GROUP CONTROLLER | FUTURE CFO

Help build a growing business and shape your own path to becoming a CFO

Improven Search & Interim is recruiting, exclusively on behalf of Royal Sens, an enterprising Group Controller | Future CFO – Royal Sens (Rotterdam) who wants to look beyond reporting and consolidation. A finance professional who is keen to take on responsibility and has the ambition to progress towards a role as CFO in the long term.

• Job type: Executive search
• Expertise: Finance
• Location: Rotterdam
• Maximum gross annual salary: €125k on a full-time basis

You’ll be working across finance, operations, investments and senior management. One day you’ll be scrutinising the figures for our portfolio companies; the next, you’ll be working on an investment case, a financing issue or the financial integration of a new acquisition.

About Royal Sens

Royal Sens has been producing labels since 1896 from four sites across three countries. It has grown to become a trusted name in the modern packaging industry worldwide. Royal Sens supplies primarily to the food and drink industry, but also to manufacturers of household and pharmaceutical products. Their customers include virtually all leading European producers of premium brands.

Why this role is interesting

Royal Sens operates in a dynamic manufacturing environment where growth is key. The company combines organic growth with an active buy-and-build and M&A strategy. This results in a broad financial agenda: ranging from the further professionalisation of Planning & Control to financing, investments, consolidation and the integration of new subsidiaries.

As Group Controller, you will become the financial linchpin of the group and the CFO’s right-hand person. This will place you in a position where you do not merely look back at past financial performance, but rather look ahead and influence what is yet to come.

And that is precisely what makes this role so special: for a strong, ambitious candidate, the role offers the opportunity to progress to the position of CFO in the long term.

What will you do

You will have broad responsibility for the group’s financial management. You will oversee the Planning & Control cycle, budgeting and rolling forecasts, and ensure reliable and timely monthly reports. In addition, you will be responsible for consolidation, intercompany reconciliation and external reporting in accordance with Dutch GAAP. However, your role goes well beyond accounting and reporting. Your responsibilities will include, amongst other things:

• Business & production controlling: you analyse figures and performance and translate operational developments into concrete management information.
• CAPEX & investments: you will assess investment proposals, for example for machinery and automation, and draw up business cases based on factors such as ROI and payback period.
• M&A & integration: you will help to integrate newly acquired manufacturing companies financially and take part in due diligence processes.
• Consolidation: you are responsible for the consolidation package and for the consolidation activities.
• Cash & forecasting: you will work with cash planning and integrated rolling forecast models for the P&L, balance sheet and cash flow.
• A sparring partner for the CFO: you identify opportunities and bottlenecks, ask critical questions and drive improvements,

Finance with its feet firmly on the ground

You actually feel right at home in an entrepreneurial SME+ environment with short lines of communication. You’re comfortable stepping into the production floor, keen to understand what goes on there, and able to make the connection between operations and financial performance. One moment you can zoom in on a discrepancy in the figures, and the next you’re discussing the company’s overall strategy with the CFO.

You are hands-on, critical, proactive and approachable. You don’t wait for someone to tell you what needs doing, but identify areas for improvement and take the initiative to address them.

What we are looking for

We would be delighted to hear from a finance professional who is ready to take the next step in their career and who possesses:

• University or higher vocational education (HBO) level of working and thinking, for example in Accountancy or Financial Management; (RA/RC qualification is an advantage);
• approximately 5 to 8 years’ relevant experience in Group Control, Group Reporting or a senior Finance Manager or Financial Control role, preferably within an SME+ manufacturing environment;
• experience with budgeting, rolling forecasts, intercompany reconciliation and consolidation; you also have a thorough understanding of Dutch GAAP regulations;
• experience with consolidation tools such as Lucanet, OneStream or Cognos;
• excellent analytical skills and the ability to explain the story behind the figures in simple terms;
• strong Excel and reporting skills;
• a good command of (technical) English;

Your next step: from Group Controller to CFO

This role is of interest to candidates who have already built up a solid financial foundation and feel that their next step should involve a broader scope than yet another controller role.

You will have the opportunity to develop your skills working closely alongside the CFO on topics that ultimately fall within the CFO’s remit: financing, cash flow, investments, shareholder and bank reporting, M&A, integration, performance and financial strategy. This breadth of responsibilities is directly reflected in the job description.

Do you aspire to take on a CFO role in the future? If so, this is your chance to gain experience in that field!

What to expect

• For this challenging role, the maximum gross annual salary is €125k on a full-time basis.
• In addition, the fringe benefits set out in the Grafimedia Collective Labour Agreement apply.