Associate Finance Manager, Controls & Compliance

Are you passionate about driving business performance, influencing strategic decisions, and partnering with teams to create sustainable growth? As an Associate Finance Manager, you will play a critical role in ensuring strong financial stewardship while enabling the business to focus on growth and execution. This is a highly visible opportunity to partner across functions, identify risks and opportunities, and help shape the future of a business managing over $2 billion in annual trade spend.

What You'll Do

As an Associate Finance Manager, you will serve as a trusted business partner and subject matter expert for North America Trade Audit, ensuring compliance with Unilever policies, SOX requirements, and financial controls. You will collaborate closely with Customer Development, Finance, Accounting, and other cross-functional teams to safeguard trade investments while driving process improvements and business performance.

In this role, you will:

• Lead oversight of the North America Trade Audit process to ensure compliance with company policies and regulatory requirements.
• Partner with Customer Development Finance and the Head of Collections to increase awareness and management of trade audit exposure.
• Analyze audit findings and business trends to identify risks, strengthen controls, and improve processes.
• Drive sustainable solutions and process improvements through stakeholder collaboration and alignment.
• Deliver quarterly training sessions to Customer Development teams and third-party service providers on audit compliance and emerging risks.
• Build strong relationships with key business partners and influence decision-making through financial insights and recommendations.
• Promote a culture of accountability, integrity, transparency, and operational excellence.

Who You Are

You are a proactive finance professional who enjoys solving complex business challenges and influencing outcomes through data-driven insights. You thrive in cross-functional environments, build strong relationships with stakeholders, and continuously look for opportunities to improve processes and strengthen controls.

You are:

• A strong business partner who understands how financial stewardship supports sustainable growth.
• A change agent who embraces new challenges and continuously seeks better ways of working.
• A collaborative and influential communicator who can engage stakeholders at all levels of the organization.
• A problem solver who enjoys identifying risks, uncovering insights, and implementing practical solutions.
• A champion of culture and compliance who leads with integrity and accountability.

What You'll Need to Succeed

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field.
• CPA designation is a plus.
• Minimum of three years of progressive finance experience with increasing levels of responsibility.
• Experience partnering with Customer Development (Sales), Audit, Accounting, or Financial Reporting functions is preferred.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a passion for continuous improvement.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to communicate effectively with stakeholders at all organizational levels and varying levels of financial expertise.
• Strong collaboration skills and the ability to influence without direct authority.
• Experience working in fast-paced environments where adaptability and initiative are critical.

Why This Role?

This position offers a unique opportunity to combine financial expertise, business partnership, audit oversight, and process improvement while working alongside high-performing teams. You'll have a direct impact on the management of significant trade investments, help strengthen financial controls, and contribute to the continued growth and success of the business.