Bilingual Senior Manager, Client Finance Operations – Québec Clients

Who we are:

Burson, part of WPP, is the global communications leader built to create value for clients through reputation. With highly specialized teams, industry-leading technologies and breakthrough creative, we help brands and businesses redefine reputation as a competitive advantage so they can lead today and into the future. When you work at Burson, you are part of a global community of lifelong learners who thrive at the edge of innovation.

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More about the role:

This existing role serves as the dedicated Senior Manager for day-to-day client finance operations across assigned Québec-based clients, with primary focus on the L'Oréal program as the largest and most complex account in the portfolio. The role provides senior-level execution, cross-client and cross-division visibility, commercial discipline, project management structure, and operational governance across high-volume campaign activity. Working in close partnership with senior finance leadership, account leadership, client-facing teams, L'Oréal stakeholders, and other assigned client teams, this role implements and maintains the operating cadence and financial discipline required to ensure campaign approvals, PO management, billing, influencer contracting, invoicing, and payment processes are connected, tracked, and escalated before gaps compound. The role also provides day-to-day direction and oversight to the Campaign Payment and Reconciliation Specialist, ensuring priorities, deliverables, reconciliations, and payment-related follow-ups are managed effectively.

Program Context: The role supports client finance operations across assigned Québec-based clients, with L'Oréal representing the largest, highest-volume, and most operationally complex program. The L'Oréal program operates across multiple divisions and brands, with approximately 60 campaigns per quarter and numerous influencers, POs, approvals, deliverables, invoices, and payment touchpoints in motion at any given time. The Senior Manager, Client Finance Operations is responsible for maintaining a reliable view of campaign and financial status across the assigned portfolio, using strong financial acumen to identify exposure early, guide priorities, and drive operational follow-through so client service commitments are protected.

Core Responsibilities

Program Governance & Operating Cadence

Own and maintain centralized campaign, PO, billing, and payment tracking for L'Oréal and other assigned Québec-based clients, ensuring information is current, complete, and actionable by client, division, brand, campaign, PO value, billing status, payment status, owner, aging, and next action

Drive regular finance-focused working sessions for L'Oréal and, as needed, other assigned clients with client leads, division leads, finance, and relevant account stakeholders, ensuring PO status, billing risks, owners, decisions, and next steps are clearly documented and followed through

Act as the connective point between finance, account teams, division leads, client contacts, and influencer payment teams to ensure all parties are working from the same information, priorities, timelines, and escalation path

Build and manage project plans, timelines, action logs, and dependency tracking for finance-related workstreams, ensuring owners, due dates, risks, and escalation paths are clearly defined and monitored

Ensure PO status, unmatched campaigns, billing risks, and client follow-ups are included as standing agenda items in recurring client, finance, and division-level meetings

Prepare and circulate concise pre-meeting summaries that highlight key risks, decisions required, open actions, dependencies, and recommended next steps

Maintain cross-division visibility so the team can identify patterns, bottlenecks, naming inconsistencies, fluctuating PO values, and recurring gaps before they affect billing or payment timing

Establish and maintain a consistent operating cadence across divisions and brands, with clear roles, timelines, escalation points, reporting expectations, and accountability

Client Communication

Serve as the senior day-to-day finance operations contact for L'Oréal and other assigned Québec-based clients on PO, billing, documentation, and campaign-to-PO alignment matters

Conduct timely follow-up to secure outstanding POs, clarify naming discrepancies, confirm approved values, and resolve campaign-to-PO matching issues before formal escalation is required

Document all client interactions, commitments, and timelines in the shared tracker

Reinforce adoption of the client-facing best practices guide by driving consistent PO naming, approval timing, budget confirmation, and documentation expectations with L'Oréal division and brand contacts

Finance Operations & Billing Governance

Own and maintain current, complete, and accurate campaign and financial information for matching, WIP review, invoicing, billing reconciliation, and payment tracking across L'Oréal and other assigned Québec-based clients, in partnership with senior finance, billing, and account stakeholders

Provide timely PO and payment updates from client meetings to finance to support tracker accuracy, invoicing, and follow-through

Identify unbilled or pre-billed campaign activity, unmatched POs, and items with financial exposure, and ensure they are assigned to an owner with a documented resolution path

Coordinate historical campaign reconciliation efforts, including research, status updates, ownership, and resolution paths for prior-year unmatched campaigns, unbilled activity, or pre-billed items requiring follow-up

Flag items approaching the 21-day escalation threshold early, ensuring the senior client/account lead receives a concise summary, recommended action, and client-facing context where intervention is required

Escalation Management

Monitor aging buckets, unmatched campaigns, missing POs, and billing blockers, proactively flagging at-risk items ahead of escalation thresholds and before they compromise invoicing, payment timing, or client confidence

Prepare escalation summaries that include campaign details, division and brand, PO status, value, outreach history, financial exposure, decision required, and recommended next steps

Drive follow-through on escalated items until resolution, ensuring decisions, owners, and next steps are documented

Influencer Contracting, Invoicing & Payment

Oversee the influencer payment and reconciliation workstream, providing direction to the Campaign Payment and Reconciliation Specialist to ensure campaign, PO, invoice, payment, and documentation requirements are aligned, tracked, and escalated as needed

Review payment status, reconciliation updates, and exception items with the Specialist to identify timing risks, documentation gaps, billing exposure, and required escalations

Coordinate influencer contracting workflows, ensuring agreements are initiated, tracked, and executed within the campaign timeline

Coordinate influencer invoice collection, review, and submission to finance for processing, ensuring documentation is complete and timing risks are surfaced early

Monitor influencer payment status and proactively flag delays that could affect campaign delivery, client service commitments, or the broader payment chain

Monitor the PO, invoicing, and influencer payment sequence to ide