Senior Accountant - Operations
Job Description
This is your opportunity to bring your experience to help drive impact at one of the most unique sites in Calgary! The Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo is seeking a permanent, full-time Senior Accountant - Operations who will play a key role in capital accounting, financial reporting, inventory oversight, accounts payable and receivable governance, budgeting, forecasting and audit support.
This role partners with operational leaders across the organization to ensure accurate financial reporting, strong internal controls and effective financial management of capital projects and inventory.
Our Purpose | We act for wildlife; saving species and inspiring people to join us.
Our Core Values | Drive impact, nurture connection, cultivate hope, and be bold.
What you will do:
Capital Accounting & Project Financial Management
- Manage the financial oversight of capital projects, ensuring expenditures are accurately recorded and aligned with approved budgets.
- Review and approve capital-related purchase orders in accordance with established procurement policies and internal controls.
- Partner with Project Managers and operational stakeholders to develop, monitor, and update capital budgets and forecasts.
- Analyze monthly project spending against budget and forecast.
- Maintain the fixed asset subledger and asset continuity schedules, ensuring accuracy and completeness of capital asset records.
- Perform asset impairment assessments, valuation reviews, and other asset-related accounting analyses in accordance with applicable accounting standards.
- Approve, reconcile and close out capital projects and assess for capital vs expense treatment in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
Accounts Payable & Compliance Oversight
- Review and approve accounts payable transactions, including employee expense reimbursements, manual payment requests, and contractual holdbacks.
- Oversee procurement card activity to ensure compliance with internal policies and appropriate supporting documentation.
- Review and process interdepartmental cost allocations and transfers.
- Review GST reconciliations for monthly filings, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements.
- Review monthly foreign currency transactions and account balances, ensuring foreign exchange gains and losses are recorded accurately.
- Support continuous improvement of accounts payable processes and internal controls.
Accounts Receivable Oversight
- Provide oversight over the Accounts Receivable (AR) function, ensuring timely and accurate invoicing, collections, cash application, and account reconciliations.
- Monitor client account balances and aging reports, identifying delinquent accounts and coordinating collection efforts to minimize outstanding receivables and bad debt exposure.
- Support continuous improvement of accounts receivable processes and internal controls.
Inventory Accounting & Cost Management
- Review monthly inventory reconciliations and cost of goods sold (COGS) analyses to ensure accurate financial reporting.
- Monitor inventory-related transactions and investigate discrepancies or unusual variances.
- Coordinate year-end inventory valuation procedures and record required accounting adjustments.
- Collaborate with operations teams to strengthen inventory controls and reporting processes.
Financial Reporting & Corporate Accounting
- Coordinate and execute month-end and year-end close activities, including the preparation and posting of journal entries, reconciliations, and accounting adjustments to support timely and accurate financial reporting.
- Assist in the preparation of monthly financial management reports.
- Support the preparation of quarterly financial reporting.
- Assist with the preparation of annual financial statements in accordance with Accounting Standards for Not-for-Profit Organizations.
- Participate in the annual external audit process, including preparation of working papers and responding to auditor inquiries.
- Contribute to the annual budgeting process and ongoing forecasting activities.
- Assist in the preparation and filing of annual T3010 Registered Charity Information Returns, ensuring accuracy, completeness, and compliance with applicable regulatory requirements.
- Prepare and coordinate responses to Statistics Canada surveys, ensuring the timely submission of accurate financial and operational information.
- Support special projects, process improvement initiatives, and other finance-related responsibilities as required.
People Leadership
- Provide leadership including directing the work, coaching, mentorship, professional development, and performance evaluations of direct reports within their team
- Support hiring of direct reports on team as needed.
- Work collaboratively with manager and People & Culture team on People Leader responsibilities to support with creating a positive work environment.
Other duties and responsibilities as assigned.
What you will bring:
- Chartered Professional Accountant Designation is required.
- At least 3 Years of experience in an accounting environment, including analyzing financial results, accurate record keeping and project management is required.
- Familiarity with computerized Accounting Systems is required
- Experience in word processing, spreadsheet applications and databases is required
- Experience in designing and/or improving business processes is required.
- Leadership experience is preferred.
- Experience in not-for-profit accounting and reporting is preferred.
- Experience with Blackbaud Financial Edge NXT, Questica or PaperSave is preferred.
- Analytical thinking and the ability to break down problems and issues into sub-components to assesses the costs, benefits and risks of various options prior to selecting a particular approach.
- Commitment to delivering a high quality of work that is accurate, demonstrates attention to detail, and reflects the standards of the organization.
- Able to communicate (verbally and written) goals, tasks, and deliverables effectively and appropriately to both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Demonstrates integrity by consistently keeping commitments, owning mistakes, and acting in ways that build trust and reflect positively on the organization.
- Works effectively with a diverse range of people, adds complementary skills and contributes valuable ideas, opinions and feedback.
- Communicates in an open and candid manner and can be counted upon to fulfill any commitments made to others on the team.
Working Conditions:
- Primarily working at a computer and stationery for long periods of time.
- Working collaboratively in an open plan office environment.
- Working hours are typically Monday to Friday, daytime hours.
The Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo is an outdoor facility and all staff working at the zoo must be comfortable working in a large variety of outdoor conditions. The Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo follows the advice of Environment Canada when responding to temperature and air quality issues.
What the Zoo Offers:
- Competitive compensation, vacation and flex days entitlement
- Flexible benefits plan, including a health spending account
- Employer matching RRSP program
- Discounts on food, beverage, and merchandise
- Participation in the Staff Pass Benefit plan
- A fun, rewarding work environment and the opportunity to work in a park full of wild animals
Are you ready to join one of Canada’s leaders in wildlife conservation? If this position suits your skills, experience and personal attributes, we want to talk to you.
Apply by doing the following:
- Watch this video about the conservation work being done at the Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8J1VH1MBXm0)
- Submit your resume with an optional cover letter via our online application system.
- Fill in the Application questions:
- Confirm eligibility to work in Canada.
- If hired, when would you be available to start?
- Do you have a Chartered Professional Accoutant (CPA) Designation?
- If hired, what are your salary expectations.
Applicants must be legally entitled to work in Canada.
If this position is a fit for you, we encourage you to apply with a resume and cover letter online by our application deadline: July 6, 2026.
The Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo strives to cultivate a workplace in which everyone feels welcome and empowered to bring their authentic selves to work. As a conservation organization, we respect and value the diversity of all life and come together as individuals and teammates to achieve the organization’s mission and vision. We recognize the value of diversity, equity, and inclusion, and work to advance our culture to ensure diverse viewpoints are heard, and everyone has an equitable chance to succeed and thrive.
This position is an existing vacancy within our organization. The Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo uses basic knockout questions in application to support screening; applications are otherwise assessed and selected by real humans.
All candidates are thanked for their applications and advised that they will be contacted once applications have been reviewed, and a final decision has been made.