Director of Global Finance Operations

Northeastern University; Boston (MA); On-site; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Northeastern University seeks a Director of Global Operations to lead international finance and compliance across its global entities in the UK, Ireland, India, and Canada. The role ensures timely, accurate financial operations and coordinates cross-jurisdictional obligations with legal, treasury, and leadership teams.

The role requires deep international accounting and tax expertise, ERP experience (Workday Finance), and the ability to manage multiple priorities across distributed teams.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field required.
• CPA, CA, or equivalent professional certification strongly preferred.
• 7–10 years of progressive experience in international finance, tax, or accounting with multi-jurisdictional exposure.
• Experience in higher education, nonprofit, or public accounting is preferred.
• Strong knowledge of VAT/GST regimes, transfer pricing, statutory reporting, and international treasury operations.
• Experience with Workday Finance or a comparable ERP system preferred.
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent priorities across distributed teams and third-party providers.
• Excellent communication, organizational, and project management skills.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the operational lead for international tax compliance across the University's global entities.
• Coordinate with external tax advisors to ensure timely filings and maintain compliance calendars.
• Develop and maintain the University's global tax strategy and intercompany pricing policies.
• Maintain a comprehensive global compliance calendar covering all jurisdictions.
• Elevate risks and coordinate remediation for upcoming deadlines or changes.
• Support onboarding of new international locations with compliance frameworks and local providers.
• Coordinate with legal on corporate governance obligations and entity-specific filings.
• Assist in forming new entities from a finance perspective, including banking and Workday configurations.

Skills

International finance

Tax compliance

Transfer pricing

Statutory reporting

International treasury operations

Communication

Project management

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's degree in Accounting/Finance

CPA/CA or equivalent

Tools

Workday Finance

Job description

About the Opportunity

The Director of Global Operations serves as the primary operational lead for Northeastern University's international finance and compliance function, reporting to the AVP of Tax. This role is responsible for ensuring the integrity, timeliness, and accuracy of financial operations across the University's international entities in the United Kingdom, Ireland, India, and Canada, and is the central point of coordination for all cross-jurisdictional compliance obligations.

The Director partners closely with the AVP and University Controller, legal, treasury, and institutional leadership at each global location to ensure that statutory, regulatory, and operational requirements are met in each jurisdiction. The role requires both technical depth across international accounting and tax disciplines and the operational discipline to manage multiple concurrent compliance cycles across diverse legal and regulatory environments.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field required.
• CPA, CA, or equivalent professional certification strongly preferred.
• A minimum of 7-10 years of progressive experience in international finance, tax, or accounting, with direct exposure to multi-jurisdictional compliance environments.
• Prior experience in higher education, nonprofit, or professional services (public accounting) is preferred.
• Strong working knowledge of VAT/GST regimes, transfer pricing concepts, statutory reporting requirements, and international treasury operations.
• Experience with Workday Finance or a comparable ERP system preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple concurrent priorities across geographically distributed teams and third-party service providers.
• Excellent communication, organizational, and project management skills.

Key Responsibilities & Accountabilities

International Tax and Other Compliance

Serve as the operational lead for all international tax compliance obligations across the University's global entities, including corporate tax filings, VAT/GST returns, withholding tax obligations, and transfer pricing documentation. Coordinate with external tax advisors in each jurisdiction to ensure timely and accurate filing. Monitor regulatory developments across active jurisdictions and assess impact on the University's compliance posture and financial reporting. Support the AVP of Tax in developing and maintaining the University's global tax strategy and intercompany pricing policies.

Maintain a comprehensive global compliance calendar covering all tax, statutory, payroll, regulatory, and reporting deadlines across active jurisdictions through partnership with local consultants and stay informed about upcoming changes in requirements. Proactively elevate risks to upcoming deadlines or required changes and coordinate remediation as needed. Serve as the institutional knowledge owner for each jurisdiction's compliance obligations, ensuring continuity and consistency as the University's global footprint evolves. Support onboarding of new international locations by establishing compliance frameworks and local service provider relationships from inception.

Coordinate with the University's dedicated legal resource on ongoing corporate governance obligations for each international entity, including annual confirmation statements and Companies House filings in the UK, CRO filings in Ireland, MCA annual returns and board resolutions in India, and equivalent requirements in other active jurisdictions. Serve as the finance function's primary liaison on legal entity matters, ensuring that finance-related obligations - registered office, financial year-end, authorized signatories, and statutory accounts filing - are tracked and met in coordination with legal. Support new entity formation from a finance perspective, including opening of bank accounts, establishment of local registrations, and configuration of Workday Finance (company codes, cost centers, currency settings, intercompany eliminations) in coordination with the systems team.

Partner with the International Payroll Manager and Payroll Director to ensure that international payroll compliance obligations are met on a timely basis across all active jurisdictions, including PAYE and National Insurance in the UK, PRSI and USC in Ireland, and PF, ESI, and TDS obligations in India. The Director serves as the cross-functional coordination point between payroll, tax, and local statutory requirements - ensuring that payroll-related tax registrations, year-end filings, and employer compliance obligations are factored into the global compliance calendar and escalated appropriately.

Oversee finance-side compliance with OFAC regulations and applicable sanctions regimes for all international payments, including vendor disbursements, intercompany funding transfers, and research-related wire transfers. Coordinate with legal and the University's compliance function to ensure that payment screeni