Gestionnaire principal(e) bilingue, Opérations financières – Clientèle du Québec

Burson•Montreal, QC

13d•Hybrid

About The Position

The incumbent acts as a Senior Financial Operations Manager for a portfolio of Quebec-based clients, with primary responsibility for the L'Oréal program, the largest and most complex account in the portfolio. The role ensures senior-level execution, cross-functional visibility between clients and divisions, commercial rigor, and project management and operational governance structure in an environment characterized by a high volume of campaigns. In close collaboration with senior Finance management, account managers, advisory teams, L'Oréal stakeholders, and teams responsible for other assigned clients, this person establishes and maintains the necessary tracking mechanisms and financial discipline to ensure integrated management of campaign approvals, purchase orders (POs), invoicing, influencer contracts, invoices, and payments. They also ensure that issues and discrepancies are identified, tracked, and escalated before they become significant. The role also includes the daily supervision of the Campaign Payments and Reconciliation Specialist to ensure effective management of priorities, deliverables, reconciliations, and payment follow-ups. The position supports the financial operations of a portfolio of Quebec-based clients, with L'Oréal representing the largest, most voluminous, and operationally complex program. The L'Oréal program covers multiple divisions and brands and involves approximately 60 campaigns per quarter, with numerous influencers, purchase orders, approvals, deliverables, invoices, and payments ongoing simultaneously. The incumbent is responsible for maintaining a reliable and consolidated view of the status of campaigns and financial activities for the entire assigned portfolio. Through a strong financial understanding, they quickly identify risks, establish priorities, and ensure the necessary operational follow-ups to protect client commitments.

Requirements

Minimum of 7 years of experience in client finance, project finance, agency operations, advertising, public relations, integrated communications, influencer marketing, or a related field.
Experience in managing or supporting complex client accounts or portfolios involving multiple brands, divisions, campaigns, stakeholders, budgets, purchase orders, billing activities, and payment processes.
Post-secondary education in administration, finance, accounting, marketing, communications, or a related field; an equivalent combination of education and practical experience may also be considered.
Bilingualism in French and English is required, with the ability to communicate clearly and professionally with internal teams, clients, and external partners.
Strong financial acumen and the ability to understand budgets, purchase orders, invoicing, work-in-progress, financial exposure, reconciliations, and payment timelines in a consulting environment.
Strategic thinking and business sense to connect operational details with broader client, finance, and account management priorities.
Excellent stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence without direct authority, diplomatically challenge, clarify responsibilities, escalate risks, and ensure follow-ups.
Experience in managing, coaching, or daily supervision of a financial operations resource or small team.
Excellent organizational skills and a high level of attention to detail, combined with sound judgment and strong written and verbal communication skills.
Ability to simultaneously manage multiple campaigns, timelines, follow-ups, escalation processes, and financial components.
Experience in applying project management methodologies to complex financial, operational, or account management environments is an asset.

Nice To Haves

Experience in applying project management methodologies to complex financial, operational, or account management environments is an asset.

