Senior Accounting Manager (Contract)

Lush Handmade Cosmetics•Toronto, ON

9d•Hybrid

About The Position

Lush Handmade Cosmetics is a global enterprise with more than 900 retail shops in 52 countries, focused on producing creative and indulgent cosmetics and bath products using only the freshest organic fruits and vegetables, pure essential oils, and safe synthetics. The company is dedicated to fair-trade sourcing, supporting sustainable communities, and giving back through its Lush Giving Products. As Lush continues to grow across North America, the Senior Accounting Manager will lead core accounting functions, bring structure to complex processes, and support accurate, timely financial reporting. This role involves leading a team of three direct reports (two Accounting Managers and one AP Manager) and plays an important role in ensuring accurate and timely financial reporting, supporting audit and treasury activities, and partnering with finance leaders and cross-functional teams across the organization.

Requirements

Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) or equivalent
7+ years of progressive accounting experience post-designation
Experience in a high-growth, multi-national retail environment with ecommerce and multi-location operations
Proven ability to deliver accurate and timely day-to-day accounting operations while driving improvements that support longer-term business needs
Proven success in leading, developing, and building high-performing, stable teams
Accustomed to, and ability to deliver results within a highly seasonal, high pressure production environment
Self-motivated and results oriented
Strong knowledge of, or ability to learn, and understand business system processes at a detailed level
Broad knowledge of information system development processes with a focus on financial, distribution and manufacturing
Ability to travel domestically and internationally

Responsibilities

Responsible for the preparation and review of accurate financial reporting for North America (Canada, USA) as it relates to manufacturing and retail operations.
Own month-end/ year-end close governance and execution, including close calendar ownership, deliverable tracking, and on-time completion.
Lead the monthly review process, including balance sheet review, income statement analysis, and ensuring reconciling items are understood, resolved, and appropriately escalated.
Partner cross-functionally with FP&A, Payroll, Tax, and AP leadership to ensure complete and accurate close inputs and outputs.
Support planning activities by providing high-quality actuals and close insights that feed budgeting and forecasting (for example, trend analysis, key drivers, and variance explanations).
Own short-term cash flow forecasting and cash planning, including establishing a weekly cash forecast cadence, defining inputs and assumptions, and driving variance explanations.
Translate operational drivers (purchasing, payables, payroll, tax, inventory) into actionable near-term cash views and communicate key movements and risks to Finance leadership.
Own the operational hedging process for our defined policy: using forecasted purchase amounts, ensure application of the hedging approach is in line with policy, review placed hedge orders with the bank, and maintain a complete audit trail.
Reviews the hedging log and confirmations, ensure exposures and hedges are tracked and supported, and coordinate any required accounting entries and documentation.
Support funding and banking administration as required (cash positioning support, coordination of wires/transfers, and intercompany funding coordination where applicable).
Maintain strict confidentiality and strong internal controls around banking, funding, and hedging information.
Facilitate the year-end audit end-to-end for the North America scope.
Develop the audit timeline, coordinate internal readiness, and serve as the primary point of coordination for auditor requests.
Lead audit coordination and governance: partner with external auditors to align timelines, manage deliverables across stakeholders, remove blockers, and escalate risks early to ensure audit deadlines are met.
Connect auditors to the right process owners, coordinate walkthroughs and inquiries, and ensure follow-ups are tracked through to completion.
Lead the identification, escalation, and resolution of complex accounting and reporting matters, including performing technical accounting research, documenting conclusions, and aligning stakeholders on the path forward.
Own technical accounting memo ownership where needed to support audit, external reporting, and internal decision-making.
Provide support to the tax team as it pertains to statutory requests and tax audit support (IRS/CRA and sales tax audits, corporate tax support as needed).
Support reporting needs to stream owners and UK head offices as applicable.
Maintain strong working relationships across the business to promote alignment and efficient issue resolution.
Gain a thorough understanding of stakeholder expectations and leverage accounting resources and knowledge to meet those expectations.
Develop, analyze, and interpret statistical and accounting information to support reliable decision-making.
Provide support to the tax team as it pertains to IRS/CRA & sales tax audits, transfer pricing, corporate taxes and any other ad hoc statutory requests.
Assist with reporting to stream owners and head office in UK where applicable.
Review current accounting processes and identify areas for improvement, standardization, automation, and risk reduction.
Develop, implement, and maintain procedures, controls, and documentation to create time savings and improve consistency across business units.
Set clear expectations and measurable performance standards for the team (close quality, timeliness, reconciliation rigor, audit readiness, and control adherence).
Coach and develop managers on delegation, review standards, and running an effective operating cadence (weekly priorities, close kickoffs, post-close retrospectives, and structured escalation).
Build bench strength through cross-training and documented back-ups for critical close, cash forecasting, hedging, and audit coordination tasks.
Drive role clarity and capability development across the team through recurring 1:1s, targeted feedback, and training plans that improve technical depth and execution over time.
Ensure the AP function is appropriately governed through the AP Manager (day-to-day ownership sits with the AP Manager; this role focuses on close linkage, controls, and cash forecasting inputs).