Full Job Description
I. Job Summary
The Manager, Fixed Assets leads accounting for the company's capital program, including capital projects, property, plant and equipment, capitalized labor, and grant-funded network construction. The role owns the Oracle Projects and Fixed Assets close, establishes and applies capital accounting policies, and maintains effective SOX controls over the capital cycle. Working closely with Engineering, Operations, IT, Capital Governance, Financial Reporting, Tax, and external auditors, the Manager resolves complex accounting matters, provides decision-useful reporting, develops the fixed asset team, and drives automation and continuous improvement across project and asset accounting.
II. Duties and Responsibilities:
Leadership and Team Management
• Lead the fixed asset and project accounting team, setting priorities, assigning work, reviewing deliverables, and providing regular coaching, feedback, and development.
• Maintain current desk procedures, close checklists, process flows, and cross-training so critical activities continue without interruption during absences, peak periods, and staffing changes.
Close, Reconciliations, and Reporting
• Own the sequencing and completion of monthly close for Oracle Projects and Fixed Assets, including project accruals, cost transfers, Projects module close, asset additions and adjustments, depreciation, Fixed Assets module close, and post-close entries.
• Oversee asset transfers between affiliated legal entities and the related intercompany accounting, ensuring cutoff and close dependencies are met.
• Prepare or review capital accruals, including make-ready and third-party installation accruals, and evaluate the reasonableness of operational estimates and accrual methodologies.
• Review journal entries and account reconciliations for fixed assets, intangibles, plant under construction, grant-related accounts, retainage, assets held for sale, and related reserves.
• Prepare and review the monthly PPE roll forward, depreciation analytics, and quarterly variance explanations supporting financial reporting, and deliver capital budget-versus-actual reporting to Engineering, Operations, and leadership.
Capital Project Accounting and Policy
• Serve as the company's primary resource on capital versus operating expense determinations, including network construction, customer installations, and IT, software, and SaaS arrangements.
• Review project setup requests, requisitions, and journal entries for appropriate capitalization and correct project, task, and account coding.
• Apply and periodically reassess capital policies, including the annual capitalization threshold analysis, asset useful lives, capitalized labor, and capitalized interest.
• Drive timely project closeout and in-servicing of completed assets, including year-end in-service cutoff, monitoring of on-hold projects, and accounting for abandoned or unbuilt projects.
• Evaluate and account for asset retirements, disposals, impairments, and assets held for sale, and coordinate with the General Ledger team on lease and IRU matters affecting fixed assets.
Business Partnership
• Lead monthly financial reviews with Engineering, Operations, Glo Fiber, and IT project owners covering project status, accruals, forecasts, holds, in-service dates, and budget variances; drive exceptions to resolution.
• Represent Accounting at capital governance forums, including the Capital Steering Committee and monthly executive financial results reviews, and explain capital labor and capital spending variances.
• Train and advise business partners on capitalization requirements, project types, accrual expectations, and closeout dependencies, and support cross-functional efforts such as vendor invoice dispute resolution.
Grant and Subsidy Accounting
• Oversee accounting for federal and state broadband grant programs (e.g., NTIA, BEAD, VATI, and Ohio programs), including application of grant proceeds to in-service assets, reimbursement draws, reconciliations, recognition, and program closeout.
• Support grant eligibility assessments, regulatory reporting, and grant-specific audits in coordination with Operations and program contacts.
Internal Controls and Audit
• Own or review key SOX controls over capital labor, capitalized interest, project reviews, accruals, PPE rollforward, depreciation, asset existence, in-service cutoff, project budgets and forecasts, and application of grant funds.
• Ensure control evidence is complete, timely, and audit-ready; identify control gaps and lead remediation in partnership with Internal Controls.
• Lead the annual asset existence review and coordinate with Inventory accounting on physical counts and related fixed asset impacts.
• Serve as the primary point of contact for external auditors and SOX testers on fixed asset, project, and grant matters.
Systems, Automation, and Continuous Improvement
• Act as subject matter expert for Oracle Cloud Projects and Fixed Assets, partnering with Enterprise Applications on configuration, access, scheduled jobs, reporting, issue resolution, and quarterly release testing and sign-off.
• Drive efficiency through standardization, exception reporting, workflow automation (e.g., project closeout and approval workflows), and use of internal AI and other technology solutions.
General
• Assist other teams with special projects, acquisitions, and system implementations as needed.
• Observe company safety procedures at all times.
• Steward the brand and embody the Shentel Way by ensuring appropriate use of the brand (name, logo, company, appearance, and attitude) within the team and organization.
III. Qualification Requirements:
• Education: Bachelor's degree in Accounting required.
• Certification: CPA preferred.
• Experience: 5-6+ years of progressive accounting experience in public accounting or a corporate environment. Experience with fixed assets, capital projects, project accounting, a plus.
• Leadership: Prior experience supervising or developing accounting staff preferred.
• Industry: Telecommunications, utility, infrastructure, or other capital-intensive industry experience preferred.
• Public company: Experience with SEC registrants and Sarbanes-Oxley requirements preferred.
IV. Skills and Competencies:
• Thorough knowledge of U.S. GAAP for property, plant and equipment, internal-use software, capitalized interest, impairment, and government grants.
• Practical understanding of SOX controls, audit support, and management review documentation.
• Experience with Oracle Cloud ERP (Projects and Fixed Assets preferred) or another large ERP, including subledger-to-general-ledger relationships.
• Advanced Excel and Microsoft Office skills (including Power Pivot); experience with Workiva, ARCS, Oracle reporting tools, or automation is a plus.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and organizational skills, with sound judgment on complex and estimate-driven matters.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain accounting requirements to non-accounting partners and senior leadership.
• Strong project management skills and ability to manage multiple close-critical deadlines while maintaining quality.
• Proactive and accountable; works well independently and in a team-based, cross-functional environment.
• Continuous-improvement mindset with interest in leveraging technology and AI to improve processes.
