About the role
The AP Specialist Role, will oversee a small team of AP specialists responsible for managing the full invoice lifecycle for a portfolio of global vendors. This role will be a hands-on team lead who ensures accuracy and efficiency, from initial invoice receipt through to payment processing and account reconciliation. This role requires strong leadership, problem-solving, and communication skills to manage team performance, maintain positive vendor relationships, and support the organization's financial goals.
What you'll do
- Mentor and lead a global team of AP specialists, fostering a collaborative and high-performance culture.
- Provide ongoing guidance, training, and support to team members to ensure process consistency and professional growth.
- Manage daily workload allocation and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to meet service level agreements (SLAs) and productivity targets.
- Conduct performance reviews, provide constructive feedback, and identify opportunities for skills development within the team.
- Oversee the end-to-end accounts payable process, including invoice receipt, verification, coding, and entry.
- Ensure the timely and accurate processing of a high volume of vendor invoices using various Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems.
- Manage weekly and ad-hoc payment runs for global vendors in multiple currencies.
- Implement and enforce AP policies and procedures to ensure accuracy and compliance with internal controls and company policies.
- Serve as an escalation point for complex vendor inquiries and payment disputes, driving issues to resolution.
- Oversee the monthly and yearly reconciliation of major vendor accounts to ensure account integrity and address discrepancies.
- Cultivate and maintain positive, long-term relationships with external vendors.
- Identify and implement opportunities for process automation and efficiency improvements within the AP workflow.
- Analyze AP performance metrics and KPIs (e.g., invoice processing time, exception rates) to pinpoint root causes of inefficiencies and implement data-driven solutions.
- Actively lead or participate in cross-functional projects focused on streamlining procure-to-pay (P2P) processes, such as the implementation or optimization of new systems and technologies.
- Collaborate with internal departments (e.g., procurement, finance, operations, and IT) to resolve invoice discrepancies, address process bottlenecks, and improve overall payment accuracy.
- Develop, maintain, and enforce standardized AP processes and procedures across all global teams to enhance consistency, control, and efficiency.
- Leverage AP automation tools and ERP systems to streamline processes, reduce manual effort, and improve accuracy.
Examples of desirable skills, knowledge and experience
- Experience: Proven experience in a senior AP or accounting operations role, with a minimum of 2+ years in a leadership or supervisory capacity.
- Education: A bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field is preferred.
- Technical expertise: Strong proficiency with ERP systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle, NetSuite) and Microsoft Office Suite, particularly advanced Excel skills. Experience with AP automation tools is a plus.
- Leadership: Demonstrated ability to lead, mentor, and motivate a team to achieve high performance.
- Cross-functional collaboration: Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to build effective relationships and influence stakeholders across various departments.
- Problem-solving: Strong analytical skills with a proactive approach to resolving discrepancies and complex cross-functional issues.
- Process improvement: Proven track record of identifying and successfully implementing process improvements in an accounts payable or related environment.
- Detail-oriented: Meticulous attention to detail and accuracy in all financial record-keeping and reporting.
- Global mindset: Experience working with a global or multinational team and managing accounts in different currencies.
Top Skills
What We Do
Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET) is the leading connectivity cloud company on a mission to help build a better Internet. It empowers organizations to make their employees, applications and networks faster and more secure everywhere, while reducing complexity and cost. Cloudflare’s connectivity cloud delivers the most full-featured, unified platform of cloud-native products and developer tools, so any organization can gain the control they need to work, develop, and accelerate their business.
Powered by one of the world’s largest and most interconnected networks, Cloudflare blocks billions of threats online for its customers every day. It is trusted by millions of organizations – from the largest brands to entrepreneurs and small businesses to nonprofits, humanitarian groups, and governments across the globe.
Why Work With Us
Cloudflare employees come from all walks of life. We are mission-driven, and our team is energized by a collaborative, creative environment that celebrates our differences and fosters new ways to grow together.
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Employees engage in a combination of remote and on-site work.
We are committed to developing a global team that is distributed with a flexible working approach. Doing this equitably and inclusively is essential to our success. Visit our careers site for more on 'How & Where We Work.'
