Head of Shared Services – Finance Governance, Automation & Compliance

STL - Sterlite Technologies Limited; Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar District; On-site; INR 6,000,000 - 9,000,000; Full time

Job summary

STL – Sterlite Technologies Limited is seeking a senior leader to head Shared Services - Finance Governance, Automation & Compliance. The role oversees P2P, O2C and Employee Shared Services with a focus on policy enforcement, internal controls, and regulatory compliance.

The position champions digital finance technology, partners with IT and business L&Os, and ensures alignment with Ind AS/IFRS, FEMA regulations, and GST compliance while guiding transformation initiatives across the finance

Qualifications

• 15+ years of overall post-qualification finance experience.
• 5+ years in senior leadership/governance role within Shared Services or corporate finance controlling.
• Deep knowledge of Ind AS/IFRS, Direct & Indirect Taxes, RBI FEMA regulations, IFC/SOX frameworks, and governance of automation toolsets.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic oversight across P2P, O2C, and ESS governance programs.
• Lead digital transformation initiatives and automation roadmaps for shared services.
• Establish internal control frameworks and ensure compliance with accounting standards and tax regulations.
• Coordinate with Finance, IT, Procurement, Sales, HR, Legal, and external auditors for audit readiness and governance excellence.
• Oversee FEMA regulatory compliance, cross-border governance, and tax reporting processes.
• Drive changes in policy, SLAs, and KPIs; manage risk and process assurance.
• Lead team development and governance metrics across the shared services organization.

Skills

Executive leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

Digital transformation

Regulatory compliance

Stakeholder management

Education

CA/CPA

Tools

RPA

AI/OCR

HighRadius

Concur

Job description

The Head of Shared Services – Finance Governance, Automation & Compliance is a senior executive leadership role responsible for providing strategic oversight, digital transformation leadership, cross-departmental alignment, policy enforcement, and regulatory control across Procure-to-Pay (P2P), Order-to-Cash (O2C), and Employee Shared Services. The position holder will not engage in day-to-day transactional execution; instead, they will lead operational finance teams, champion digital finance technology solutions, establish robust internal control frameworks, and ensure that all financial operations strictly align with applicable Accounting Standards (Ind AS/IFRS), Direct/Indirect Taxation laws, and RBI Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) regulations.

This leader acts as the central bridge between Finance, IT/Digital Transformation teams, Procurement, Sales, HR, Legal, External Auditors, and Regulatory Authorities (AD Banks / RBI) to drive complete process assurance, technology-led productivity, risk mitigation, and continuous governance excellence.

What the role entails

A. Procure-to-Pay (P2P) Governance & Cross-Functional Alignment

• Cross-Departmental Workflow Alignment: Establish seamless SLA-driven integration between Procurement, Supply Chain, receiving units, and Accounts Payable to ensure timely receiving documentation, 3-way matching rules, and PO compliance.
• Policy & Financial Control Framework: Define, institute, and enforce global P2P policies, approval authority matrices (DOA), and payment batch approval parameters for execution by the operational team.
• Accounting Standards & Ledger Integrity: Provide overall technical accounting guidance (Ind AS / IFRS) to ensure correct capital vs. revenue expenditure classification, expense accruals, liability recognition, and provisions.
• Taxation Compliance Oversight: Ensure the team adheres to statutory withholding requirements (TDS, TCS, GST-TDS) and international withholding rules, validating that proper tax positions and filings are executed before vendor disbursements.
• Working Capital & Cash Outflow Control: Review and authorize master payment runs, optimize Days Payable Outstanding (DPO), and align payable schedules with corporate treasury cash flow guidelines.

B. Order-to-Cash (O2C) Governance & Commercial Coordination

• Commercial & Sales Alignment: Interface with Commercial, Legal, and Sales leadership to ensure customer credit terms, contract revenue recognition clauses, and billing terms align with financial controls.
• Revenue Recognition Governance: Oversee process assurance to guarantee strict adherence to revenue accounting standards (Ind AS 115 / IFRS 15), including unearned revenue, deferred revenue, and contract assets/liabilities.
• Credit Policy & Exposure Management: Establish global credit risk frameworks, review high-value credit line approvals, and oversee overall risk exposure across domestic and international customer portfolios.
• Tax Compliance on Sales: Ensure strict process validation for output GST/VAT calculation, e-invoicing compliance, e-way bill generation, and cross-border export documentation.
• DSO Oversight & Escalation Management: Monitor team performance on collections, review provision for Expected Credit Loss (ECL / bad debts), and lead high-level executive resolution for chronic commercial disputes.

C. Employee Shared Services (ESS) Governance & HR Alignment

• HR & Payroll Interface: Partner with HR and Legal departments to establish policy frameworks for global/domestic payroll processing, executive compensation, and employee benefits accounting.
• Statutory Payroll & Tax Compliance: Ensure team compliance with statutory payroll deductions, including Provident Fund (PF), Employee State Insurance (ESI), Professional Tax (PT), and Form 16 / TDS withholding requirements.
• T&E & Benefit Policy Governance: Design and enforce corporate Travel & Expense (T&E) policies, expense authorization levels, corporate card controls, and statutory per diem rules.
• Employee General Ledger Control: Oversee the integrity and monthly reconciliation of all employee-related balance sheet accounts (advances, payroll liabilities, bonus/incentive provisions, and F&F settlements).

