Job Description

Scope:

The Business Controller is the finance leader for a $120M+ market, a critical business partner for the Country Manager and the leadership team. A strategic business partner to drive optimal long-term profitability, the role will provide overall visibility on the full span of the business activities from demand through to revenue generation, delivering insightful information on a consistent and standardized basis to enhance management decision making.

Reporting to the Southern Europe Finance Director, and dotted line to the Iberia Country Manager, this role requires a "CFO mindset" and has accountability for the full functional performance of market finance, including accounting, AR, AP, payroll, tax & treasury and audit.

This is a highly visible and hands-on role, partnering closely with the General Manager requiring a strong commercial understanding and business acumen. Although the role is focused on the Italian business, an international mind-set is required to accommodate global minded customers and to support the EMEA regional strategy. The role plays an important link between corporate policy and the business, helping guide the business to maximize growth & reduce costs whilst ensuring compliance to key standards.

The role acts at a leadership level, working across Commercial & Finance leadership and cross functionally using high levels of influence and commercial acumen to be a real driver of value to EMEA. The role will have many stakeholders that will need to be maintained, kept informed, and work alongside to be successful.

This role requires a curious, proactive, highly driven and energetic individual with a proven ability to challenge and think outside the box, to help reinvigorate this business segment.

Essential Functions & Accountabilities:

• Lead engagement of the Finance organization and part of the Management Team.

• Lead preparation and presentation of Budget and Quarterly Business Reviews, presenting the financial performance and outlook for the market to the EMEA Senior Leadership.

• Accountable for the revenue forecasting cycle, driving weekly flash, monthly and quarterly planning rounds in association with the Markets & Sales Operations, using analytics and processes to gain an improved understanding of all revenue / gross margin related aspects of the business.

• Lead the local finance team promoting a continuous improvement culture.

• Oversight and accountable for accounting, AR, AP, Payroll, Tax and Treasury activities, including timely filing of statutory accounts.

• Preparation of business cases to evaluate new propositions and proposals, ensuring key risks and opportunities are identified and fully understood by the key decision makers, including within the frameworks of US GAAP and SOX.

• Promote understanding of the financial impact and performance drivers on business decisions and recommendations in a user-friendly way, and the ability to communicate effectively to different levels of the organization.

• Commercial advisor for market legal, pricing and trading terms with customers, including ownership of contract compliance and execution in line with market and regional guidelines.

• Partner during commercial plans and negotiations, across all customer channels, including assessing and supporting deal margin models with Sales Operations to ensure accurate reflection of the opportunities/risks on deals for well-informed decision-marking.

• Advise market leadership teams on long term pricing impacts to the business of contract pricing and promotions, working cross functionally to implement changes. This includes working with Regional Sales Operations and Product Marketing teams to ensure proposals are in line with Regional long-term strategies, as well as balancing the healthy growth of revenue, and protecting gross margin and operating income margins.

• Recommend strategies to improve the overall P&L, leading implementation of any projects agreed by the leadership team.

• Leading special projects that support management decision-making, such as sales, margin & pricing analysis, cost containment, working capital improvement, return on investment and cash flow analysis.

• Communicating financial results and ensuring the Corporate & Regional Finance teams understand the key cost drivers, developing insights that can drive optimal decision making and enhanced value.

• Responsibility for ensuring appropriate risk management and control frameworks is in place and that the leadership team are well briefed on the importance of maintaining a controls environment and compliance with policies, procedures and approval matrix are complied with.

• Lead the market through planned strategic projects, including ERP transformation and finance transformation projects, including leading local implementation of change management plans.

• This position is part of the EMEA Finance team to ensure alignment on regional commercial & financial strategies. Works closely with the EMEA FP&A team, ensuring consistent approach to reporting & processes to support the ‘innovate once, repeat many’ initiatives.

• Travel estimation: 5% = 3 weeks per year.

Qualifications

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Work closely with the Iberia Country Manager and management team to ensure Finance is a “Trusted Business Partner”.
• Customer focused, with prior experience leading teams (directly and indirectly) in Commercial environments.
• Is able to lead through ambiguity and change, advising on strategies and tactics to the Country Manager.
• Takes a longer-term strategic focus, thinking fast, adapting, and developing solutions to deliver deals.
• Excellence in planning, implementing and co-managing projects through multiple stakeholders.
• Hands on close and financial experience backed with a broad technical background of US GAAP to understand the drivers and demands of all aspects of Regional and Corporate Finance.
• A strategic mindset, with the gravitas to challenge the norm, through strong interpersonal skills with the ability to influence others and drive change.
• Strong presence, comfortable working with business leaders to build a case and recommend actions.
• Ability to provide and communicate effectively high-quality advice supporting preparation of business cases/deals.
• Direct, hands-on experience in creating, tracking and controlling actuals, forecasts and budget metrics, and with an unrelenting curiosity to identify opportunities to benefit the business.
• Proven ability to analyze actual vs. plan results and summarize underlying drivers of variances as well as providing clear and succinct interpretation of results to management.
• Ability to participate in multi-cultural, operating environment.

Experience:

• 10 years minimum experience in a Finance leadership role.
• A European subsidiary of a US multi-national, with direct FP&A management responsibility for markets and functions. Matrix style organization.
• Working at business regional level with individual contributors, Directors, and senior manager level staff from a number of functions.
• Strong business acumen with the ability to challenge all commercial and operational aspects.
• Commercial Experience gained outside of a finance role is preferred.
• Experience leading pan-regional projects is preferred.

Education:

• Degree in Business or Economics.
• Fluent in English.