Director, International Controllership

Overview

Lead end-to-end Record-to-Report accounting and controllership activities from the Hyderabad Accounting COE, including the transition and scaling of accounting work insourced from other regions.

What you'll do

• Lead and oversee RTR accounting and controllership activities.
• Own the monthly, quarterly, and annual close processes, ensuring accuracy, completeness, timeliness, and compliance.
• Supervise intercompany reconciliations and resolve out-of-balance items with WBD counterparts.
• Ensure strong balance sheet governance, account reconciliation quality, variance analysis, management reporting, and timely issue resolution.
• Review and analyze financial results against expectations and provide insights to controllership and business stakeholders.
• Review and sign off monthly and quarterly Balance Sheets, Income Statements, and Cash Flow Statements, including footnote disclosures and supplemental schedules.
• Ensure accounting implications of business transactions are assessed timely, including coordination with Technical Accounting teams where required.
• Be responsible for system and manual reconciliations between Business Unit boundary systems and SAP.
• Identify, design, and implement process improvements and standardizations, including special projects and serving as SME as needed.
• Maintain a strong internal control environment and ensure compliance with SOX requirements.
• Partner with internal and external auditors on audit planning, walkthroughs, testing, information requests, and timely closure of audit matters.
• Drive discipline around documentation, evidence retention, review controls, issue tracking, and remediation.
• Proactively identify financial reporting, compliance, and control risks and ensure appropriate escalation and resolution.
• Lead the transition, stabilization, and scaling of accounting activities insourced from other regions into the Hyderabad Accounting COE.
• Establish clear ownership, process documentation, KPIs, service levels, governance routines, and escalation mechanisms.
• Partner with global and regional stakeholders to ensure business continuity, knowledge transfer, and successful transition outcomes.
• Build sustainable team capacity and capability to support the future-state controllership operating model.
• Act as the key connection point between the Hyderabad Accounting COE and Controllership, FP&A, Tax, Treasury, GBS, and other business stakeholders.
• Develop strong relationships with global and regional finance leaders and provide responsive, practical, and technically sound accounting support.
• Collaborate with leadership to set department priorities and assist in problem resolution.
• Understand the business model and operating drivers to provide informed controllership advice.
• Communicate accounting decisions, process impacts, deadlines, and risks across relevant stakeholder groups.
• Drive process standardization, simplification, automation, and continuous improvement across RTR activities.
• Identify opportunities to improve close efficiency, reporting quality, control effectiveness, and team productivity.
• Support system implementations, ERP-related changes, integrations, reorganizations, and other finance transformation initiatives.
• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team of Senior Managers and accounting professionals, managing approximately 5 Senior Manager positions and overseeing a broader team of approximately 50 accounting positions.
• Set clear goals, performance expectations, priorities, and accountability standards.
• Build succession depth and develop controllership capability within the Hyderabad COE.
• Foster a culture of ownership, collaboration, integrity, continuous improvement, and high-quality execution.
• Assess workload, resource requirements, and capacity needs, and recommend changes as required.

What you'll need

• Chartered Accountant, CPA, or equivalent professional accounting qualification.
• At least 18 years of progressive accounting, controllership, and financial reporting experience, with at least 8 years in a supervisory role.
• Strong experience in RTR, close, balance sheet governance, financial reporting, audit support, and internal controls.
• Deep understanding of US GAAP, IFRS, and SOX control requirements, including intercompany and foreign currency accounting.
• Proven experience leading large accounting teams, including leaders and managers.
• Prior controllership experience in a multinational, matrixed, global organization.
• Strong stakeholder management experience with the ability to influence senior finance and business leaders.
• Demonstrated ability to operate in a fast-paced environment, manage competing priorities, and deliver against tight deadlines under pressure.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, solution presentation, and decision-making skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with high-level transparency.
• High attention to detail, strong ownership mindset, and commitment to quality and compliance.
• Able to work effectively across various time zones.

Nice to have

• Experience in media, entertainment, production, distribution, or related industries.
• Experience with remote transition.
• Experience with SAP or other large ERP platforms.
• Experience leading finance transformation, automation, process standardization, or system implementation initiatives.
• MBA or master's degree in accounting, finance, or business.

Details

• Location: Hyderabad.
• Normal hours: 3:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. IST, Monday to Friday; may be required to work outside these hours and on holidays without additional pay.