D. Shared Services Automation & Digital Transformation Drive

• Automation Strategy & Technology Roadmap: Formulate and drive the multi-year digital transformation roadmap for Shared Services, evaluating and implementing cutting-edge technologies to achieve touchless processing across P2P, O2C, and ESS.
• P2P Digitalization (AI / OCR / Portal: Lead the strategic adoption of AI-powered Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for invoice ingestion, vendor self-service portals, automated 3-way matching bots, and ERP-integrated payment gateways.
• O2C & Cash Application Automation: Drive the rollout of automated credit scoring models, digital e-invoicing integrations, AI-based cash application solutions (e.g., HighRadius), and automated customer dunning workflows.
• ESS & Regulatory Automation: Spearhead the implementation of digital T&E expense management platforms (e.g., Concur/SAP), automated payroll interfaces, and automated tracking bots for IDPMS/EDPMS FEMA compliance updates.
• Robotic Process Automation (RPA) & Analytics: Sponsor and oversee RPA bot deployment for routine reconciliations, ledger balance validation, and automated compliance reporting; leverage advanced BI analytics to monitor real-time process performance.
• Change Management & IT Alignment: Partner closely with Global IT and enterprise software vendors to ensure system upgrades, seamless ERP extensions, and robust data security controls without operational disruption.

E. FEMA Regulatory Compliance Governance (Payables & Receivables)

• FEMA Payables (Import / Outward Remittance) Assurance: Establish control mechanisms to ensure the team complies with RBI import guidelines—guaranteeing timely Form A2 filings, Bill of Entry (BoE) matching on the IDPMS portal, and prevention of RBI cautionary listing.
• FEMA Receivables (Export / Inward Remittance) Assurance: Monitor export realization timelines (9/15-month RBI limits), ensure timely EDPMS reconciliation, and track the receipt and mapping of e-FIRCs with Authorised Dealer (AD Category-I) banks.
• Banking & AD Bank Coordination: Serve as the senior escalation authority with AD Banks for complex regulatory approvals, advance outward payments, write-offs of uncollectible export receivables, extension of realization periods, and trade credit authorizations.
• Cross-Border & Intercompany Governance: Direct regulatory oversight over foreign direct investment (FDI/ODI) reporting, ECB guidelines, royalty payments, and intercompany transfer pricing chargebacks under FEMA rules.

F. Audit Handling, Internal Controls & Regulatory Representation

• Audit Strategy & Coordination: Lead executive interface for Statutory Audits, Internal Audits, Tax Audits, and Regulatory Audits. Serve as the single point of accountability for audit readiness across P2P, O2C, and ESS.
• Internal Financial Controls (IFC / SOX): Design, implement, and maintain the Internal Financial Control (IFC) matrix. Periodically evaluate control effectiveness, segregation of duties (SoD), and process risk maps.
• Audit Committee Reporting & Remediation: Present audit findings, control deficiencies, and regulatory compliance updates to the CFO and Audit Committee; ensure operational teams execute Corrective and Preventive Actions (CAPA).

G. Team Leadership & Continuous Process Assurance

• Team Leadership & Talent Development: Guide, mentor, and build a high-performing management team capable of executing transactional operations with zero errors.
• Governance Metrics & SLA Tracking: Define operational SLAs and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the operational team, maintaining oversight via periodic dashboards (First-Pass Yield, SLA compliance, Touchless Invoice %, Tax return accuracy, Open FEMA cases).

What we are looking for in you

• Education & Certification: Chartered Accountant (CA) or Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is mandatory.
• Experience: 15+ years of overall post-qualification finance experience, with 5+ years in a senior leadership/governance role within Shared Services or corporate finance controlling, including demonstrated success in driving digital transformation.
• Core Technical & Digital Knowledge: Deep working knowledge of Accounting Standards (Ind AS / IFRS), Direct & Indirect Taxes (TDS, GST), RBI FEMA regulations (IDPMS, EDPMS, e-FIRC, Trade Credit), IFC/SOX frameworks, and hands-on governance of automation toolsets (RPA, AI/OCR, HighRadius, Concur).
• Leadership Traits: Strong cross-functional leadership, matrix management capability, digital change management vision, executive presence, and excellent stakeholder coordination skills.

“At STL – Sterlite Technologies Limited, we are proud to be a Great Place to Work® Certified organization, reflecting our commitment to building a culture rooted in trust, collaboration, and high performance. We believe innovation flourishes when people feel empowered, respected, and supported in their growth journey. Here, you’ll find opportunities to take ownership, challenge conventions, and contribute meaningfully to global connectivity solutions. If you are driven by impact and inspired by teamwork, you will find STL a truly rewarding place to build your career.”