Director of Accounting

Sun Gro Horticulture
is one of the most prominent North American horticultural companies, employing over 800 staff and serving customers worldwide. Since its humble beginnings in 1929, it has become the leading supplier of soilless growing mixes to North America's top 100 greenhouse and nursery growers, shipping over 70,000 truckloads of product annually. Sun Gro products are made to exacting standards and conform to high product quality and performance criteria.

Sun Gro Horticulture
recognizes that its success is due to the strength of its employees. The primary goal of Sun Gro is to promote individual employees' sense of accomplishment and contribution so that employees enjoy their association with Sun Gro Horticulture. The Company invests in its employees so that they are the most knowledgeable in the industry, and undertakes great efforts to nurture loyalty to, and teamwork at, Sun Gro.

GENERAL SUMMARY
:

Reporting to the CFO, the Director of Finance and Corporate Controller is a highly visible role with exposure to senior leadership and a key part of the day-to-day operations of the accounting team.

This position is responsible for all aspects of completing timely, accurate accounting and financial reporting under IFRS; budgeting; maintaining, developing and documenting controls and procedures; financial planning and analysis and preparation of reports to the board, audit committee and pension governance committee.

The Director of Finance and Corporate Controller plans, organizes, directs and controls the financial accounting functions of the organization and reports operational results. As well, they will work directly with the company's external auditors (accounting / pension) and support all annual external audit reporting requirements. Other functional tasks include management and oversight of tax compliance, treasury, pension governance, involvement in finance systems upgrades/ implementations and other administrative tasks as required.

ESSENTIAL POSITION FUNCTIONS
:

• Responsible for short and long term planning and the management of the accounting team
• Preparing budgets and forecasts with CFO and CEO.
• Lead the effort or support the CFO in assessing/implementing organizational and legal entity restructuring from a tax perspective.
• Lead development of transfer pricing model for cross border intercompany sales, both between Canada / US and US / Mexico.
• Lead/support integration of any acquisitions into the business.
• Lead or have significant involvement in ERP implementation activities and subsequent system upgrades.
• Analyze financial results and prepare reports for management, the executive leadership team and the board.
• Lead monthly, quarterly and year end close including review of account reconciliations and profit and loss analysis.
• Ensure compliance with IFRS standards, regulations, internal financial controls and tax reporting.
• Deep understanding of the structure of Canadian and US corporate private companies.
• Complete the year-end audit process. Review and approve all reconciliations and audit working papers.
• Coordinate external auditors, respond to audit requests, approve all adjustments and reconcile the audit numbers.
• Coach accounting team members and oversee AP payment and payroll processes.
• Other finance and administrative duties as required.
• Implement and document policies and procedures that ensure a smooth running of the department and streamline processes.
• Continuous improvement: Monitor accounting and reporting processes and operations and make recommendations on opportunities for improvement. Implement recommendations that have management approval to proceed.
• Develop department goals that complement the overarching business goals of the company and coordinate staff day-to-day responsibilities/activities and distribute workload to continually meet and exceed goals and maximize team efficiency.
• Recruit, hire, train, mentor and evaluate staff members within the accounting/payroll/accounts payable departments to ensure that staff members are appropriately trained to deliver against the requirements of the organization.
• Ensure project/department milestones/goals are met and the department adheres to and/or exceeds approved budgets.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES
:

• Possesses the ability to strategize and solve problems, working directly with senior management.
• Display a willingness to take on a broad range of duties and projects and comfortable with a flexible, hands-on approach.
• Highly motivated with strong analytical, planning, problem-solving and time management skills.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to work with a high degree of accuracy.
• Ability to work under pressure and meet strict deadlines.
• Strong customer focus - includes the ability to balance the needs of the customer with the needs of the business as well as fostering a strong customer focus mindset.
• Strong Fact-Based Decision-Making skills – supports decisions with data and uses data to solve problems.
• Ability to Establish Plans – set clear, measurable goals, anticipating roadblocks and adjusts for problems, can accurately assess the length and difficulty of tasks.
• Change Champion – able to communicate changes, remove obstacles and understand who needs to be involved in driving changes.
• Strong execution skills – can provide support without removing responsibility, monitors progress to ensure achievement of goals, coordinate with other work groups.
• Creates an environment that fosters process improvement and challenges status quo to eliminate non-value-added work.
• Understanding of the finance function and interaction with other departments.
• Strong coaching skills – ability to assess talent accurately, make tough calls when needed and work with employees on development to ensure their success as well as continued achievement of organizational goals.
• Able to Provide Direction – sets clear objectives and develops KPIs to monitor work. Clarifies roles and responsibilities and monitors progress and results.
• Motivates Others – Inspires people to excel by creating a work environment that allows people to do their best.
• Fosters Teamwork – values all employee's contributions, involving team in decisions that affect them and discourages "we" vs. "them" attitude.
• Strong Business Process Orientation ensuring strategic process alignment across functions consistent with corporate strategies and goals
• Proficient with technology. Computer skills a must, specific proficiency in Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Internet and email.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE
:

• CPA and public accounting experience preferred.
• Between 8-10 years of progressive experience in accounting and finance.
• Good understanding of the regulatory reporting requirements for Canadian and US entities.
• Previous experience leading teams.
• Exposure to and experience working with treasury and pension governance function.