Bilingual Senior Manager, Client Finance Operations – Québec Clients

Burson•Toronto, ON

30d•Hybrid

About The Position

Serves as the dedicated Senior Manager for day-to-day client finance operations across assigned Québec-based clients, with primary focus on the L'Oréal program as the largest and most complex account in the portfolio. The role provides senior-level execution, cross-client and cross-division visibility, commercial discipline, project management structure, and operational governance across high-volume campaign activity. Working in close partnership with senior finance leadership, account leadership, client-facing teams, L'Oréal stakeholders, and other assigned client teams, this role implements and maintains the operating cadence and financial discipline required to ensure campaign approvals, PO management, billing, influencer contracting, invoicing, and payment processes are connected, tracked, and escalated before gaps compound. The role also provides day-to-day direction and oversight to the Campaign Payment and Reconciliation Specialist, ensuring priorities, deliverables, reconciliations, and payment-related follow-ups are managed effectively. Program Context: The role supports client finance operations across assigned Québec-based clients, with L'Oréal representing the largest, highest-volume, and most operationally complex program. The L'Oréal program operates across multiple divisions and brands, with approximately 60 campaigns per quarter and numerous influencers, POs, approvals, deliverables, invoices, and payment touchpoints in motion at any given time. The Senior Manager, Client Finance Operations is responsible for maintaining a reliable view of campaign and financial status across the assigned portfolio, using strong financial acumen to identify exposure early, guide priorities, and drive operational follow-through so client service commitments are protected.

Requirements

7+ years of experience in client finance, project finance, agency operations, advertising, public relations, integrated communications, influencer marketing, or a related environment, with experience supporting complex client accounts or client portfolios across multiple brands, divisions, campaigns, stakeholders, budgets, POs, billing, and payment workstreams
Post-secondary education in business, finance, accounting, marketing, communications, or a related field; equivalent practical experience may also be considered
Bilingual proficiency in English and French is required, with the ability to communicate clearly and professionally with internal teams, client stakeholders, and external partners
Strong financial acumen, with the ability to understand budgets, POs, invoicing, WIP, billing exposure, reconciliations, and payment timing in a client-service environment
Strategic and commercially minded, with the ability to connect operational details to broader client, financial, and account-management priorities
Strong stakeholder management skills, with the confidence to influence without direct authority, push back diplomatically, clarify ownership, escalate risks, and drive follow-through across finance, account, client, and external partner teams
Experience managing, coaching, or providing day-to-day oversight to a direct report or small finance operations team, including workload prioritization, review of deliverables, payment tracking, reconciliation follow-up, process adoption, feedback, escalation support, and continuous improvement
Highly organized and detail-oriented, with strong written and verbal communication skills, sound judgment, and the ability to manage trackers, action logs, timelines, stakeholder follow-ups, escalation paths, multiple campaigns, deadlines, and financial workstreams simultaneously

Nice To Haves

Experience applying project management discipline within finance, client operations, or complex account environments is an asset

