Accounts Payable Senior Specialist (German Language Expert)

John Crane, a business of Smiths Group, is a global leader in mission-critical flow control solutions for energy and process industries that enable efficient and sustainable operations. Our products include mechanical seals and systems, couplings, bearings, filtration systems, and predictive digital monitoring technologies. 

We have a global network of more than 200 sites in over 50 countries and employ more than 6,000 people worldwide. We partner with our customers to help them keep their operations safe, reduce downtime, improve efficiency, and meet the latest environmental standards. 

John Crane is part of Smiths Group. For over 170 years, Smiths has been pioneering progress by engineering for a better future. We serve millions of people every year, helping to create a safer, more efficient, productive, and better-connected world across four global markets: energy, security & defence, space & aerospace, and general industrial. Listed on the London Stock Exchange, Smiths employs approximately 16,000 colleagues in over 50 countries. 

The Accounts Payable Senior Specialist is an important role in the Accounts Payable team to ensure the accurate processing and payment of vendor invoices and the operation of the related financial controls. The team uses the Esker Accounts Payable system to read all vendor invoices and integrate with SAP ERP system. The Accounts Payable Senior Specialist will focus on supporting particular internal customers and work closely with stakeholders to resolve queries and issues to ensure invoices are processed accurately and paid in accordance with the agreed terms.

Responsibilities, But not limited to:

• Undertaking SES Yellow Belt Projects to improve process management
• Matching of invoice details to Purchase Order details
• Positive verification of vendor bank details
• Investigating supplier invoice & payment queries
• Preparation of SAP Payment Proposals and upload to banking platform
• Review of aged receipts report (GRIR) for missing invoices
• Employee vendor creation in SAP
• Lead weekly collaboration calls with Finance Controllers and the Procurement team
• Supporting Internal and External Audits
• Liaising with Purchasing teams for resolution of issues
• Clearance of AP related bank account reconciling items
• Reconciliation of vendor statements to SAP
• Review of Aged Accounts Payable and providing commentary and actions
• Direct Debit postings, reconciliation and clearing
• Monitoring of the Concur SAP Cockpit and resolution of issues
• Other AP activities as required

• 5-7 years of experience of Accounts Payable in a complex, international business
• Bachelor’s degree in finance or accounting
• Good working knowledge of SAP ECC6 is a must
• Good working knowledge of the international banking systems, bank portals and foreign currencies
• Good working knowledge of VAT, GST and other similar indirect schemes
• Experience of OCR technology for reading vendor invoices
• Experience of working within a Shared Service Centre
• Fast learner with the ability to pick up new systems and processes
• Great attention to detail
• Good communicator with fluency in business English (written and spoken)
• Proficient with German Language (oral & written)
• Knowledge of another foreign language is an advantage
• Excellent MS Office skills, particularly Excel (v-lookup, pivot tables) for data analysis
• Numerate with accounting knowledge
• Well organized with strong task management skills

With colleagues stretching across the globe, we are proud of our diversity. To foster inclusivity, we run employee resource groups (ERGs) to provide a safe space for employees to connect and support each other. Our cross-business ERGs include Veterans, Pride Network, Black Employee Network, Women@Work Network, and Neurodiversity. 

Across our company, we recognize excellence, culminating in the Smiths Excellence Awards, our annual celebration of the most extraordinary activities, people, and projects that best showcase our strengths and help drive our business forward. We announce these on our annual Smiths Day, a global celebration of Smiths around our network. 

Join us for a great career with competitive compensation and benefits, while helping engineer a better future. 

We believe that different perspectives and backgrounds are what make a company flourish. All qualified applicants will receive equal consideration for employment regardless of color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, economic status, disability, age, or any other legally protected characteristics. We are proud to be an inclusive company with values grounded in equality and ethics, where we celebrate, support, and embrace diversity.

At no time during the hiring process will Smiths Group, nor any of our recruitment partners ever request payment to enable participation – including, but not limited to, interviews or testing. Avoid fraudulent requests by applying jobs directly through our career’s website (Careers - Smiths Group plc)