Job Description

Would you like to join a company that is recognized worldwide for its expertise?

Knauf, a family-owned company since 1932, is present in more than 90 countries and employs 40,000 people. Knauf is a leading player in the building materials industry, specializing in solutions for interior design and sound and heat insulation for building professionals.

As a French producer of plasterboard and insulating panels in various materials (expanded polystyrene and polyurethane, wood wool and new plant fibers), Knauf is at the forefront of technology and brings its expertise and know-how to the service of efficient, comfortable and sustainable construction.

Do you value being part of a family business committed to protecting our environment?

As a family-owned company and an international group, Knauf has a vision of the sustainability of its business, with a view to sustainable growth and passing on to future generations. This vision is reflected in the way we manufacture our products (e.g. our quarries are being rehabilitated and new biotopes are being developed), in the way we take into account energy and environmental regulations (e.g. our insulation materials contribute to the energy efficiency of buildings) and in our actions in favour of recycling (e.g. our Knauf Circular® service enables the recovery of expanded polystyrene offcuts and its entry into the circular economy).

Knauf is aware of its responsibility for the use of resources and strives to protect the environment throughout the industrial process and to produce solutions that have the best impact on the entire life cycle.

Are you an experienced Planning & Performance Lead SG&A and do you want to join a growing team in a fast-developing function on a European scale? Then this is the job for you!

Your missions :

The Planning & Performance Lead – SG&A is the end-to-end owner of overhead performance control and regional planning processes, ensuring transparency, discipline, and alignment across all administrative functions and financial cycles.

The role is accountable for structuring, driving, and continuously improving SG&A performance management, including cost control, resource allocation, benchmarking, and efficiency tracking across all countries.

In parallel, the role owns the regional planning and reporting framework, ensuring that budgeting, forecasting, and reporting processes are robust, aligned, and enable effective decision making.

Beyond coordination, the role is expected to drive performance discipline, challenge inefficiencies, and elevate planning and reporting from a procedural exercise to a value-adding management tool.

Your responsibilities :

SG&A Performance Ownership

• Own (build, maintain, and continuously improve) the SG&A performance control system across the region.

• Provide full transparency on overheads, including SG&A costs, FTEs, allocations, and functional cost structures.

• Actively analyze and explain cost evolution, identifying inefficiencies, risks, and improvement opportunities.

• Drive implementation of KPIs, dashboards, and control mechanisms to ensure disciplined cost management.

• Ensure consistent understanding and application of cost logic across all countries.

Business Partnering & Efficiency Drive

• Act as the key finance partner for regional and local functional leaders (HR, Sales, SCM, Procurement, etc.).

• Lead internal benchmarking across countries and functions to identify optimization opportunities.

• Challenge resource allocation, organizational structures, and cost base with a focus on efficiency and value creation.

• Support and drive right-sizing initiatives and cost optimization programs.

• Translate analysis into clear recommendations and actions, not only observations.

Planning & Reporting Ownership.

• Own the regional planning framework (budget, forecasts, monthly reporting) end-to-end.

• Define and enforce planning principles, assumptions, and methodologies across all countries.

• Drive consistency and quality of planning inputs, ensuring alignment with Group requirements and regional strategy.

• Monitor delivery of financial targets, highlighting deviations and ensuring corrective actions are identified.

• Elevate planning from a coordination exercise to a performance steering tool.

Process Leadership & Coordination

• Coordinate with the Group, Regional and country stakeholders to structure and manage the regional planning calendar and reporting cycles.

• Ensure timely, accurate, and high-quality delivery of all reporting outputs to Group and internal stakeholders.

• Standardize templates, processes, and methodologies across all controllers and countries.

• Coordinate with BI/Data Analyst to automate reporting and reduce manual workload.

•Ensure data integrity, consistency, and usability across systems and markets.

Continuous Improvement & System Development

• Identify gaps in current planning, reporting, and SG&A control processes and lead improvements.

• Drive simplification, standardization, and automation of reporting and planning processes.

• Collaborate with regional and local finance teams to improve master data, system integration, and reporting accuracy.

• Act as a change agent in upgrading planning and performance management practices across the region.