Accounts Payable Ledger Specialist

Workplace: MediaCity, Manchester + Hybrid (2 days per week in the office)

The team..

The Accounts Payable team operates at the heart of our Finance Operations hub, taking responsibility for managing our supplier payment obligations and maintaining clean, accurate ledgers. We are a data-driven, continuous-improvement-focused function dedicated to driving payment-on-time performance and building strong relationships with our third-party vendors. Working collaboratively with Purchasing Support, Master Data, Payments, and our Global Process Owner, we take pride in eliminating recurring errors, ensuring robust compliance, and maintaining seamless end-to-end P2P processes.

The role..

We’re looking for an Accounts Payable Ledger Specialist to join our team on a fixed term contract basis until November 2027. Reporting directly to the Accounts Payable Manager, you will be responsible for managing the company's accounts payable ledger to ensure invoices are accurately processed, payments are made on time, and vendor accounts are properly maintained.

In this analytical and collaborative role, you will reconcile large volumes of data, resolve discrepancies, and act as the primary point of contact for complex supplier inquiries. Beyond ledger maintenance, you will be a root-cause investigator—detecting payment errors, managing GRNI open balances, analysing trend data, and partnering with internal teams and suppliers to drive continuous improvements that enhance right-first-time processing.

Some of your key day to day responsibilities will include:

- Serving as the primary contact for supplier and internal business invoice inquiries, delivering fast and definitive resolutions.
- Reconciling supplier statements and investigating payment delays or discrepancies with a focus on stopping recurring errors.
- Reviewing GRNI open balances, requesting missing invoices, processing correction transactions, and requesting payment refunds when required.
- Detecting and recording payment errors (e.g., failed or duplicate payments), taking remediation action, and providing root-cause feedback to Processing and Master Data teams.
- Generating payable reports, ageing schedules, and outstanding balance analyses to actively drive down overdue invoice volumes and close month-end ledgers on time.
- Assisting with internal and external audits by providing requested documentation, data analytics, and reporting.
- Partnering with the Global Process Owner to identify, design, and implement continuous process improvements.
- Providing factual trend analysis data to AP and Compliance teams to highlight knowledge gaps and drive Purchase Order (PO) compliance.
- Maintaining team Standard Operating Process (SOP) notes and supporting the onboarding and training of new team members.

Skills you’ll need (minimum criteria)

- Significant experience working within an Accounts Payable team, backed by a strong understanding of core accounting principles and end-to-end AP workflows.
- Essential working knowledge of Microsoft Excel (VLOOKUPs and Pivot Tables are essential) alongside experience with accounting software like Oracle or SAP.
- Proven evidence of analysing, manipulating, presenting, and improving data for management and operational business teams.
- Demonstrated strong competency in root-cause problem solving with a continuous improvement mindset.
- Preferred experience working within a Shared Service Center (SSC) or Global Business Services (GBS) environment.

Other things we’re looking for (key criteria)

- Experience working with Finance ERP systems, with Oracle Fusion being a distinct advantage.
- Excellent proficiency across Google Workspace / Microsoft Office tools (Word/Docs, Spreadsheets/Sheets, Slides).
- Proven ability to adapt flexibly as required, navigate complex processes, and hit stretched targets.
- Excellent communication skills to explain root-cause findings, highlight trends, and present process improvement recommendations clearly.
- Strong organisational skills, high attention to detail, and sound awareness of risk and fraud controls.

Potential Challenges

- Minimum of two office days per week required on Wednesday and Thursday, with occasional increases depending on meetings, training, or ad-hoc operational needs.

Please note, on occasion we may receive a very large volume of applications which means applications for a role may close earlier than the referenced closing date. We’d encourage you to apply as soon as possible if interested.