Responsibilities

Own and maintain centralized campaign, PO, billing, and payment tracking for L'Oréal and other assigned Québec-based clients, ensuring information is current, complete, and actionable by client, division, brand, campaign, PO value, billing status, payment status, owner, aging, and next action
Drive regular finance-focused working sessions for L'Oréal and, as needed, other assigned clients with client leads, division leads, finance, and relevant account stakeholders, ensuring PO status, billing risks, owners, decisions, and next steps are clearly documented and followed through
Act as the connective point between finance, account teams, division leads, client contacts, and influencer payment teams to ensure all parties are working from the same information, priorities, timelines, and escalation path
Build and manage project plans, timelines, action logs, and dependency tracking for finance-related workstreams, ensuring owners, due dates, risks, and escalation paths are clearly defined and monitored
Ensure PO status, unmatched campaigns, billing risks, and client follow-ups are included as standing agenda items in recurring client, finance, and division-level meetings
Prepare and circulate concise pre-meeting summaries that highlight key risks, decisions required, open actions, dependencies, and recommended next steps
Maintain cross-division visibility so the team can identify patterns, bottlenecks, naming inconsistencies, fluctuating PO values, and recurring gaps before they affect billing or payment timing
Establish and maintain a consistent operating cadence across divisions and brands, with clear roles, timelines, escalation points, reporting expectations, and accountability
Serve as the senior day-to-day finance operations contact for L'Oréal and other assigned Québec-based clients on PO, billing, documentation, and campaign-to-PO alignment matters
Conduct timely follow-up to secure outstanding POs, clarify naming discrepancies, confirm approved values, and resolve campaign-to-PO matching issues before formal escalation is required
Document all client interactions, commitments, and timelines in the shared tracker
Reinforce adoption of the client-facing best practices guide by driving consistent PO naming, approval timing, budget confirmation, and documentation expectations with L'Oréal division and brand contacts
Own and maintain current, complete, and accurate campaign and financial information for matching, WIP review, invoicing, billing reconciliation, and payment tracking across L'Oréal and other assigned Québec-based clients, in partnership with senior finance, billing, and account stakeholders
Provide timely PO and payment updates from client meetings to finance to support tracker accuracy, invoicing, and follow-through
Identify unbilled or pre-billed campaign activity, unmatched POs, and items with financial exposure, and ensure they are assigned to an owner with a documented resolution path
Coordinate historical campaign reconciliation efforts, including research, status updates, ownership, and resolution paths for prior-year unmatched campaigns, unbilled activity, or pre-billed items requiring follow-up
Flag items approaching the 21-day escalation threshold early, ensuring the senior client/account lead receives a concise summary, recommended action, and client-facing context where intervention is required
Monitor aging buckets, unmatched campaigns, missing POs, and billing blockers, proactively flagging at-risk items ahead of escalation thresholds and before they compromise invoicing, payment timing, or client confidence
Prepare escalation summaries that include campaign details, division and brand, PO status, value, outreach history, financial exposure, decision required, and recommended next steps
Drive follow-through on escalated items until resolution, ensuring decisions, owners, and next steps are documented
Oversee the influencer payment and reconciliation workstream, providing direction to the Campaign Payment and Reconciliation Specialist to ensure campaign, PO, invoice, payment, and documentation requirements are aligned, tracked, and escalated as needed
Review payment status, reconciliation updates, and exception items with the Specialist to identify timing risks, documentation gaps, billing exposure, and required escalations
Coordinate influencer contracting workflows, ensuring agreements are initiated, tracked, and executed within the campaign timeline
Coordinate influencer invoice collection, review, and submission to finance for processing, ensuring documentation is complete and timing risks are surfaced early
Monitor influencer payment status and proactively flag delays that could affect campaign delivery, client service commitments, or the broader payment chain
Monitor the PO, invoicing, and influencer payment sequence to identify exceptions early, reduce billing exposure, and escalate timing risks before payments are issued where possible
Help protect influencer payment timeliness as a key client service KPI by ensuring related billing and PO risks are visible to finance and account leadership
Drive regular WIP and finance governance reviews for L'Oréal and other assigned Québec-based clients with key finance and account stakeholders, ensuring active campaigns, missing POs, invoicing status, unbilled exposure, and required decisions are clearly surfaced, challenged, and actioned
Apply commercial judgment to monitor budget pacing, PO movement, campaign approvals, and financial variances, identifying risks early and recommending appropriate corrective action
Oversee internal billing reconciliation by ensuring invoices issued to L'Oréal align with approved budgets, client POs, campaign activity, contracted scopes, influencer-related costs, and documented approvals
Provide senior-level oversight of month-end and quarter-end finance readiness, ensuring campaign, PO, billing, WIP, and payment information is complete, accurate, and escalated where gaps create financial exposure
Maintain audit-ready records of contracts, invoices, approvals, client documentation, payment support, and key decisions to support internal controls, compliance, and financial governance
Provide senior finance and account leadership with concise reporting to support timely decisions on open PO issues, billing exposure, escalations, aging items, process adoption, and structural risks across divisions and brands