Senior Accountant

Unum • Portland, ME

1d

About The Position

When you join the team at Unum, you become part of an organization committed to helping you thrive. Here, we work to provide the employee benefits and service solutions that enable employees at our client companies to thrive throughout life’s moments. And this starts with ensuring that every one of our team members enjoys opportunities to succeed both professionally and personally. To enable this, we provide: Award-winning culture Inclusion and diversity as a priority Performance Based Incentive Plans Competitive benefits package that includes: Health, Vision, Dental, Short & Long-Term Disability Generous PTO (including paid time to volunteer!) Up to 9.5% 401(k) employer contribution Mental health support Career advancement opportunities Student loan repayment options Tuition reimbursement Flexible work environments All the benefits listed above are subject to the terms of their individual Plans. And that’s just the beginning… With 10,000 employees helping more than 39 million people worldwide, every role at Unum is meaningful and impacts the lives of our customers. Whether you’re directly supporting a growing family, or developing online tools to help navigate a difficult loss, customers are counting on the combined talents of our entire team. Help us help others, and join Team Unum today! General Summary: The Corporate Accounting team is hiring for a Senior Accountant role. The senior accountant will support the monthly accounting close process while also focusing on modernization and transformation of the processes to bring better efficiencies to the work we do. The position will provide accounting and financial analyses working individually and with others that serve to inform and ground business decisions and will collaborate with subject matter experts, provide quality financial analytics, and exercise judgment to drive optimum solutions for various accounting, financial, and business issues. Responsibilities may include the development of, implementation of, and adherence to accounting/financial policies and procedures that will improve operations, consistency, controls, process efficiency, and effectiveness of the functional area. The accountant in this role will collaborate with product line leaders, financial reporting, financial planning & analysis, broker compensation services and treasury. With this great collaboration and exposure to other areas in finance you'll see your network grow! The right individual for this role will have: • CPA Eligible or CPA certified • Ability to think critically • Strong communication skills • Ability to utilize technology to increase process efficiencies

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required, or comparable work experience that well prepares or qualifies the individual for the work to be performed.
• 3+ years of accounting experience or equivalent relevant work experience preferred.
• Demonstrates thorough knowledge and/or a proven record of success in financial accounting, managerial accounting, taxation, and financial reporting systems including generally accepted accounting principles and current accounting policies and procedures.
• Strong understanding of the components of multiple financial statements and how they interact with one another.
• Experience navigating change in a positive way.
• Exhibits outstanding customer service skills, effectively collaborating with team members and other departments to complete tasks.
• Actively expands professional network across various functional areas.
• Highly motivated individual able to take independent actions to solve problems/issues with limited involvement from manager.
• Manage multiple projects simultaneously with minimal guidance from manager.
• Ability to work collaboratively across teams and departments to maximize performance, problem solving and results.
• Strong communication, presentation, and negotiation skills with all levels of management.
• Adept at handling group dynamics.
• Ability to link understanding of business processes, business drivers, and changes to other areas and financial results and trends.
• Intermediate to advanced EXCEL Skills, demonstrate strong analytical skills.
• General ledger systems and reporting tools experience preferred.
• Proficient in Word and PowerPoint

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree a plus
• CPA preferred, or CPA eligible and have made demonstrated progress towards achieving a CPA.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for moderately complex accounting analysis and reporting of financial transactions in accordance with US GAAP, UK GAAP, IFRS, and Statutory accounting standards, including reconciling accounts related to the specific financial area to maintain control and accuracy by identifying discrepancies and their cause and recommendations for corrective action.
• Prepare, record, analyze, and report moderately complex accounting transactions and ensures the integrity of accounting records for completeness, accuracy and compliance with accounting policies and principals.
• Prepare and distributes periodic moderately complex financial statements for various governmental and/or regulatory agencies.
• Conduct research regarding the impact to financial statements of potential changes to accounting rules proposed by accounting standards setters.
• Assist with implementation of timely, cost-effective planning strategies designed to create value and enhance the Company’s worldwide financial position.
• Provide information in connection with the external and internal audits to ensure compliance.
• Assist with tax controversies and notices, by responding to information requests, preparing workpapers, gathering other supporting documentation, and corresponding to exam agents to support the company’s tax position.
• Develop, implement, and communicate to management on new policies and processes to comply with newly issues accounting standards, including GAAP, Statutory, and Tax basis accounting.
• Mentor and oversee work of less experienced team members.
• Be proactive. Use knowledge and skills to make appropriate recommendations for efficiencies and to enhance productivity.
• Maintain integrity of data in various systems and data assets that support the specific financial areas (e.g., accounting, planning, and administrative systems).
• Analyze financial data, identify issues/variances, provide recommendations for appropriate action, and prepare related reports in consultation with business partner.
• Conduct special studies and lead projects.
• Demonstrate ability to utilize resources and produce results to solve problems or issues with minimal support.
• Take ownership for outcome of their own efforts.
• Demonstrate intellectual curiosity through continuously deepening your understanding of the business, getting more insight of the company through the financial data, and working with managers in the group to learn the big picture.
• Partner effectively with business management (typically at an officer level) to provide accounting, tax, or financial solutions that deliver business value.
• Communicate issues identified, proactively recommend the most appropriate/effective resolutions and present effectively to management.
• Maintain a strong, specialized working knowledge of Unum’s products, services and business processes including, their specific business area, the issues and technical skills required to support the area.
• May perform other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Award-winning culture
• Inclusion and diversity as a priority
• Performance Based Incentive Plans
• Competitive benefits package that includes: Health, Vision, Dental, Short & Long-Term Disability
• Generous PTO (including paid time to volunteer!)
• Up to 9.5% 401(k) employer contribution
• Mental health support
• Career advancement opportunities
• Student loan repayment options
• Tuition reimbursement
• Flexible work environments

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level