Director, International Controllership

The Director, Record to Report Controllership, provides end-to-end leadership for the Record-to-Report accounting and controllership activities within the Hyderabad Accounting COE. The role leads a large controllership team, managing approximately five Senior Manager-level accounting positions and overseeing a broader team of around 50 accounting positions. It partners closely with WBD Controllership, FP&A, Tax, Treasury, Global Business Services and other global and regional stakeholders to deliver high-quality financial outcomes at scale.

• Lead and oversee RTR accounting and controllership activities, owning the monthly, quarterly and annual close processes to ensure accuracy, completeness, timeliness and compliance with applicable accounting and reporting requirements.
• Ensure strong balance sheet governance, account reconciliation quality, variance analysis, management reporting and timely issue resolution, including supervising intercompany reconciliations and resolving out-of-balance items with WBD counterparts.
• Review and sign off monthly and quarterly Balance Sheets, Income Statements and Cash Flow Statements, including footnote disclosures and supplemental schedules, ensuring completeness and accuracy.
• Review and analyse financial results against expectations and provide meaningful insights to controllership and business stakeholders.
• Assess the accounting implications of business transactions in a timely manner, coordinating with Technical Accounting teams where required.
• Maintain a strong internal control environment and ensure compliance with SOX requirements, driving discipline around documentation, evidence retention, review controls, issue tracking and remediation.
• Partner with internal and external auditors to support audit planning, walkthroughs, testing, information requests and timely closure of audit matters.
• Lead the transition, stabilisation and scaling of accounting activities insourced from other regions into the Hyderabad Accounting COE, establishing clear ownership, process documentation, KPIs, service levels, governance routines and escalation mechanisms.
• Act as the key connection point between the Hyderabad Accounting COE and Controllership, FP&A, Tax, Treasury, GBS and other business stakeholders, ensuring effective communication of accounting decisions, process impacts, deadlines and risks.
• Drive process standardisation, simplification, automation and continuous improvement across RTR activities, and support system implementations, ERP-related changes, integrations, reorganisations and other finance transformation initiatives.
• Lead, coach and develop a high-performing team of Senior Managers and accounting professionals, setting clear goals, performance expectations, priorities and accountability standards and building strong succession depth.
• Assess workload, resource requirements and capacity needs, and recommend changes as required.

• Chartered Accountant, CPA or equivalent professional accounting qualification.
• At least 18 years of progressive accounting, controllership and financial reporting experience, including at least 8 years in a supervisory role.
• Strong experience in RTR, close, balance sheet governance, financial reporting, audit support and internal controls.
• Deep understanding of US GAAP, IFRS and SOX control requirements, including intercompany and foreign currency accounting.
• Proven experience leading large accounting teams, including leaders and managers.
• Prior controllership experience in a multinational, matrixed, global organisation.
• 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 maintain composure under deadline pressure.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, solution-presentation and decision-making skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with high transparency.
• High attention to detail, strong ownership mindset and commitment to quality and compliance.
• Able to work effectively across various time zones.
• Strong controllership leader with sound judgement and high integrity.
• Comfortable building structure in a changing environment.
• Able to balance technical accounting depth with practical business partnership.

• 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 standardisation or system implementation initiatives.
• MBA or master's degree in accounting, finance or business.

• Normal hours of work are 3:00 p.m. IST to 11:00 p.m. IST, Monday to Friday.
• Due to business needs, the role holder may be required to work outside these hours and on holidays for the proper performance of the role, without any additional pay.
• Subject to applicable laws, the Company reserves the right to change hours of work where essential to business needs and upon reasonable notice.