Senior Compliance Audit Associate

At Lindt, we are a global fast-growing consumer goods company, enchanting the world with premium chocolate. We are driven by our passion for excellence and go the extra mile ensuring that every Lindt experience is nothing short of exceptional. Our collective efforts are geared towards making a positive impact, not only in the world of premium chocolate but also in the lives of our employees, customers, and communities. Our company embraces a culture defined by the core values of Excellence, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Responsibility, and Collaboration, fostering a dynamic and collaborative environment where these principles drive our success. 

Position Purpose:

This position is responsible for ensuring that the business functions comply with internal policies, external regulatory requirements and accepted accounting principles (GAAP/IFRS).  This role supports month-end close, prepares and validates regulatory and management reporting, designs and test internal controls, coordinates audit activities and drives remediation and process improvements to mitigate financial and compliance risk.

This is a hybrid role that requires three days per week in our Stratham, NH, or Boston, MA corporate office.

Internal Controls

• Designated LICS Champion for the company.
• Support the implementation and continuous improvement of internal control frameworks and policies to strengthen financial controls, reduce risk of misstatement and ensure compliance with evolving regulations.
• Conduct periodic risk assessments of accounting and operations processes to identify compliance gaps, quantify risk exposure, and recommend prioritized remediation and process improvements.
• Lead or support testing cycles, including producing objective evidence, executing walkthroughs and control tests, documenting results in compliance tools and presenting findings to Finance Controller and audit committees.
• Design monitoring and data procedures to proactively detect compliance issues, anomalies or policy breaches.
• Drive remediation projects end to end for identified control deficiencies including root cause analysis, action plan development, stakeholder coordination, timelines and tracking completion to reduce audit findings recurrence.
• Support external auditors during external audits.
• Support Group audit team with internal controls.
• Prepare control narratives, flowcharts, control matrices and test plans when needed.
• Manage remediation activities to close control deficiencies.

Regulatory & Compliance

• Designated Compliance Champion for the company.
• Execute month-end accounting tasks related to compliance accounts if needed including preparation and review of journal entries, account reconciliations, variance analysis and ensuring entries conform to accounting principles and company policy.
• Prepare, review and deliver recurring regulatory and compliance reports on time and with high accuracy for internal and external stakeholders.
• Serve as primary business partner to internal audit and external auditors – coordinate requests, provide supporting schedules, walk-throughs of processes and controls and drive remediation plans to resolution.
• Monitor regulatory and accounting standard updates and translate impacts into actionable policy or process changes.
• Review new contracts, client onboarding documentation and vendor relationships to identify accounting and compliance implications, escalating potential risks and coordinating mitigation steps with Legal and Procurement.
• Oversee compliance-related general ledger activity, ensuring chart of accounts alignment, appropriate account coding and consistent application of accounting policies across business units.
• Support tax and statutory reporting teams by providing reconciliations, schedules and explanations necessary for regulatory filings, audits and tax provision preparation.
• Provide subject matter expertise on segregation of duties, access controls and system level controls within ERP system.
• Lead compliance trainings mandated by Group.
• Ensure compliance topics are properly communicated across the organization.
• Act as liaison between company and Group Compliance.
• Report all mandated data to Group for Compliance reporting.
• Maintain accurate data points on Compliance topics.
• Assess gift reporting.
• Maintain accounting systems user setups (Basware, Concur etc)

Financial Integrity

• Maintain financial/accounting policies and ensure proper rollout and communication.

• Owner of the governance, risk and compliance module within the ERP system.

• Ensure Anti-Money Laundering (AML) procedures and quarterly review are completed.
• Ensure all fraud attempts are properly reported to Group, and all cases are reviewed to ensure proper procedures are in place.
• Oversee document management and retention to ensure legal requirements are met throughout the company
• Support group reporting and monthly reporting requirements
• Provide back-up support for transactional accounting activities during peak periods to maintain accurate financial reporting and control coverage.

Experience:

• 5+ years of accounting experience required
• Mix of public & corporate accounting preferred

Skills & Knowledge:

• Effective written and verbal communication skills
• Exceptional attention to detail and accuracy
• Highly organized with strong attention to detail and a strong team player
• Capable of working independently, juggling multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment
• Must have a high level of proficiency with Excel and Database knowledge a plus.
• Proficiency with ERP systems and SAP experience highly preferred
• Solid knowledge of SOX compliance and internal control frameworks
• Strong accounting fundamentals in GAAP/IFRS
• Audit experience highly preferred

Education:

• BS in Accounting or related field required
• Master’s degree required
• CPA or CMA required

Total Rewards:

Compensation: $81,316 - $105,743 + bonus

To learn more about our benefits visit https://jobs.lindtusa.com/total-rewards

If you are looking to join a winning team and fast-track your career, contact us! 

Join us on our journey of excellence, impact, and growth #LifeAtLindt