicate concerns or petition for why the business does not agree with issues raised.
• Monitor reported issues, review financial impact, analyze total exposure, and determine underlying root causes.
• Partner with remediation owners on development of management responses, due dates & accountability of action items for input to the audit report; propose remediation actions that effectively address the underlying root causes and align with global requirements.
• Monitor remediation actions, escalate any challenges that may result in exceeded due dates, provide periodic status updates to management, global Internal Controls management and regional internal audit, and send final confirmation of remediation to internal audit.
• Annually update risk acceptances and audit memo documentation, route for proper approvals, and submit to audit.
• Manage the Balance Sheet Review process (plan, schedule, review session tracking, action item tracking, issue reporting, etc) and provide quarterly updates to global Internal Controls management. 

A full job description is available upon request. 

About you:

We are looking for someone with a strong background in public accounting or external audit, internal control/audit. A good understanding of SOX requirements, and US GAAP policy experience is needed and someone who has worked within a multicultural matrix organisation is advantageous given the scale of our global operations, manufacturing and compliance needs. 

You’ll require excellent interpersonal and presentation skills as you will be expected to present to management, auditors and non-accounting stakeholders so you’ll need to easily adapt your communication style. 

If you are ready to take on a challenging and rewarding role with a leading company, we would love to hear from you! Apply today and help us drive excellence in our internal control environment across EMEA Region!  

What we offer:

You’ll receive competitive compensation and a fantastic benefits package including: bonus, private medical insurance, 25 days holiday, pension scheme, healthcare cover, life assurance, access to our Wellness Platform to support you in mental health and wellbeing, a discounted contact lens scheme and much more!

We are committed to our employees’ personal and professional development and offer extensive training to support your career growth and help every individual to reach their full potential. To help us achieve our goals, we’ll give you everything you need to help you achieve yours. 

We also provide access to LinkedIn Learning to help you develop in you career and grow with CooperVision

What you can expect:

As a CooperVision employee, you’ll be welcomed into a diverse and progressive global business. We appreciate how important fostering a diverse and inclusive culture is and how different perspectives add value and contribute to our success. With our CooperPride, African Descent, Woman’s Impact Network and Mind Body and Wellbeing Employee Resource Groups, we offer opportunities for employees to learn and grow within an inclusive and safe space.

If you like what you see, take the first step towards your Brighter Future and apply today! All suitably qualified applicants will receive equal consideration and opportunities from CooperVision.

We operate a candidate referral scheme, so if you know anyone who could be a perfect fit for this role, please email their CV to referafriend@coopervision quoting the job reference code to enjoy a £100 voucher reward if they are successful!