Lead Accountant, Controllership

Department: Finance

Location: Toronto, ON

ReportsTo: Manager, Accounting Policy & Business Advisory

The Opportunity:

There is a growing need to strengthen the Controllership function at Liberty Mutual Canada to support operational excellence, enhanced controls, and consolidated ownership of the book close process. The Lead Accountant is a key part of building out a dedicated Controllership team that assumes responsibility for book close work for both Branch and Strategic Business Unit (SBU) activities under a single, independent team.

The Lead Accountant will play a critical role in transferring book close responsibilities from FP&A back to Controllership, establishing discipline around reconciliation and controls, and adopting best practices from the Global Controllership (GRS) team.

Duties & Responsibilities:

• Uphold Liberty's values and Guidelines for Inclusion to foster a high performance, collaborative, and inclusive finance culture
• Provide day to day leadership within Controllership, supporting increased scope and complexity of accounting and close activities
• Assume consolidated ownership of core Controllership processes, including:

• Month end and quarter end book close
• Account reconciliations and substantiation
• Journal entries and ledger management
• Intercompany accounting and settlements
• Accounting policy interpretation and application
• Internal controls and compliance activities

• Lead the transition of book close responsibilities from FP&A to Controllership, ensuring a smooth handover with no disruption to reporting quality or timelines
• Establish consistent, disciplined, and well controlled close processes aligned with best practices
• Standardize and automate controllership processes where possible to support scale, efficiency, and reduced operational risk
• Leverage and adopt best practices, tools, and methodologies from the Global (GRS) Controllership team to drive consistency and synergies
• Ensure strong governance, documentation, and audit ready processes across all controllership activities
• Proactively identify opportunities to strengthen controls, reduce risk and improve operational efficiency
• Support additional finance transformation initiatives and projects as needed

Skills & Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or related discipline
• Professional accounting designation preferred (CPA or equivalent)
• 5 to 7 years of progressive experience in controllership, accounting or finance roles; preferably, within insurance, financial services, or another regulated industry; Big 4 experience is an asset
• Extensive knowledge of IFRS; US GAAP knowledge is advantageous
• Robust hands-on experience with book close processes and core accounting activities
• Strong understanding of internal controls, reconciliations, and accounting policies
• Demonstrated ability to lead process change and manage transitions across teams
• Experience with process standardization, automation, or finance transformation initiatives
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to partner effectively across Finance, FP&A, Actuarial, and global teams
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain accounting concepts clearly to non-technical audiences
• Strong analytical skills and attention to detail
• Exposure to automation, data-driven processes, or emerging technologies is an asset
• Advanced Microsoft Office skills. Experience with financial systems and ERPs is an asset

Liberty Mutual Canada is committed to pay transparency and fair, equitable hiring. For roles based in Ontario, we publish a Target Hiring Range in compliance with the Ontario Pay Transparency Act.

This posting is for an active, current vacancy.

Target Hiring Range: CAD $110,000 - 130,000

This range represents the expected annual base salary for this role, however, offers above the published maximum may be approved with appropriate business authorization. Final offers will be determined based on each candidate's qualifications, relevant experience, internal equity, and the needs of the role. The posted range does not include variable compensation (bonus), allowances, or benefits. We encourage all qualified candidates to apply.

We do not use AI-based screening tools in our hiring process. Candidates who complete an interview and remain under consideration may request, and will receive, feedback within 45 days.