Manager, Finance Operations

Japan Finance Operations Manager
Alnylam Japan – Tokyo JP

Overview
We are looking for a Finance Operations Manager to join our team.
Reporting to the Japan Director of Finance, the role is responsible for the efficient and effective management of the end-to-end process related to purchasing activities, including supplier enablement, establishing purchase requisitions, and oversight/coordination of invoice payment, and travel & expense activities.
This role is crucial in ensuring compliance with Procure to Pay (P2P) and Travel & Expense (T&E) policies, optimizing spend, and delivering exceptional customer service. The Manager will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including Finance Operations based in Cambridge MA (USA) and Amsterdam (NL), legal, IT, HR, Compliance, and Global Strategic Sourcing colleagues to identify process improvements and drive operational excellence.

Primary Responsibilities
•Supplier Registration/Maintenance: Invite suppliers to join Alnylam’s Ariba platform. Process supplier onboarding requests ensuring responses are complete and proper risk assessments are performed.
•Procurement Execution: Manage and process purchase requisitions, ensuring adherence to cost-efficiency and quality standards. Identify and resolve bottlenecks to optimize requisition workflow, including driving teams to the use of preferred suppliers.
•Accounts Payable: Responsible for the AP process in Japan which will include collaboration with Alnylam’s Accounts Payable team located in either Cambridge, MA (USA) or Amsterdam (NL) and oversight of the Japan outsource partner to ensure invoices are validated and paid in accordance with payment terms and conditions.
•Travel and Expense: Support and maintain Travel & Expense activities for our Japan Affiliate, including travel reimbursement, reviewing expense reporting and receipt audit. Work with global T&E group to assign corporate card in Japan for corporate policy adherence.
•Expertise and Guidance: Serve as the Subject Matter Expert (SME) for Concur and Ariba within the Japan Affiliate, providing guidance to stakeholders on the T&E and P2P processes. Offer training and support to colleagues to enhance knowledge.
•Stakeholder Management: Build strong relationships with stakeholders to understand their needs and implement process improvements. Regularly engage with stakeholders to ensure satisfaction and gather feedback.
•Process Improvement: Analyze processes to identify opportunities for optimization. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to implement process enhancements that improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance customer satisfaction.
•Direct oversight and supervision of local outsource partner, as applicable.
•Support the Japan Director of Finance and global Finance Operations team with ah hoc reporting and special projects, as applicable.

Education and Required Skills
•Bachelor’s degree or equivalent, such as Accounting, Finance, or related field.
•5-7 years general business such as accounting and finance; procurement and/or purchasing experience.
•Pharmaceutical or biotech industry experience preferred.
•Proficiency in Source-to-Pay and T&E systems including Workday Sourcing, Ironclad, Lextegrity, Process Unity, SAP Ariba Guided Buying, VIM, SAP S4/HANA, Ariba SLP, and Concur.
•Strong command of English language (verbal and written). Documentation needs to be prepared in English to facilitate interactions with global finance team members who do not speak Japanese.
•Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
•Strong attention to detail and organizational abilities.
•Ability to build and maintain strong relationships with stakeholders.
•Demonstrates effective interpersonal skills, written and verbal communication skills in stakeholder interactions to ensure exceptional service and consistent interactions.
•Must be highly motivated and comfortable working both independently and in a team environment.
•Proven ability to contribute in a fast-paced environment with the ability to prioritize tasks and handle time efficiently.

Key Relationships
The Japan-based Finance Operations Manager will collaborate closely with Global Strategic Sourcing, Category Leaders, EA/Functional Heads, Operational stakeholders (IT, Legal, HR, Compliance, 3rd Party Risk), and Finance leadership.

About Alnylam: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: ALNY) has led the translation of RNA interference (RNAi) into a whole new class of innovative medicines with the potential to transform the lives of people afflicted with rare and more prevalent diseases. Based on Nobel Prize-winning science, RNAi therapeutics represent a powerful, clinically validated approach to treating diseases at their genetic source by “interfering” with mRNA that cause or contribute to disease. Since our founding in 2002, Alnylam has led the RNAi Revolution and continues to turn scientific possibility into reality.

Our culture: Our people-first culture is guided by our core values: fiercely innovative, open culture, purposeful urgency, passion for excellence, and commitment to people, and these values influence how we work and the business decisions we make. Thanks to feedback from our employees over the years, we’ve been fortunate to be named a top employer around the world. Alnylam is extremely proud to have been recognized as one of Science Magazine’s Top Biopharma Employers, one of America's Most Responsible Companies for 2024 by Newsweek, a Fast Company Best Workplace for Innovators, and a Great Place to Work in Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and UK – among others.

At Alnylam, we commit to an inclusive recruitment process and equal employment opportunity. We are dedicated to building an environment where employees can feel that they belong, can bring their authentic selves to work, and achieve to their full potential. By empowering employees to embrace their unique differences at work, our business grows stronger with advanced and original thinking, allowing us to bring groundbreaking medicines to patients.