Senior Manager, IT Finance

The Senior Manager, IT Finance is responsible for building and managing the IT Finance reporting function and helping manage the financial operations that support Information Technology (IT) and the Strategy Realization Office (SRO). This role creates clear, consistent, and decision-ready reporting across budgets, forecasts, actual results, purchase orders, invoices, capital projects, AI-related investments, and contractor spend. The position partners with IT leaders, Finance, Accounting, Accounts Payable, project teams, and vendors to improve budget accountability, ensure accurate coding and timely approvals, and strengthen monthly planning, close, and reporting processes.

Primary Function: 

• Build and lead a standardized reporting function for IT and SRO, bringing budgets, forecasts, actuals, commitments, and accruals together in clear monthly views for leaders.
• Partner with budget owners to explain variances, identify emerging risks and opportunities, agree on corrective actions, and strengthen accountability for financial performance.
• Oversee purchase order creation and maintenance, invoice review and approval workflows, and financial coding to support accurate, timely, and well-controlled transaction processing.
• Build reporting for the capital project portfolio, including approved budgets, capital and operating expense, actuals, commitments, forecasts, remaining funding, and expected cost at completion.
• Own contractor workforce reporting and governance, including roster accuracy, spend and headcount trends, rates, vendors, managers, approvers, locations, projects, and financial coding.
• Manage and develop a small team while driving process and system improvements and overseeing AI-related spend to improve data quality, investment visibility, and decision-making.

Job Detail:

• Own the monthly IT and SRO reporting calendar and management package, including budget-to-actual and forecast variance analysis by function, cost center, account, and project.
• Translate financial results into concise executive summaries, clearly explaining drivers, implications, risks, opportunities, and recommended actions.
• Support the annual budget, long-range planning, periodic reforecasts, scenario analysis, and ongoing forecast updates with budget owners.
• Oversee purchase order requests and creation, ensuring the vendor, business purpose, project, cost center, account, capital or operating treatment, and approvals are accurate.
• Monitor purchase order balances, commitments, receipts, change requests, and closures, and resolve exceptions with business owners.
• Oversee invoice review and approval workflows, including appropriate routing, timely approvals, purchase order matching, documentation, and resolution of holds or discrepancies.
• Review financial coding and allocations across accounts, cost centers, locations, projects, and capital or operating expense classifications; coordinate corrections when needed.
• Track invoices, accruals, commitments, and timing items and reconcile source systems to maintain an accurate monthly view of IT spend.
• Develop dashboards and KPIs for run rate, forecast accuracy, budget utilization, transaction status, savings, risks, and opportunities.
• Maintain capital project reporting for approved budgets, actuals, commitments, forecasts, expected cost at completion, and variances.
• Partner with project and program managers to maintain forecasts and surface overruns, underspend, timing changes, and funding needs.
• Support capitalization tracking by project and phase and align capital and operating expense treatment with Accounting policy.
• Maintain the authoritative contractor roster and reporting for headcount, spend, rates, vendors, roles, locations, projects, managers, approvers, coding, and contract dates.
• Coordinate contractor onboarding, changes, extensions, and offboarding to ensure timely approvals, purchase orders, access, coding, and documentation.
• Establish standard definitions, controls, documentation, and review routines; automate reporting and coach assigned team members to promote accuracy and accountability.
• Maintain oversight of AI-related tools, licenses, usage-based services, pilots, and consulting to improve spend visibility, identify duplication, monitor commitments, and support investment decisions.

The estimated salary for this position ranges from $120,000 - $167,000 yearly. Actual compensation will vary based on factors including but not limited to the candidate’s skills, experience, and qualifications. Geographic differentials may also apply depending on the position’s location. There is no application deadline for this role; recruitment will remain open until the position is filled. 

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and relevant experience, is preferred
• 10 or more years of progressive professional experience in Finance, Accounting, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, financial operations, or a related discipline, including at least 3 years leading people, processes, or major cross-functional work.
• Demonstrated success building or improving reporting and operational processes in a high-volume, service-oriented environment, with a strong focus on accuracy, controls, customer service, and measurable results.
• Experience developing management reporting and analyzing financial performance, including the ability to identify trends, explain variances, develop useful metrics, and translate data into clear actions for business leaders. Direct IT finance experience is preferred but not required.
• Working knowledge of financial transaction processes, including purchase orders, invoice approvals, financial coding, reconciliations, accruals, vendor interactions, and month-end close activities. Accounts receivable or accounts payable leadership experience is valuable.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel and experience working with ERP and reporting systems; Oracle Cloud, Hyperion/Smart View, project portfolio management tools, and Power BI experience is preferred.
• Strong analytical, leadership, and business partnership skills, including the ability to reconcile large data sets, identify root causes, establish controls, influence stakeholders, and drive accountability across functions.
• Exceptional communication, organization, and judgment, with the ability to manage competing deadlines, work through ambiguity, maintain confidentiality, and deliver accurate work with strong attention to detail.

UniFirst is an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate in hiring or employment against any individual on the basis of race, color, gender, national origin, ancestry, religion, physical or mental disability, age, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, pregnancy, citizenship, or any other factor protected by anti-discrimination laws.

If you require an accommodation during any part of the application process due to a disability or medical condition, please contact us by email at TalentAcquisition@unifirst.com or through our EthicsFirst portal at UniFirst.ethicspoint.com. You may also call the EthicsFirst Hotline at (800) 213-8979 to let us know the nature of your request.

UniFirst Recruiters and/or representatives will not ask job seekers to provide personal financial information when submitting a job application. Please be vigilant as such requests for information may be fraudulent.