Senior Business Controller

Job description

Would you like to work closely with the business as a Senior Business Controller and use your financial expertise to make a real impact on decisions? You will bring financial structure and insight, while keeping a forward-looking perspective: where can we improve, which decisions will make a financial difference, and what will they mean for our results?

HG is a compact, international organisation. This means considerable responsibility, direct contact with decision-makers and room to drive change yourself. We are therefore looking for someone who takes ownership, works pragmatically and is not afraid to challenge existing ways of working.

You will be based at our head office in Almere. Hybrid working opportunities are limited: regular office attendance is important in this role because of the close collaboration with Finance, Operations and other stakeholders. You will also travel to the United Kingdom or Germany several times a year.

About the role

As Senior Business Controller, you will be responsible for business control within Operations and will also support our subsidiaries in the United Kingdom and Germany. You have a clear vision of what the best operational business control model looks like and have proven experience in realizing this. The Senior Business Controller plays a key role in strengthening financial control, transparency and decision-making across Operations. The scope covers procurement and product costing, as well as warehouse and transport operations. Working closely with Finance, Procurement and Operations, the Senior Business Controller translates operational developments and improvement initiatives into clear financial insights and P&L impact

Our business is undergoing significant change. HG has recently changed its logistics service arrangements, consolidating most local warehouses into one central location as part of a cost-saving initiative. At the same time, a new ERP system is being implemented. This creates an interesting and dynamic environment in which existing budget models, cost allocation models, reporting and financial processes need to be further developed to reflect the new operating model and provide a solid basis for financial control and decision-making.

What you will do

Your responsibilities will include:

• Owning the operational cost lines between Net Sales and Contribution Margin for the whole group and act as a strong Finance business partner to the Chief Operating Officer and his team, translating operational developments into actionable financial insights;

• Identifying and driving continuous improvements to the operational business, improving insights while reducing costs.

• Being the financial business partner for the country managers in the UK and Germany, including reviewing commercial deals and business cases.

• Analyzing budget versus actuals and explaining significant variances.

• Developing a clear understanding of budgeted versus actual purchase prices and identifying the key drivers behind price variances.

• Providing insight into raw material and purchase price developments and translating these into expected P&L impact.

• Quantifying and tracking the financial impact of Procurement and product-costing initiatives and other savings programmes.

• Establishing and further developing standard COGS based on expected cost developments.

• Build a thorough understanding of the warehouse and distribution budget, operational performance and key savings initiatives. 

• Track whether the expected savings from the recently implemented warehouse and transport provider change are being realized in the P&L. 

• Further developing cost allocation models for individual markets, using meaningful drivers, and working towards more complete and reliable management reporting.

• Ensuring the Operations P&L, budget and actual costs are consistently captured and reported in the same structure.

• Translating inventory developments into financial impact and creating a clear link between stock levels, budget assumptions and cost allocation.

• Supporting and improving an efficient month-end closing process, ensuring Operations costs are accurately and consistently booked, allocated and reconciled.

• Establish or improve proper accounting entries together with Finance Administration and relevant operational partners.

• Co-lead the annual budget cycle and budget presentations to the Board.

• Using and improving Power BI, ERP data and financial processes to reduce manual work and increase transparency.

You will report directly to the Chief Financial Officer and work closely with colleagues in Finance, Procurement and Operations. You will also have regular contact with the Germany and UK country managers.

This position requires more than strong analytical skills. You will need to explain your insights clearly, engage stakeholders and constructively challenge where necessary. You will be a knowledgeable sparring partner who asks questions, brings structure and takes responsibility from analysis through to implementation. You proactively identify opportunities to improve financial processes, controls, reporting and transparency across Operations.

HG is a compact, fast-growing and international organization where you can directly see the impact of your work. This requires ownership, initiative and a pragmatic, results-oriented mindset. The team culture is open, pragmatic and focused on results, encouraging you to bring ideas forward, challenge constructively and take responsibility. Everything we do is guided by our three core values: Aim High, Be Brave, Be Connected.

Job requirements

What you bring

We are looking for a financially strong, hands-on and improvement-oriented controller who combines analytical capability with a practical understanding of Operations. The ideal candidate is comfortable working across Finance, Procurement and Operations and is able to turn complex cost drivers into clear insights and concrete actions. 

You bring a proactive mindset, strong stakeholder-management skills and a natural drive to simplify and improve processes. You are comfortable challenging existing ways of working, creating structure in a changing environment and taking ownership from analysis through implementation. 

You will also have:

• A completed university master’s degree in Finance, Economics, Business Administration or a related field. A Registered Controller (RC) qualification is a strong advantage.

• Around 10 years of relevant experience in business control, operations control or a comparable financial role.

• Experience in a manufacturing environment is important, including knowledge of production processes, procurement and cost calculations.

• A sound understanding of business control, financial controls and treasury.

• Experience with ERP systems and an understanding of how financial data and accounting flows are structured.

• Good knowledge of Power BI. You do not need to build everything from scratch, but you can independently investigate, improve and develop analyses.

• Experience working with consolidation tools.

• Strong analytical, communication and stakeholder management skills.

• A proactive, hands-on and improvement-oriented mindset, with the ability to create structure in a changing environment.

• Fluency in English. Knowledge of Dutch is desirable, and German is an advantage.

• Experience with AI tools, such as Copilot.

• Willingness to travel to the United Kingdom and Germany several times a year.

Please note that we do not offer visa or work permit sponsorship for this position. You must therefore hold a valid EU work permit

What do we offer

At HG, you will not be stepping into a role where everything is already set in stone. Changes in our logistics operations, systems and reporting create opportunities to further professionalize financial control and implement improvements yourself.

You can expect:

• a senior role with broad responsibility and direct influence on financial and operational decision-making;

• a salary appropriate to the seniority of the role, with an indicative range of €85,000 to €100,000 gross per year;

• an annual on-target bonus of 25% of your gross annual salary; 

• full-time employment with 30 days of annual leave; 

• a pension scheme; 

• a commuting allowance; 

• a full-time role based at our head office in Almere. Hybrid working is possible on a limited basis, with office attendance being an important part of the role;

• a dynamic and ambitious working environment where initiative and ownership are valued;

• a friendly, welcoming team, with a free shared lunch every Monday and monthly social drinks.

We are HG

HG is a leading European brand in specialist cleaning and maintenance products.

We believe a home should be a place where people can live carefree, with confidence in the products they use to care for the spaces and belongings around them. Our products are developed to do exactly what they promise: deliver effective, reliable and specialist cleaning solutions that help consumers solve real household problems.

HG’s mission is to help people enjoy their homes without worrying about what might go wrong. We do this through high-quality products, specialist expertise, clear advice and a relentless focus on performance.

We are dedicated to delivering superiority, innovation, quality and customer satisfaction. With a strong presence across Europe and beyond, we are continuously investing to make an even bigger impact.

HG does what it promises.

Do you have any questions?

Our colleague Ilse de Groot, Corporate Recruiter, will be happy to answer any questions. You can contact her at idegroot@hg.eu.

Would you like to apply for the senior business controller position at HG? You can apply directly by uploading your CV. We aim to respond within 5 working days.

Acquisition in response to this vacancy is not appreciated.

• Almere, Flevoland, Netherlands

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