Senior Manager, International Controllership

Role overview

Senior Manager, International Controllership at Warner Bros. Discovery

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 role will manage ~ 2 Manager level accounting positions in Hyderabad and will oversee a broader team of ~10 accounting positions, supporting the controllership function.

Responsibilities

• Lead and oversee RTR accounting and controllership activities.
• 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.
• Maintain a strong internal control environment and ensure compliance with SOX requirements.
• Build sustainable team capacity and capability to support the future-state controllership operating model.
• 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.
• Ensure effective communication of accounting decisions, process impacts, deadlines, and risks across relevant stakeholder groups.
• Drive process standardization, simplification, automation, and continuous improvement across RTR activities.
• 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.
• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team of Senior Managers and accounting professionals.
• Build strong succession depth and develop controllership capability within the Hyderabad COE.

Preferred qualifications and skills

• MBA or master’s degree in accounting, finance, or business preferred.

Employment details

• Experience with remote transition.
• Location: Hyderabad [Telangāna] [India]

Additional role details

• The Senior Manager, Record to Report for Controllership will provide end-to-end leadership for the Record-to-Report accounting and controllership activities.
• 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.
• 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.
• Controllership, Close and Reporting Leadership.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Understand the business model and operating drivers to provide informed controllership advice and support decision-making.
• Identify opportunities to improve close efficiency, reporting quality, control effectiveness, and team productivity.
• People Leadership and Talent Development.
• Set clear goals, performance expectations, priorities, and accountability standards.
• 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.
• 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 SAP or other large ERP platforms.
• Experience leading finance transformation, automation, process standardization, or system implementation initiatives.
• 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.
• Championing Inclusion at WBD.