THE COMPANY

Founded in 1946, HI-LEX is a leading supplier of window regulators, door modules, power lift gate systems, and mechanical control cables primarily serving the automotive industry, but also the power sports, marine, construction equipment, and medical device sectors. Headquartered in Takarazuka, Japan (near Osaka), and listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE), HI-LEX employs more than 12,000 associates across its global footprint.

In the Americas region, HI-LEX has grown steadily in the region, and now has ten (10) manufacturing facilities across the the United States, Mexico, and Brazil. In the U.S., HI-LEX operates under three divisions: HI-LEX America in Battle Creek, Michigan; HI-LEX Controls in Hudson, Litchfield, and Hazel Park, Michigan; and Daedong HI-LEX of America in Cusseta, Alabama. The company’s automotive center is in Rochester Hills, Michigan which consists of finance, human resources sales, engineering, testing, and program management, and will serve as the location for the new Senior Accounting Manager

POSITION SUMMARY

The Senior Accounting Manager will report to the Director of Finance, Reev Edd. The Director of Finance reports to the President of HI-LEX Controls Inc. & HI-LEX Automotive Center, Dr. Brad Semp in Rochester Hills, Michigan. Under Dr. Semp’s leadership, HI-LEX is undertaking a shared services strategy to centralize and provide finance leadership and support across all business groups in the United States (and including one location in Saltillo, Mexico). Having traditionally grown as separate finance teams at each plant location, this is the first time that the finance team is aligned and challenged to cultivate a culture of consistent, sustained, and effective financial policies and practices. All aspects of the current finance organization including people, processes and technology will be assessed and undergo a systematic transition to synchronize all locations and divisions across the Americas region. Total revenues for the HI-LEX operations in the United States are approximately $650 million with roughly 1,000 hourly associates and nearly 350 salaried.

The Senior Accounting Manager will be responsible for all aspects of controlling operations and will lead controllers at different plants as direct reports. As a controlling head within HI-LEX, the expectation is to be a hands-on manager who will work closely with controllers to make sure that all daily, weekly, monthly and quarterly accounting records and reports are completed at each plant with the utmost accuracy and in a timely manner based on deadlines determined internally by the management of the company and externally by HI-LEX Japan, auditors and other stakeholders. The Senior Accounting Manager will collaborate with the Director of Finance to develop standards of controlling and reporting processes for all plants and ensure their application at each plant.

Key strategic initiatives for this role will include, but are not limited to:

• Evaluating current controlling processes and continuously seek improvement through standardization and automation

• Assuring that all transactions occurring at all cost centers and departments of each facility are correctly collected and reflected in the financial statements

• Constantly challenging what’s possible, never simply accepting what has always been done

• Technical knowledge of budgeting, cost accounting, general accounting, standard product costing, financial reporting and analysis, cost/benefit analysis and inventory control & cost systems

• Effectively driving and managing change, challenging status quo and championing new and innovative ideas

• Improving the timeliness and accuracy of all controlling-related outputs to Best In-Class levels

• Having sense of urgency and supporting data needs for decision-makers at all facilities

The Senior Accounting Manager will ensure that there is always open communication at each facility between the controlling team and the other plant cost centers and departments. He or She will lead his or her team to work relentlessly towards earning the trust of the operations teams by providing reliable and timely data.

KEY ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITES

• 
  Financial Statements: Prepare weekly P&L, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Statement for weekly financial review.

• Financial Close: Supervise monthly, quarterly and annual financial close to meet strict deadlines and to uncover errors and discrepancies before submission to senior management. Prepare monthly financial analysis report based on standard format. Perform variance analysis between actual financial results, budget and forecast, and present the results in graphs for visual management of financial performance.

• Financial Reporting: Prepare monthly financial analysis reports based on standard format. Perform variance analysis between actual financial results, budget and forecast, and present the results in graphs for visual management of financial performance.

• Financial Performance: Work closely with the plant manager and the Vice-President of each facility to develop and maintain the most appropriate Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) to continuously check the pulse of each facility’s financial health.

