Senior Manager/Director of Accounting - Rights & Royalties

We are seeking a highly skilled and process-driven accounting leader to oversee our Rights & Royalties accounting functions. This role will be responsible for strengthening accounting processes, driving improvements in accuracy and efficiency, and ensuring robust internal controls across royalties and subrights.

This position will directly manage two Accounting Managers (one focused on Subrights Accounting and one on Royalty Accounting) and will report to the VP of Accounting. The ideal candidate has proven expertise in rights & royalties accounting, thrives in a fast-paced environment with complex systems, and excels at improving processes that support both financial reporting and cross-functional teams.

What you'll do:

• Leadership & Oversight
  • Lead and mentor two Accounting Managers overseeing a subrights and royalty accounting team consisting of 5 full time employees and 4 contractors.
  • Serve as the senior point of contact for royalties and subrights accounting across the organization with both internal stakeholders and external auditors.
• Process Improvement
  
  • Oversee the creation of process documentation and serve as the process owner for rights and royalties accounting.
  • Design, implement, and improve processes for monthly accruals, year-end estimates of advance recoupments, reconciliations, account roll-forwards, and streamline journal entries.
  • Partner with Finance, Contracts, and Subrights Sales teams to streamline reporting and ensure accuracy.
  • Drive transformation initiatives tied to ongoing system changes and new ISBN-level accounting in SAP.
• Systems & Data Management
  
  • Oversee the reconciliation of advances and royalty earnings from two different royalty systems into the SAP general ledger.
  • Leverage Excel and large datasets to enhance analysis, reporting, and internal controls.
  • Own the data definitions of royalties and subrights fields that impact the financial ledger and serve as the point of contact for technology in changes impacting the rights & royalties accounting process.
• Collaboration & Reporting
  • Provide timely and accurate reporting to division finance teams.
  • Support ongoing and future implementations of new royalty systems and associated process transitions.
  • Ensure accounting practices align with internal controls and company policies.

What you'll bring:

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting or Finance; CPA preferred.
• 8 years of progressive accounting experience (10 years for Director level).
• Direct experience with rights & royalties accounting (required).
• Experience in publishing strongly preferred. Experience within entertainment & media mandatory.
• Strong process-improvement background with a track record of building scalable accounting processes in modern ERP systems.
• Proficiency in SAP or equivalent ERP systems (preferred).
• Advanced Excel skills and demonstrated ability to manage large, complex data sets.
• Strong understanding of internal controls and compliance requirements.
• Proven leadership skills with experience managing teams and working cross-functionally.

This role will have an annual salary of $130,000-$150,000, depending on the level of experience and qualifications.

Macmillan Publishers is the U.S. trade company that is part of the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group, a large family-owned group of media companies headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Holtzbrinck Publishing Group's publishing companies include prominent imprints around the world that publish a broad range of award-winning books for children and adults in all categories and formats.

U.S. publishers include Celadon Books, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, Flatiron Books, Henry Holt & Company, Macmillan Audio, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, The St. Martin's Publishing Group, and Tor Publishing Group. In the UK, Australia, India, and South Africa, companies in the Holtzbrinck Publishing Group publish under the Pan Macmillan name. The German publishing company, Holtzbrinck Deutsche Buchverlage, includes among its imprints S. Fischer, Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Rowohlt, and Droemer Knaur.

Macmillan is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, consistently striving to foster a culture where everyone belongs. We welcome applicants of all backgrounds and identities. Qualified applicants are evaluated without regard to race, color, religion, age, ethnicity, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability status, physical ability, neurodiversity, genetic information, protected veteran status, family and economic status, and background or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local law. We prohibit discrimination of any kind and will provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities in accordance with applicable law.