Director of Accounting, Americas

Gates Corporation • Denver, CO

6d • $175,000 - $210,000 • Hybrid

About The Position

As an innovation leader, we look for ambitious, forward thinking, open-minded and well-rounded individuals to join our global team. Located in our Denver, Co or Rochester Hills, MI office, you will be Director of Accounting, Americas, reporting to the Vice President, Americas CFO. This role has responsibility for the end‑to‑end financial close for the Americas region, supporting nearly $2B in annual revenue, and will lead finance transformation and process‑improvement initiatives across the accounting and finance function. The position will also define and execute the strategy supporting Gates accounting policies, oversee the internal controls over financial reporting, and serve as a key technical accounting leader ensuring compliance with US GAAP and Gates accounting policies.
The successful candidate will bring deep expertise across accounting and finance, paired with a strong understanding of end‑to‑end business processes and information flows. This individual will be a trusted partner who collaborates effectively with senior stakeholders across operations, IT, HR, commercial, product, distribution, and executive leadership. The role requires a self‑directed, entrepreneurial leader with a hands‑on approach, capable of operating seamlessly at both strategic and operational levels. The ideal candidate is highly analytical, technically strong, strategic and confident in navigating complexity while providing effective financial leadership.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Accounting, Finance or Business Administration
• 10-12+ years of progressive financial accounting experience including 3+ years in a Big 4 public accounting firm
• CPA certification is required
• Experience within a large global manufacturer
• Strong technical accounting and internal control skill set
• Experience driving finance transformation and process improvement initiatives
• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without company sponsorship

Nice To Haves

• Experience with automotive and/or industrial industry is beneficial
• Preferred experience with OneStream
• Demonstrated willingness to lead process improvements. Quick learner, with strong capacity to multi-task; results-oriented, able to meet deadlines under structured timelines
• Exceptional presentation and writing skills and the ability to convey a message that is understandable and relevant, linking business issues, financial results, and strategy

Responsibilities

• Lead the financial close process within the Americas finance function in partnership with Americas FP&A team, plant controllers and other finance personnel in North and South America
• Ensure the timely and accurate reporting of financial results follows US GAAP and Gates accounting policies
• Lead the identification and implementation of financial process improvements to reduce non-value add activities and enhance the timeliness and reliability of financial data; support local ERP transitions to remove risk and transform manual work
• Continuously assess risk areas and identify improvements and best practice changes; Regularly translate complex accounting activity into simplified business concepts
• Oversee the preparation and entry of consolidated closing journal entries for the Americas region. Review and approve work prepared by the team to ensure ensuring accuracy and compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, Gates accounting policies and SOX compliance
• Serve as the key accounting resource for the region, addressing accounting policy interpretation and application questions and providing practical accounting guidance on
• Drive consistency and adherence to US GAAP and Gates accounting policies and standards across Americas finance teams
• Act as the key liaison to internal and external auditors; partner with corporate accounting on the management and execution of balance sheet and other analytical reviews
• Partner with Internal Audit to assist in the remediation efforts of internal controls deficiencies and the Internal Controls Team to assess the internal control framework and implement internal controls over financial reporting where required
• Drive SG&A productivity across all functions, establishing spending targets and holding business partners accountable to management and execution of their respective areas; manage budget & forecasting for functional SG&A
• Partner with Americas leadership team to identify opportunities to improve business performance while ensuring compliance to US GAAP and all related policies
• Performs regular reviews of accounts of various business units, reinforcing compliance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, adherence to Gates polices, strong controls and standards to safeguard company assets and ensure financial reporting integrity
• Lead the review and documentation over revenue and purchase contracts, ensuring proper accounting treatment under US GAAP and Gates accounting policies
• Lead the documentation of regional financial processes to support risk assessment, internal control design, and continuous process improvement
• Participate in special projects as required, including acting as the functional leader on ERP projects, implementation of a new consolidation system, standardizing the regional close process, implementation of a standardized account reconciliation tool, standard costing projects and documentation of financial processes throughout the region

Benefits

• Medical, Dental, Vision insurance and other voluntary benefit options: benefits begin on the first day of the month immediately following your date of hire
• Flexible Time Off
• 401(k): 3% company contribution and additional 3% company match
• Tuition Reimbursement

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director