Lead SAP Finance Analyst - Inventory & COGS

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At Levi Strauss & Co., you can be yourself — and be part of something bigger. We collaborate instead of competing. We believe that diverse perspectives make us stronger. And we try not to take ourselves too seriously. There’s plenty of room to make your mark here. Come work with us and wear what you love.

Job Description Summary

As the Lead Finance Analyst for Enterprise Processes-Inventory & COGS, you will develop and deploy effective system solutions in the areas of product costing and inventory accounting. Your primary focus will be the (phased) global implementation of S4 HANA but you will also support new business initiatives and new system capabilities, with the goal of driving process standardization, automation, and simplification across the globe.

In this role, you will have an invaluable opportunity to work with a cross-functional team of finance, technical and business experts who are building a best-in-class global enterprise infrastructure critical to Levi Strauss & Co’s digital transformation. Our ideal candidate is passionate about the intersection of business process and technology; committed to learning; champions our finance stakeholders’ interests; and brings thoughtful & data driven perspectives, creativity, and a positive attitude to solve problems at scale. This role is ideal for someone looking to apply and expand their knowledge of finance/accounting and systems in a more strategic and collaborative role and is excellent preparation for future management opportunities.

Job Description

• Actively understand, contribute to, and promote global best practices for product costing and inventory accounting-related processes.
• Collaborate with finance and cross-functional teams to establish and execute project strategies to design, build, test and implement system solutions within project timelines
• Facilitate design efforts to confirm business requirements, evaluate/select system solutions, and confirm details required to build/implement the solution
• When relevant, partner with cross-functional teams and third parties to contribute finance requirements and design details.
• Work closely with the Quality Engineering team to develop or modify system test strategies including test and data scenarios and business acceptance criteria. Validate test results and/or facilitate review with finance users.
• For new system implementations, oversee the data conversion approach and validation for product costing and contribute to the approach for inventory and any relevant finance conversion objects
• Drive successful resolution of issues throughout the project lifecycle through identification, documentation, and escalation of issues/errors.
• Act as a change management agent by planning and leading training and business cutover activities to transition to new system solutions/processes
• Utilize your entrepreneurial spirt to identify new opportunities for business process optimization and to improve the finance user experience
• Communicate clearly and effectively to technical and non-technical audiences equally well, across varying communication methods/forums and with varying objectives
• Write efficient and well-organized documents summarizing business requirements, functional specifications, business processes and/or organizational change impacts
• Embody the values and passions that characterize Levi Strauss & Co., with empathy to engage with colleagues from a wide range of backgrounds

Additional Job Qualifications

• University or advanced degree in accounting, finance, or related field
• Chartered Accountant preferred
• A minimum of 7-10 years’ experience working in accounting/finance, including US GAAP and Financial Reporting and 5+ years in Inventory Accounting / Supply Chain Finance related roles. Retail industry experience is preferred.
• SAP user experience (a minimum of 3+ years) is required
• At least intermediate knowledge of business & accounting processes and SAP system functionality related to: Product Costing (standard cost), Inventory Management, Inventory Accounting/Valuation (accruals, reserves, variances), Product Procurement & Payables, and General Ledger.
• Proficient user of Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams)
• Experience using and/or developing reporting/dashboard tools such as Power BI, SAP BI, or Tableau
• Expertise in project methodology, e.g., business requirement and process flow documentation, systems integration testing (test script development, validation of test results), data conversion and cleansing, and business cutover is required
• Prior use of project tools such as Smartsheets, Confluence and ALM (Application Lifecycle Management) is preferred
• Experience developing and facilitating training