Warner Bros Discovery—Senior Manager, International Controllership

Job description

Description: Welcome to Warner Bros. Discovery… the stuff dreams are made of. Who We Are… When we say, “the stuff dreams are made of,” we’re not just referring to the world of wizards, dragons and superheroes, or even to the wonders of Planet Earth. Behind WBD’s vast portfolio of iconic content and beloved brands, are the storytellers bringing our characters to life, the creators bringing them to your living rooms and the dreamers creating what’s next… From brilliant creatives, to technology trailblazers, across the globe, WBD offers career defining opportunities, thoughtfully curated benefits, and the tools to explore and grow into your best selves. Here you are supported, here you are celebrated, here you can thrive. The Senior Manager, Record to Report for Controllership will provide end-to-end leadership for the Record-to-Report accounting and controllership activities. This role will be based in Hyderabad and will be responsible for leading a large controllership team, ensuring accurate, timely, and compliant financial reporting, strong balance sheet governance, effective internal controls, and successful delivery of close, reporting, audit support, and compliance requirements. This is a critical leadership role within the Accounting COE and will play a key part in building, transitioning, stabilizing, and scaling controllership activities including transition from other regions. The Director will partner closely with Controllership, FP&A, Tax, Treasury, Global Business Services (GBS), and other global and regional stakeholders to deliver high-quality financial outcomes at scale. The role requires a strong controllership mindset, deep technical accounting knowledge, proven people leadership, and the ability to operate effectively in a complex, matrixed, global environment. The successful candidate will be expected to lead transition of accounting work to WBD’s Hyderabad center, drive operational discipline, process standardization, automation, continuous improvement, and a culture of accountability, quality, and compliance. This role will manage ~ 2 Manager level accounting positions in Hyderabad and will oversee a broader team of ~10 accounting positions, supporting the controllership function. Your normal hours of work are 3:00 p.m IST. to 11:00 p.m IST. Monday to Friday. However, due to business needs, you may be required to work outside these hours and on holidays for the proper performance of your role without any additional pay. Subject to any applicable laws, the Company reserves the right to change your hours of work where this is essential to business needs and upon reasonable notice to you Your Role Accountabilities… Controllership, Close and Reporting Leadership • Lead and oversee RTR accounting and controllership activities • Own the monthly, quarterly, and annual close processes, ensuring accuracy, completeness, timeliness, and compliance with applicable accounting and reporting requirements. • 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 meaningful insights to controllership and business stakeholders. • Review and sign-off monthly and quarterly Balance Sheets, Income Statements, and Cash Flow Statements, including footnotes disclosures and supplemental schedules, ensuring completeness and accuracy. • Ensure accounting implications of business transactions are assessed timely, including coordination with Technical Accounting teams where required. • Responsible for system/manual reconciliations between the Business Unit boundary systems and SAP, ensuring data consistency and accuracy • Continuously identify, design, and implement process improvements and standardizations across areas of responsibility to enhance efficiency and effectiveness. This includes special projects and serving as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) as needed. Governance, Controls and Audit Readiness • Maintain a strong internal control environment and ensure compliance with SOX requirements. • Partner with internal and external auditors to support 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. Transition and Operating Model Buildout • Lead the transition, stabilization, and scaling of accounting activities being 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. Stakeholder Management and Business Partnership • 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 and support decision-making. • Ensure effective communication of accounting decisions, process impacts, deadlines, and risks across relevant stakeholder groups. Transformation, Process Excellence and Systems • 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 process improvement initiatives in partnership with controllership, technology, GBS, and transformation teams. People Leadership and Talent Development • Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team of Senior Managers and accounting professionals. • Set clear goals, performance expectations, priorities, and accountability standards. • Build strong 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. Qualifications & Experience… Required ● Chartered Accountant, CPA, or equivalent professional accounting qualifications. ● 15+ years of progressive accounting, controllership, financial reporting , with at least 5 years of supervisory role. ● Strong experience in RTR, close, balance sheet governance, financial reporting, audit support, and internal controls. • Deep understanding of US GAAP, and SOX control requirements, including intercompany and foreign currency accounting. ● Proven experience leading large accounting teams, including leaders/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, deliver against tight deadlines, and manage composure under deadline pressure. ● Strong analytical, problem-solving, present solution, 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. Desired • 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 preferred. Leadership Attributes • Strong controllership leader with sound judgment and high integrity. • Comfortable building structure in a changing environment. • Able to balance technical accounting depth with practical business partnership. • A leader who can build capability, coach teams, and create accountability. • A transformation-minded leader who can simplify, standardize, and scale processes. • Confident working with senior stakeholders across regions and functions. • Proactive in identifying risks, resolving issues, and driving closure. How We Get Things Done… This last bit is probably the most important! Here at WBD, our guiding principles are the core values by which we operate and are central to how we get things done. You can find them at www.wbd.com/guiding-principles/ along with some insights from the team on what they mean and how they show up in their day to day. We hope they resonate with you and look forward to discussing them during your interview. Championing Inclusion at WBD Warner Bros. Discovery embraces the opportunity to build a workforce that reflects a wide array of perspectives, backgrounds and experiences. Being an equal opportunity employer means that we take seriously our responsibility to consider qualified candidates on the basis of merit, regardless of sex, gender identity, ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, marital status, pregnancy, parenthood, disability or any other category protected by law. If you’re a qualified candidate with a disability and you require adjustments or accommodations during the job application and/or recruitment process, please visit our accessibility page for instructions to submit your request.