Accounts Payable, Associate Director

A high-growth European organisation at the intersection of healthcare and technology is seeking an Associate Director, Accounts Payable. The business operates a high-volume, multi-market consumer platform in which the quality, control and scalability of payables operations are material to working capital, supplier reliability and financial discipline.

The finance organisation is being strengthened to match the scale and complexity of the platform. This appointment sits within that build-out. The role is operational in character and substantial in span: end-to-end ownership of Accounts Payable in a complex, high-volume environment, with responsibility for team leadership, process quality and the professionalisation of the function.

The Opportunity

As Associate Director, Accounts Payable, you will assume ownership of a core finance operations function and lead a large AP organisation. You will impose structure on a growing setup, raise the standard of execution, and improve processes, systems and ways of working in close partnership with Finance, Procurement and other functions.

The role is highly visible and operationally exposed. It is not a narrowly administrative payables seat. The purpose is to run AP at scale with accuracy, control and efficiency, and to build an operating model that can absorb further growth without a corresponding increase in manual effort or operational risk.

The successful candidate will be assessed on the reliability of the function, the quality of leadership, and the ability to professionalise Accounts Payable inside a digitally enabled healthcare platform.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and further develop a large Accounts Payable organisation, establishing structure, performance standards and accountability.
• Own end-to-end AP operations, from invoice receipt and processing through to payment execution, with responsibility for accuracy, timeliness, control and scalability.
• Strengthen process discipline across a high-volume environment, including exception handling, vendor master quality, reconciliations and close-related AP work.
• Drive operational improvement through process redesign, automation and more effective use of ERP and related tools.
• Partner closely with Finance, Procurement and other stakeholders on supplier issues, payment terms, operational bottlenecks and control questions.
• Lead change and transformation initiatives within the function, converting structural improvements into durable ways of working.
• Remain close enough to operational detail to diagnose root causes, while setting the standard for how the organisation is run.
• Contribute to the broader finance operating model as transaction volumes and organisational complexity continue to increase.

Candidate Profile

• Substantial experience in Accounts Payable, typically six years or more, including leadership responsibility in a large, high-volume or otherwise complex environment.
• A proven people leader, able to structure teams, develop talent and hold performance to account.
• A hands-on working style, with the capacity to enter operational detail without losing sight of the operating model.
• Practical experience with ERP systems and automation, combined with a genuine process-improvement orientation.
• Strong stakeholder management and the ability to operate effectively in a fast-moving, cross-functional environment.
• Fluency in English is required. German is a distinct advantage.

What Distinguishes This Mandate

This is a senior operations-leadership role in Accounts Payable, not a remote oversight position. The firm needs someone who can run a large, high-volume function, raise its operating standard, and build scalable processes and systems inside a technology-enabled healthcare platform.