Lead Accounts Payable Associate

Position Overview 

Beam is seeking a highly motivated and talented Accounts Payable Lead to join our growing Finance team. The Accounts Payable Lead will have a significant impact on the organization's financial operations by ensuring accurate and timely processing of invoices and payments, maintaining strong relationships with vendors and business partners, and supporting the integrity of financial reporting. 

This role serves as the Accounts Payable subject matter expert and will provide oversight of daily AP operations while driving process improvements, strengthening internal controls, and supporting a culture of operational excellence. The ideal candidate is a collaborative problem solver with strong technical expertise, exceptional attention to detail, and a commitment to delivering outstanding customer service in a fast-paced, evolving environment. 

Responsibilities 

• Lead and support day-to-day Accounts Payable operations, ensuring timely and accurate processing of vendor invoices, employee expense reimbursements, credit memos, and payment requests.
• Perform financial transactions including verifying, classifying, recording, and reconciling accounts payable data.
• Review invoices for appropriate documentation, coding, approvals, and compliance with company policies before processing.
• Investigate and resolve discrepancies by reconciling vendor accounts, statements, and payment activity.
• Oversee payment processing activities, including ACH, wire, virtual card, and check payments.
• Monitor AP aging, payment schedules, and unresolved issues to ensure timely resolution and strong vendor relationships.
• Maintain vendor master records, including supplier onboarding, banking validations, and vendor data updates.
• Collaborate with Procurement, Treasury, Accounting, and business stakeholders to resolve invoice, purchasing, and payment-related issues.
• Support month-end, quarter-end, and year-end close activities, including accruals, reconciliations, and reporting.
• Assist with internal and external audits by preparing documentation, supporting audit requests, and ensuring audit readiness.
• Ensure compliance with company policies, accounting procedures, internal controls, and SOX requirements.
• Identify opportunities to improve AP processes, enhance controls, streamline workflows, and support automation initiatives.
• Create and maintain Accounts Payable procedures, training documentation, and process controls.
• Train, mentor, and provide ongoing support to AP team members while fostering accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Deliver responsive and professional customer service to internal stakeholders, suppliers, and business partners.

Qualifications 

Required Qualifications 

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration, or a related field preferred.
• Minimum of 5 years of progressive Accounts Payable experience, including experience in a senior, lead, or supervisory capacity.
• Strong knowledge of Accounts Payable operations, including invoice processing, vendor management, payment execution, accruals, reconciliations, and month-end close activities.
• Experience working within a SOX-compliant environment and maintaining adherence to internal controls and audit requirements.
• Experience supporting internal and external audits.
• Proficiency with ERP systems such as NetSuite, SAP, Oracle, Workday, or similar financial systems.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including pivot tables, lookups, and data analysis.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• High degree of accuracy, attention to detail, and ability to maintain confidential and sensitive information.
• Ability to effectively prioritize work, manage multiple deadlines, and thrive in a fast-paced environment. 

Preferred Qualifications 

• Experience with Coupa, NetSuite, SAP, Concur, and other financial applications. 
• Experience with vendor onboarding, bank account validation, and payment controls.
• Knowledge of purchase order and non-purchase order invoice processes.
• Experience leading process improvement, automation, or AP transformation initiatives.
• Experience creating SOPs, training materials, and operational documentation.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor, coach, and develop team members.
• Experience within a biotechnology, pharmaceutical, life sciences, or publicly traded company environment.