• Profitability Analysis: Weekly analysis of gross margin by part, by program and by customer. Analysis of the relationship of sales or revenues to cost and overhead expenditures.

• Sales Volume and Price Variance Analysis: Weekly variance analysis of sales volume and price by part, by comparing actual to forecast.

• Capital Expenditure: Support each facility for the calculation of their return on investment ROI for new capital expenditure

• Data Cleanup: Work closely with other departments to clean master data related to or impacting the controlling activities.

• Forecast: Prepare monthly P&L forecast based on EDI sales from OEM, historical financial data trend and assumptions on current and future business outlook and economic environment.

• Budget: Work closely with the Director of Finance and the Head of all other departments to prepare the annual budget

• Purchase Price Variance: (PPV) Check weekly and explain to the Vice-President of each facility the balance of the PPV account

• Inventory Adjustment: Check weekly and explain to the Vice-President of each facility the balance of the Inventory Adjustment accounts

• Physical Inventory: Work closely with the Operations Team to prepare and coordinate the annual physical inventory

• GL Account Maintenance: Create and maintain chart of accounts dictionary related to manufacturing operations (Coding Guide)

• Leadership: Lead by example all controllers in different facilities to achieve the objectives of the Finance department and to comply with all processes and policies of the Company.

• Staff development: Develop staff by managing performance, setting goals, providing ongoing training, and maintaining strong employee relationships.

• Performs miscellaneous job-related duties as assigned.

THE PERSON

Education

Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance or business administration, or equivalent business experience. Professional certifications, preferably Certified Management Accountant or similar designation, are also an added plus.

Functional Experience

• 10-plus years of overall cost accounting experience with a minimum of four years as accounting manager or equivalent position.

• 10-year experience with major ERP systems (PLEX experience preferred).

• Monthly preparation of financial analysis and use of various types of charts.

• Personal ability to use Google Sheets for spreadsheet analyses and related knowledge and experience of how to lead a digital transformation from MS Excel to Google Sheets.

Industry Experience

• Ideally, the successful candidate will bring an automotive background, and preferably a business with multiple plant locations and in fast-paced environment.

• Experience working in organizations where continuous improvement and “field standardization” has been part of the company’s culture would be another advantage and experience leading a cultural transformation, including the integration of acquired companies.

• Experience in a non-U.S. headquartered company would be positive, and experience in another Japanese company would be considered ideal.

SCOPE

Core Competencies

• Strong knowledge of cost accounting, including but not limited to standard cost calculation and variance analyses.

• Outstanding knowledge and understanding of US GAAP, IFRS and SOX compliance.

• Service-oriented to support the operational leaders in the business

• Ability to solve day-to-day issues related to controlling

• Use of bill of materials (BOM) and manufacture routings to budget and forecast cost of goods sold

• Eager to learn and understand the whole cycle of manufacturing operations from work order creation to delivery to customers and the impact of each step of the processes on the financial statements

Required Skills

• Business acumen and ability to communicate advice and counsel effectively in written and oral forms to all management and employees for all subjects related to controlling activities of all plants

• Detail-oriented and excellent organization skill

• Problem-solving skill

• Task prioritization skills using Eisenhower Matrix

• Teamwork and collaboration

• Time and project management skills to multi-task and achieve results in a fast-paced environment.

• A reputation for impeccable ethics and integrity.

• Dedication to driving and achieving results.

Other Requirements

• Hands-on, working manager with an entrepreneurial spirit.

• Ability to quickly inspire confidence and establish trust, respect, credibility, and rapport with the Operations Team.

• Ability to act independently.

• Trusted to manage highly confidential and sensitive matters.

• Excellent oral and written communication skills.

• Resilient and action-oriented.

• Experience with multi-site manufacturing environment.

• Experience leading and implementing cost accounting processes that include developing measurable performance goals, metrics, and benchmarks.

• Excellent listening skills – including the ability to hear the concerns of operational leaders in terms of the finance services they require to achieve their goals.

• High emotional intelligence (EQ)

• A sense of urgency to drive the cost accounting system improvement.