Accounts Payable Manager (North America)

Clyde & Co•Kansas City, MO

5d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Accounts Payable Manager (North America) is responsible for leading the end‑to‑end Accounts Payable process, ensuring strong internal controls, audit readiness, and scalable processes to support business growth. Reporting to the Head of Financial Planning and Operations (North America), this role serves as a critical link between transactional accounting, financial planning, and operational execution. The Accounts Payable Manager owns day‑to‑day operational excellence, audit support, and cross‑functional collaboration, while developing high‑performing teams and continuously improving and standardizing processes.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance; relevant experience in lieu of a college degree may be considered
Prior law firm experience in an accounting/finance role highly desirable; experience in other professional accounting roles is required
Strong technical knowledge of accounts payable and accounts receivable processes
Experience leading and driving a team, with proven leadership abilities in motivation, coaching and training staff highly is highly desirable
Excellent written and oral communication skills with extreme comfort in interacting with internal and external stakeholders; ability to work at all levels within the organization with confidence and establish credibility
Excellent listening skills
Willingness to take initiative to problem solve and critical thinking skills (think outside the box)
Exceptional organizational and attention to detail skills
Ability to manage and prioritize tasks, with excellent time management skills to complete projects in a timely fashion
Self-motivated and able to work independently with little or no supervision

Nice To Haves

Passionate about process improvement, particularly A/P with the ability to step back not focus on the detail but drive improvements.
Ability to establish a strong rapport with the team and other staff to sort through information and determine best courses of action.

Responsibilities

Lead, mentor and develop high performing teams through leadership, accountability, and continuous improvement.
Set clear goals, with measurable performance expectations for the AP team; conduct regular performance reviews and talent development planning.
Ensure appropriate staffing, training, and planning to support scalable projected growth.
Act as a key business partner to other leaders in Finance (including working capital, tax, and controller), HR, Workplace Services, Business Development, and other stakeholders as needed.
Oversee daily management of accounts payable and delegating tasks to the team, as needed
Work with the team to respond to complex, judgmental or non-routine customer and vendor inquiries
Ensure accurate and timely processing of vendor invoices in accordance with established policies and guidelines to ensure prompt payments
Manage and approve AP payments, ensuring timely and accurate processing of vendor payments.
Manage the firm’s check writing application and plan to reduce or eliminate use of physical checks
Own the Firm’s corporate credit card program administration, and compliance
Oversee travel and entertainment expenses, managed through Emburse embracing technology improvements
Oversee vendor onboarding, including due diligence, tax documentation (W‑9/W‑8), and banking validation
Maintain vendor master data integrity with strong controls and periodic reviews
Establish vendor communication standards and escalation protocols
Optimize cash outflows through payment timing, terms management, and discount capture
Partner with Accounting to support cash forecasting and liquidity planning