What are the responsibilities and job description for the IT Internal Controls Manager position at Buckingham Search?
Manager, Internal Controls – SAP & IT Controls
Location: Oak Brook, IL (Hybrid – 3 days onsite / 2 remote)
About the Company
Global, publicly traded ($10B revenue) industrial manufacturer with 35,000 employees and operations in 40 countries. Multi-brand portfolio across heavy equipment and machinery. SAP environment undergoing a global S/4HANA transformation.
The Role
This is a senior individual contributor role serving as the internal controls expert within the accounting function, with a primary focus on IT systems controls. You'll guide accounting teams, business process owners, and IT partners on control requirements and process improvement for both existing systems and new implementations. The role also owns segregation of duties governance and supports the company's global SAP transformation.
Key Responsibilities
- Ensure business processes, system configurations, and reporting align with approved financial policies and are audit-ready.
- Lead large-scale projects to enhance or automate processes and implement system enhancements.
- Provide leadership during system implementations — design and embed effective controls into future-state processes.
- Safeguard financial data integrity during cutovers, data migrations, and process transitions.
- Lead the design and governance of SAP ECC and S/4HANA user profiles, including role-based access and SoD compliance.
- Conduct risk assessments and control evaluations; identify gaps and recommend improvements.
- Support internal and external audits — documentation, meetings, remediation.
- Serve as a trusted advisor to finance, IT, and operations leadership on system controls and compliance.
- Train and guide finance and business users on policy, access management, and control awareness.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or related field
- 6–8 years of directly related experience
- Public accounting experience preferred (Big 4 ideal)
- Hands-on experience with IT systems (SAP strongly preferred), automated controls, and systems implementations
- Strong technical knowledge of U.S. GAAP and SOX
- Internal Controls, specifically IT Controls
- System Implementations, specifically SAP ECC or SAP S/4HANA