Assistant Manager - Accounts Payable

Job description

JLL empowers you to shape a brighter way.   Our people at JLL are shaping the future of real estate for a better world by combining world class services, advisory and technology for our clients. We are committed to hiring the best, most talented people and empowering them to thrive, grow meaningful careers and to find a place where they belong.  Whether you’ve got deep experience in commercial real estate, skilled trades or technology, or you’re looking to apply your relevant experience to a new industry, join our team as we help shape a brighter way forward.    Title : Assistant Manager (Accounts Payable) Business unit: Finance & Accounts Reporting to: Manager (Accounts Payable) Key stakeholders: Client Finance (US) Direct reports: 10-12 (Analysts & Sr. Analysts) Duties & responsibilities What this job involves – Driving Financial Operations Excellence Working with your accounts payable team, you'll establish efficient processes that ensure timely, accurate vendor payments while maintaining strong internal controls. This involves understanding stakeholder requirements through regular meetings with Property Management, Facilities teams, procurement, vendors, and finance leadership. You'll conduct thorough analysis of payment trends, aging reports, and process bottlenecks to identify improvement opportunities. You'll manage the project's financial fundamentals—invoice verification, approval workflows, payment schedules, compliance requirements, and vendor relationship management. From there, you'll create and execute operational plans that deliver results meeting both internal stakeholder expectations and JLL's commercial objectives, ensuring optimal cash flow management and cost efficiency. While developing strategies for accounts payable success, you'll closely monitor team performance and track key metric from invoice receipt through coding, approval, payment execution, and reconciliation. You'll provide guidance during month-end closing activities and review pending issues with your team regularly. Effective collaboration with diverse stakeholders is essential, leading from the front while understanding their operational needs and payment priorities. As you represent JLL's financial integrity and vendor commitments, you'll balance timely vendor payments with strategic cash flow management, achieving an ideal equilibrium between stakeholder satisfaction and business optimization. Leading People and Operations You'll lead by example, demonstrating confident and proactive leadership to your accounts payable team. You'll establish a dynamic environment that promotes knowledge sharing, professional development, upholds JLL's values and culture, and aligns with our purpose of shaping the future of real estate for a better world. Core to our reputation is strong focus on compliance, accuracy, and ethical financial practices, you'll keep these priorities front-of-mind at all times. On a regular basis, you'll meet with internal stakeholders, vendors, and finance leadership to review accounts payable performance and resolve outstanding issues. You'll review aging reports during month-end cycles and conduct team meetings to address operational challenges. Creating monthly and weekly status reports on payment metrics, key performance indicators, and compliance dashboards falls under your responsibility. When exceptions, discrepancies, or control failures occur, you'll investigate and report remediations as necessary. As needed, you'll collaborate with finance leadership and other resources to prepare process documentation, system enhancement proposals, audit responses, and continuous improvement initiatives that strengthen JLL's accounts payable capabilities. • Process vendor invoices accurately with proper coding, approvals, and timely payment execution • Verify invoice accuracy against purchase orders, contracts, and service agreements • Resolve discrepancies and variances with vendors and internal stakeholders • Execute payment runs and ensure adherence to payment terms and cash flow requirements • Handle urgent payment requests and escalations appropriately • Reconcile accounts payable aging reports and resolve outstanding items • Perform month-end closing activities including accruals and variance analysis • Implement and monitor internal controls to prevent duplicate payments, fraud, and errors • Ensure compliance with JLL procurement policies and approval hierarchies • Maintain audit-ready documentation and support internal/external audit requests • Supervise and mentor accounts payable specialists and support staff • Distribute workload effectively to meet deadlines and handle peak periods • Conduct performance evaluations and provide regular feedback to team members • Identify training needs and develop team capabilities • Conduct team meetings to communicate updates and address challenges • Evaluate current AP workflows and identify automation opportunities • Collaborate with IT and finance teams to optimize ERP system functionality • Lead or participate in system implementations and upgrades • Document standard operating procedures for consistency and knowledge transfer • Implement efficiency improvements to reduce processing cycle times • Maintain professional relationships with vendors and respond to payment inquiries • Resolve complex vendor disputes requiring escalation • Support JLL's reputation as a relia