Finance & Accounting Lead – India GBS Back Office

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We are looking for a Finance & Accounting Lead for India to take ownership of core accounting, controlling, and local finance governance activities as part of a shared services team. The role combines hands-on controllership, local compliance knowledge, stakeholder management, and transition leadership.
The successful candidate will act as the key finance partner for India operations and the Global Business Service transformation team. This includes ensuring reliable month-end close, statutory and audit readiness, process documentation, system alignment, and clear governance across Finance, HR, Tax, Payroll, Concur, OneStream, and SAP and SAP S/4HANA Cloud interfaces.
This position requires a pragmatic finance leader who can stabilize current activities, lead a local team, support transformation decisions, and build scalable accounting processes in a cross-border environment.
Main Duties

• Finance leadership & continuity: Lead the India finance / accounting team and secure operational continuity during the replacement and transition phase.
• Accounting & closing: Own or coordinate monthly, quarterly, and annual closing activities, including reconciliations, accruals, provisions, cost center review, intercompany accounting, and management reporting inputs.
• Local statutory & compliance: Ensure alignment with Indian statutory accounting, Companies Act requirements, GST / TDS related accounting, audit expectations, internal controls, and corporate finance policies.
• Controllership: Provide finance controllership for the India Back Office, including cost tracking, budget / forecast support, variance analysis, capitalization or project accounting topics where applicable, and escalation of financial risks.
• Global Business Service transition support: Support the movement of finance back-office activities under the Global Business Service model, including role clarity, process mapping, RASIC / ownership definition, SLA / KPI setup, reporting cadence, and handover documentation.
• Systems & process readiness: Partner with Finance, IT, HR, and external advisors on SAP S/4HANA Cloud, OneStream account structures, Workday / payroll interfaces, Concur processes, and related local requirements.
• Process harmonization: Identify opportunities to simplify, standardize, and automate finance and accounting processes while respecting local statutory and tax requirements.
• Audit & risk management: Coordinate internal and external audit requirements, ensure evidence readiness, monitor open findings, and drive remediation actions.
• Stakeholder management: Act as the key liaison between India local leadership, Corporate Finance, Business Services, Tax, HR, IT, project teams, and external consultants.
• Team development: Coach and develop the local finance / accounting team, clarify responsibilities, build backup structures, and foster accountability and continuous improvement.

Governance & Performance Management

• Define and maintain clear accounting ownership across local India finance, Corporate Finance, and Global Business Service.
• Establish practical KPI / SLA tracking for service delivery, closing timelines, open items, reconciliations, audit requests, and issue resolution.
• Create transparent escalation paths and regular reporting for critical finance, tax, payroll, and system readiness topics.

Education

• University degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, Commerce, or a related field.
• Chartered Accountant (CA), Cost Accountant (CMA), CPA, ACCA, or comparable professional qualification strongly preferred.
• Additional training in Indian tax / statutory compliance, internal controls, finance transformation, Lean Six Sigma, or project management is an advantage.

Work Experience

• 8+ years of relevant experience in accounting, controllership, finance operations, or shared services / GBS environments.
• 3+ years in a finance leadership, controller, accounting lead, or team lead role in India.
• Strong experience with India statutory accounting, audit coordination, tax-sensitive accounting topics, and internal control requirements.
• Experience in automotive, engineering, IT services, shared service centers, or multinational matrix organizations is preferred.
• Practical experience with month-end closing, intercompany processes, balance sheet reconciliations, cost center accounting, and management reporting.
• Experience with process transitions, system implementations, or finance transformation projects is a strong advantage.

Skills

• Strong knowledge of Indian accounting, statutory reporting, GST / TDS accounting implications, audit practices, and local control requirements.
• Solid understanding of IFRS / US-GAAP or multinational corporate reporting requirements.
• Hands-on experience with SAP S/4HANA or SAP ECC; SAP S/4HANA Cloud experience is preferred.
• Experience with OneStream, Concur, Workday Payroll / HR interfaces, Power BI, workflow tools, or finance automation is an advantage.
• Strong analytical skills, high attention to detail, and ability to translate financial data into clear management insights.
• Proven leadership, coaching, and team coordination skills in a multicultural environment.
• Structured working style with a strong sense of ownership, documentation discipline, and follow-through.
• Ability to manage ambiguity, stabilize operations, and drive pragmatic solutions during transformation phases.
• Excellent English communication skills, written and spoken; ability to communicate with senior stakeholders and operational teams.

Work Environment

• High-visibility finance leadership role within the India GBS Back Office / Finance transformation context.
• Regular collaboration with international stakeholders.
• Moderate travel may be required during setup, knowledge transfer, audit, or system alignment phases.
• The role requires a combination of hands-on accounting execution, leadership, and transformation mindset.

At Magna, we believe that a diverse workforce is critical to our success. That’s why we are proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We hire on the basis of experience and qualifications, and in consideration of job requirements, regardless of, in particular, color, ancestry, religion, gender, origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability or gender identity. Magna takes the privacy of your personal information seriously. We discourage you from sending applications via email or traditional mail to comply with GDPR requirements and your local Data Privacy Law.

As part of our commitment to a fair, consistent, and efficient recruitment process, we may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to assist in the initial screening of applications submitted through our Workday system. These tools help identify qualifications and experience that align with the role requirements. Please note that AI is used solely to support our recruiters. Final decisions are always made by the hiring manager and the hiring team. Importantly, no applicant data is shared externally through these AI tools. All information remains securely within our systems and is handled in accordance with our privacy and data protection policies.

If you have any questions or concerns about this process, feel free to contact our Talent Attraction team.