Senior Finance Manager - Risk and Controls (Maternity Cover)
14-Month Fixed-Term Contract
London, hybrid
At Wise, our mission is Money Without Borders: instant, convenient, transparent and eventually free. As we grow and scale, we're looking for an experienced Senior Finance Manager to join our Finance team in London or Tallinn on a fixed-term contract of approximately 14 months, covering a maternity leave. You will take ownership of a live workload and keep it running smoothly. Your focus will be the SOX controls across general and operational accounting, financial reporting, consolidation and group close, and accounting systems.
You will work closely with Finance, Product, Operations and Technology teams. You will help maintain a strong control environment that supports Wise's growth and doesn't add unnecessary bureaucracy.
Your Mission:
Expert Advisor: Act as the Finance Risk and Controls expert advisor on SOX controls across general and operational accounting, financial reporting, consolidation and group close. Advise and support control owners so that controls are well designed, operate effectively and meet US SOX requirements.
Keep the close running on time: Be the point of contact for Finance control owners on questions about their controls through each month-end so that the close is completed on time.
Be the point of contact for control testing: Work with Internal Audit, External Audit and our Internal Controls Testing teams on walkthroughs, evidence and testing in your area. Coordinate with control owners, evaluate exceptions and identify root causes.
Drive remediation: Track open deficiencies and close them out with control owners. Distinguish isolated failures from systemic issues, and validate that fixes work.
Accounting system controls: Have a good understanding of the SOX-relevant system controls in Microsoft Business Central and our other internal accounting systems, covering system access, segregation of duties, interfaces, change management and automated controls.
Maintain process and control documentation: Keep process maps and risk-control matrices accurate and current in line with SOX standards.
Partner across the business: Work with Finance, Product, Technology and Audit colleagues to solve complex problems. Share knowledge and coach colleagues, and escalate risks early.
Own the accountability framework for “record to report”: Take full ownership of the accountability framework for the record to report process, to support Financial Statement attestation. Set clear ownership, escalation routes and governance for controls across Group Finance, and make sure every key control has a named owner who is held to account.
What you'll get from the role:
Real impact: You will keep Wise's SOX control environment strong, and support the remediation of Material Weaknesses.
Visibility: You will work with senior leaders across Finance.
Autonomy and ownership: You will have a high level of responsibility and the freedom to decide how best to deliver.
Breadth of learning: You will gain in-depth knowledge of Wise's business by working with teams across Finance and the wider company.
Room to grow: You will build your expertise and influence in a fast-growing, global FinTech.
You have a professional accounting qualification, such as US CPA, ACA, ACCA or an international equivalent.
You have 12–15 years of experience in a similar role, in industry or at a Big 4 firm.
You have deep expertise in US GAAP and IFRS.
You have a deep understanding of SOX controls and regulations, including financial statement assertions, key controls, and design and operating effectiveness.You have thorough process knowledge of accounting and the record to report process.
You have experience testing internal controls and evaluating deficiencies.
You have strong knowledge of accounting systems, ideally Microsoft Business Central.
Skills and approach:
You communicate excellently, including with executive leadership. You explain technical issues in plain language and lead with the conclusions that matter.
You work well with minimal direction in a fast-moving, less structured environment, and you can take over a live workload with a short handover.
You are pragmatic and commercially minded. You apply proportionate controls that balance risk against business practicality.
You influence without relying on formal authority, and you stay calm when handling disagreement or resistance.
You take ownership and see remediation through to completion.
You work well in international, cross-functional teams. No Drama, Good Karma!
Nice to have:
A CIA, CISA or CFE qualification
Experience in FinTech
Experience implementing controls for the first time to support an IPO
Experience with ERP or system implementations and IT general controls (segregation of duties, access, change management)
- You will join a team based in London and Tallinn, supported by external consultants. Our wider Finance team is spread across the globe, so expect regular video calls. You may also travel once or twice a year for Finance-wide initiatives.
- Please note that we are unable to offer visa sponsorship for this role. You must already have the right to work in the country where you would be based.
- You will need to be available to start within 4 weeks of offer acceptance.
- Where you studied isn't important to us. What matters is that you hold a professional accounting qualification and have the right experience and skills. If you can articulate your thinking well, we'd like to hear from you.
For everyone, everywhere. We're people building money without borders — without judgement or prejudice, too. We believe teams are strongest when they are diverse, equitable and inclusive.
We're proud to have a truly international team, and we celebrate our differences.
Inclusive teams help us live our values and make sure every Wiser feels respected, empowered to contribute towards our mission and able to progress in their careers.
If you want to find out more about what it's like to work at Wise visit Wise.Jobs.
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