Responsibilities

Ensure the management and updating of centralized tracking of campaigns, purchase orders, invoicing, and payments for L'Oréal and other assigned Quebec clients.
Ensure that information is complete, up-to-date, and actionable by client, division, brand, campaign, PO value, billing status, payment status, responsible party, file age, and next required action.
Lead regular finance-focused working meetings for L'Oréal and, as needed, for other assigned clients, in collaboration with client managers, division managers, Finance, and other stakeholders.
Act as the liaison between Finance, advisory teams, division managers, client contacts, and teams responsible for influencer payments.
Develop and manage project plans, timelines, action logs, and dependency tracking for various financial components.
Ensure that the status of purchase orders, unmatched campaigns, billing risks, and client follow-ups are systematically included in the agenda of relevant meetings.
Prepare and distribute concise summaries before meetings to highlight key risks, required decisions, ongoing actions, dependencies, and recommended next steps.
Maintain cross-divisional visibility to quickly identify trends, bottlenecks, naming inconsistencies, PO value variations, and recurring issues.
Establish and maintain a consistent operational cadence across divisions and brands, with clear responsibilities, timelines, escalation mechanisms, and expectations.
Act as the primary senior-level daily point of contact for financial operations questions related to purchase orders, invoicing, documentation, and alignment between campaigns and purchase orders.
Perform necessary follow-ups to obtain missing purchase orders, clarify naming discrepancies, confirm approved amounts, and resolve matching issues before formal escalation is required.
Document client interactions, commitments made, and timelines in shared tracking tools.
Promote the adoption of best practices with clients, particularly regarding purchase order naming conventions, approval timelines, budget confirmation, and documentation.
Maintain complete, accurate, and up-to-date information on campaigns and financial activities to support matching, work-in-progress reviews, invoicing, reconciliations, and payment tracking.
Promptly transmit updates on purchase orders and payments obtained during client meetings to the Finance teams.
Identify unbilled or pre-billed activities, unmatched purchase orders, and items with financial exposure, and ensure a responsible party and resolution plan are clearly established.
Coordinate reconciliation efforts for historical campaigns, including previous years' campaigns, unbilled activities, or pre-billed items requiring follow-up.
Quickly identify items approaching the 21-day escalation threshold and provide senior managers with a clear summary of the situation, recommended actions, and necessary context.
Monitor outstanding items, unmatched campaigns, missing purchase orders, and obstacles to invoicing.
Proactively identify and report at-risk items before they compromise invoicing, payment deadlines, or client trust.
Prepare escalation summaries including campaign details, division, brand, PO status and value, follow-up history, financial exposure, required decision, and recommended next steps.
Follow up on escalated items until their complete resolution.
Oversee the influencer payment and reconciliation component and provide clear guidance to the Campaign Payments and Reconciliation Specialist.
Regularly review payment status, reconciliations, and exceptional situations to identify risks related to deadlines, documentation gaps, financial exposure, and required escalations.
Coordinate contractual processes with influencers to ensure agreements are initiated, tracked, and signed within the expected timelines.
Coordinate the collection, verification, and transmission of influencer invoices to Finance.
Monitor payment status and proactively report any delays that could affect campaign delivery or client commitments.
Monitor the sequence between purchase orders, invoicing, and payments to quickly identify exceptions and reduce financial exposure.
Contribute to meeting influencer payment deadlines, a key customer service performance indicator.
Lead regular work-in-progress and financial governance reviews for L'Oréal and other assigned Quebec clients.
Apply sound commercial judgment to track the evolution of budgets, purchase orders, campaign approvals, and financial discrepancies.
Oversee internal billing reconciliations to ensure issued invoices align with approved budgets, client purchase orders, campaign activities, agreed-upon scopes of work, influencer costs, and documented approvals.
Provide senior-level oversight of month-end and quarter-end financial closing preparation.
Maintain complete and audit-ready documentation, including contracts, invoices, approvals, client documents, payment justifications, and key decisions.
Provide Finance management and account managers with concise reports for quick decision-making on outstanding purchase orders, billing exposure, escalations, aging items, and structural risks.
Purchase orders are obtained, matched, or actively escalated within agreed-upon timelines, with clear accountability and documented next steps.
No purchase orders reach the 21-day escalation threshold without a documented follow-up plan.
Influencer contracts, invoices, and payments are processed within the expected timelines.
Exceptions and risks are identified early enough to avoid avoidable financial exposure.
Internal work-in-progress and billing data are accurate and up-to-date.
Finance and client teams work from consistent and shared information.
The Campaign Payments and Reconciliation Specialist benefits from clear priorities, effective supervision, and necessary support.
L'Oréal benefits from the operational and financial tracking level required by the program's size and complexity, while maintaining rigorous management of other assigned Quebec clients.
Unbilled exposure is visible, tracked, and reduced through prompt PO matching, effective client follow-ups, and rigorous billing reconciliations.
Teams have a single, reliable operational view of campaign status, finances, outstanding risks, and required actions.
Senior account managers intervene primarily when their escalation level is necessary, rather than for routine follow-ups.