Senior Business Controller

About Hoogwegt

We are Hoogwegt. We are the world’s largest privately owned dairy ingredient provider, active in over 130 countries and managing an annual turnover of €2.8 billion. Operating at the heart of the global trading market, our financial, commercial, and operational success relies on smart risk management, robust credit strategies, and strong liquid capital.

When you join Hoogwegt, you enter a highly professional, international finance environment. You will be part of our dynamic Group Finance community located at our modern, collaborative office in Arnhem, where your business control expertise will directly impact commercial decision-making, commercial margin steering, and global cost management across our operational units and service functions.

About the Role

As a Senior Business Controller, you will be a true partner to our Business Unit Directors and Global Services Directors, sitting at the table where key commercial and operational decisions are made. This is a highly proactive, strategic position designed for an ambitious financial professional with significant growth potential and the drive to actively steer business performance.

Operating in a fast-paced trading environment where markets change rapidly, you will act as a critical sparring partner across a major part of the group's global cost structures and commercial units. You will balance margin optimization with cost effectiveness while navigating a landscape where no two days are the same. Surrounded by a strong, supportive network of experienced finance leaders and senior stakeholders, this role offers the perfect platform to expand your influence, develop your leadership capability, and accelerate your long-term career growth.

What You Will Do

• Partner with Business Unit Directors on P&L and balance sheet performance, focusing closely on margin quality, pricing, contract structures, and capital employed.
• Bring an independent, holistic view to commercial discussions, weighing financial, commercial, and operational factors together.
• Own the analytical framing of business performance, explaining the "why" behind the numbers and the direct implications for future decisions.
• Keep the working capital and interest cost consequences of commercial structures visible during decision-making.
• Evaluate commercial decisions after implementation to assess realized margins against original business cases.
• Partner with the six Global Services Directors to manage SG&A budgets, depreciation, and CAPEX investments, ensuring cost effectiveness.
• Lead the budgeting, forecasting, and strategic planning cycles for your business areas, ensuring commercial realism.
• Drive and deliver practical process and performance improvement projects, managing progress through to measurable results.
• Lead, coach, and develop the business control team.
• Tailor your coaching style to give autonomy to experienced colleagues while providing structured guidance to junior team members.

What You Bring

• A Master’s degree in Finance, Controlling, Business Economics, or a closely related field.
• Minimum of 5 years of relevant business control experience.
• Demonstrable people leadership experience, with a strong aptitude for collaborative, peer-to-peer team management and coaching. 
• Fluency in English; working proficiency in Dutch is considered a strong advantage.
• Experience in commodity trading, food ingredients, dairy, or another margin-driven trading environment is highly preferred.
• Commercial acumen with a genuine curiosity about how margins are made, allowing you to speak the same language as the business.
• Strong communication skills and the confidence to constructively challenge stakeholders, holding your ground under pressure.
• A collaborative mindset with the ability to build genuine commitment across both commercial and functional teams.
• A results-oriented approach to project management, ensuring improvement initiatives are fully closed and implemented.
• Comfortable navigating financial systems and handling data independently.

What We Offer

At Hoogwegt, we believe your career should be as dynamic as the market you work in. That's why we offer:

• An informal and open culture where you can be yourself.
• The freedom to shape your work in your own way.
• Plenty of room for personal growth and development, with training tailored to your role.
• A warm welcome from experienced and enthusiastic colleagues who will help you find your feet.
• Strong employment conditions, including attractive variable pay, a solid pension plan, generous leave, and collective insurance.
• A sports programme with bootcamp, running, or yoga under professional guidance
• A modern office directly opposite Arnhem Central Station, easy to reach by public transport.

Our Commitment to You

At Hoogwegt, we believe that our strength lies in our differences. We are a global community that thrives on a diversity of perspectives, and we warmly welcome applications from people of all ages, genders, ethnicities, and backgrounds. We strive to create a workplace where everyone feels at home and has the freedom to shape their own path. Come as you are, we look forward to meeting you.