Lead Accountant – Corporate Accounting

Are you ready to take the next step in your career? Join us for an exciting opportunity at Albertsons Companies, where innovation and customer service go hand-in-hand!

At Albertsons Companies, we are looking for someone who’s not just seeking a job, but someone who wants to make an impact. In this role, you’ll have the opportunity to lead, innovate, and contribute to the growth of a company that values great service and lasting customer relationships. This position offers the chance to work in a fast-paced, dynamic environment that’s constantly evolving.

What you will be doing

The Lead Accountant – Corporate Accounting with a Self-Insurance Accounting focus is a senior individual contributor responsible for overseeing the complex accounting, reporting, and analysis of the company’s financial statements and self-insurance programs. This role operates at an equivalent level of an Accounting Manager but without direct HR responsibility for staff.

The position provides functional leadership and day-to-day oversight of offshore resources, ensuring high-quality deliverables, adherence to internal controls, and timely completion of accounting activities. The Lead Accountant partners closely with cross-functional teams including Financial Reporting, Risk Management, FP&A, and external captive/claims administrators and actuaries to support financial reporting, forecasting, and compliance.

Success Criteria (6–12 Months):

Success in this role will be demonstrated by strong ownership, sound judgment, and a consistent focus on accuracy, along with the ability to deliver high-quality results and actionable insights in partnership with stakeholders.

Specifically:

• Demonstrates ownership of the assigned Corporate Accounting responsibilities and oversight of the self-insurance accounting function, delivering accurate, timely, and well-supported financial results
• Applies a strong understanding of GAAP, self-insurance reserves and actuarial inputs, ensuring appropriate interpretation and application within financial reporting
• Maintains reliable and well-supported budget and forecast models that align with actual results and underlying business drivers
• Proactively identifies trends, risks, and variances, and helps facilitate informed discussions with FP&A, Risk Management, and executive leadership, including thoughtful recommendations
• Demonstrates a high level of accuracy and attention to detail, with a focus on quality, completeness, and proactive issue identification
• Effectively provides direction and support to offshore resources, contributing to improved quality, consistency, and efficiency of outputs
• Enhances and standardizes processes, including strengthening documentation, controls, and identifying opportunities for improvement or automation
• Exercises sound judgment and increasing independence in navigating complex issues, appropriately involving stakeholders as needed
• Effectively manages competing priorities and delivers results during critical reporting and budgeting cycles, maintaining both timeliness and quality
  

Main responsibilities:

Accounting & Financial Reporting

• Lead the accounting and close processes for self-insurance reserves, including workers’ compensation, general liability, other retained risk programs, and other assigned Corporate Accounting period close activities.
• Review and analyze actuarial reports; translate findings into accurate financial statement entries
• Ensure proper recording of loss reserves, IBNR (incurred but not reported), and related accruals in accordance with US GAAP
• Prepare and review journal entries, account reconciliations, and financial statement disclosures
• Support multiple quarterly and annual reporting requirements, including audit deliverables
  

Operational Oversight (Offshore Coordination)

• Provide day-to-day direction, prioritization, and quality review of work performed by offshore accounting resources
• Establish clear processes, documentation, and performance expectations for offshore teams
• Act as the primary point of contact for issue resolution, escalations, and workflow optimization
• Drive continuous improvement and standardization of processes across global teams
• Perform detailed reviews to ensure accuracy and completeness of work; proactively identify and resolve errors before impacting financial results
  

Analysis & Business Partnership

• Partner with Risk Management to understand claim trends, program changes, and exposure adjustments
• Collaborate with FP&A on forecasting and variance analysis related to self-insurance costs
• Develop and maintain analytics to monitor reserve adequacy and financial impacts
• Provide insights to leadership on trends, risks, and opportunities

Planning & Budget Accountability

• This role serves as the primary owner of self-insurance budget and forecast models, with responsibility for accuracy, insights, and alignment with business leadership
• Accountable for the integrity and accuracy of self-insurance budget and forecast models
• Own and maintain budget models related to self-insurance programs, ensuring alignment with financial results and underlying assumptions
• Monitor actuals versus forecast and identify key variances, trends, and potential risks
• Update forecasts based on claims activity, actuarial updates, and evolving business conditions
• Partner with FP&A, Risk Management, and leadership to refine assumptions and adjust forecasts as appropriate
• Provide clear, actionable insights and recommendations to support understanding of financial impacts and trends
• Support alignment with leadership on key assumptions, risks, and opportunities impacting the budget
• Ensure transparency and clear communication of changes and impacts to stakeholders

Controls & Compliance

• Ensure strong internal controls over financial reporting, including SOX compliance where applicable
• Maintain documentation of key processes, assumptions, and judgments
• Support internal and external audits, including preparation of audit schedules and responses to inquiries
• Process Improvement & Leadership
• Identify opportunities for automation, efficiency gains, and system enhancements
• Lead or participate in cross-functional projects related to insurance accounting or financial transformation
• Serve as a subject matter expert (SME) on self-insurance accounting policies and practices
  

We are looking for candidates who possess the following:

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field. CPA strongly preferred.
• Minimum 7 plus years of progressive accounting or finance experience.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including complex formulas, data analysis, pivot tables, and financial modeling.
• Experience working with ERP systems such as SAP, Oracle, Workday, PeopleSoft, or similar platforms.
• Experience with reporting, analytics, and visualization tools such as Power BI, Tableau, Alteryx, or equivalent preferred.
• Experience developing, maintaining, and owning budgets and forecasts for complex liability-based or insurance-related programs.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze actual results versus forecast, identify key variances, and explain underlying business drivers.
• Experience partnering with FP&A and business stakeholders to develop assumptions, evaluate risks, and refine forecasts.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to transform financial and operational data into actionable business insights and recommendations.
• Experience identifying automation opportunities and implementing process improvements through technology solutions.
• Demonstrated experience leading projects, processes, or teams without direct people management responsibility.
• Experience coordinating and reviewing work performed by offshore, shared services, or outsourced accounting resources preferred.
• Proven ability to provide functional leadership, direction, and quality oversight to team members or offshore resources without direct reporting authority.
• Experience effectively managing competing priorities and deadlines in a dynamic environment with multiple stakeholders.
• Strong collaboration skills with the ability to build productive relationships
• Demonstrated ability to influence decisions through expertise, sound judgment, and data-driven recommendations.
• Strong knowledge of . GAAP and financial reporting requirements related to loss reserves, accrual accounting, and contingent liabilities.
  

We also provide a variety of benefits including:

• Competitive wages paid weekly
• Access to up to 50% of your earned wages before payday, via our partnership with Stream
• Associate discounts
• Health and financial well-being benefits for eligible associates (Medical, Dental, 401k and more!)
• Time off (vacation, holidays, sick pay). For eligibility requirements please visit
• Leaders invested in your training, career growth and development
• An inclusive work environment with talented colleagues who reflect the communities we serve

Our Values – Click below to view video:

A copy of the full job description can be made available to you.

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