Accounts Payable Manager, Direct

OpenAI•San Francisco, CA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Procurement organization enables our mission by ensuring every dollar is spent responsibly, compliantly, and efficiently. As a key part of this function, the Accounts Payable (AP) team partners closely with Procurement Operations, Accounting, Finance, and business stakeholders to deliver a seamless, scalable payment experience. We’re looking for an Accounts Payable Manager to own and scale AP operations for Direct Procurement and Supply Chain. You’ll be responsible for end-to-end AP performance—ensuring accurate, timely payments and strong controls in a high-growth environment. This is a hands-on IC leadership role. You’ll partner with BPO teams to execute, while owning processes, systems, and outcomes. You’ll resolve complex issues, support executive stakeholders, and maintain a high bar for accuracy and experience. You’ll also drive automation and process improvements across ERP and procurement systems, working cross-functionally to increase efficiency and reduce manual work. You should be comfortable operating in ambiguity, managing high-volume workflows, and driving continuous improvement with a strong sense of ownership.

Requirements

Strong AP operator who can own and scale Direct Procurement AP while maintaining a high bar for accuracy and control.
Proven experience supporting direct spend or supply chain in high-growth environments—comfortable handling volume while building for scale.
Hands-on expertise in AP operations and systems, including ERP and procurement tools, with the willingness to dive into queue work, resolve mismatches, support accruals, and close activities.
Strong stakeholder management skills, with experience supporting cross-functional partners and handling executive or VIP escalations.
A process and controls mindset, with experience improving workflows, driving automation.

Nice To Haves

Deep AP expertise and enjoy owning operations end-to-end, from invoice intake through close.
Stay close to the work—comfortable jumping into queue, resolving exceptions, and unblocking payments when needed.
Operate effectively in high-growth environments, balancing immediate execution with building scalable processes.
Think in systems and automation, with experience improving workflows across ERP/AP tools and curiosity for AI-driven solutions.
Exercise strong judgment with a controls mindset, and partner effectively across Accounting, Procurement, and Supply Chain.
Take ownership and move with urgency, influencing outcomes even without direct authority.
Hands-on experience with tools like Oracle Fusion, Zip, Navan, VNDLY, Brightflag, Jira, or similar enterprise platforms—especially in integrated environments.

Responsibilities

Own end-to-end AP operations across Direct Procurement: intake, 2/3-way match, exception handling, disbursements, supplier inquiries, and close activities.
Act as the primary escalation point, partnering with Accounting and cross-functional teams to resolve complex exceptions, payment holds, and close blockers.
Build and scale Direct AP foundations by defining receiving and asset management processes required for 3-way match.
Improve performance by driving cycle time, first-pass yield, and on-time payment, while reducing root causes of top exceptions.
Maintain strong controls and compliance, including SOX-aligned approvals, audit readiness, and segregation of duties.
Drive automation and system improvements across ERP and AP workflows (e.g., OCR, approvals, integrations) to reduce manual work and improve data quality.
Leverage AI-first approaches to AP operations—identifying opportunities to deploy automation, agents, and intelligent workflows to reduce manual effort, improve accuracy, and scale efficiently.
Enhance supplier and stakeholder experience by resolving escalations, enabling self-service, and partnering on operational improvements.
Own reporting and visibility across AP metrics, including aging, cycle time, exceptions, payment forecasts, and risk.
Partner with BPO teams to manage capacity and performance through clear SLAs, KPIs, and continuous improvement.