Cluster Finance Director North West Europe - Topigs Norsvin

Are you an internationally oriented finance leader who wants to combine business partnering, leadership and transformation? At Topigs Norsvin, you will lead Finance across 10-15 European countries and act as the strategic finance partner to the Cluster Director.

As Cluster Finance Director North West Europe you lead the Finance function for the cluster and you are the finance business partner of the Cluster Director. The cluster consists of 10-15 European countries. You own the numbers and, more importantly, the story behind them. The Country Finance Managers and cluster finance roles report to you, you work closely with Group Controlling on finance standards, reporting, planning & control, internal control and finance team development. It is a role with a real mandate and a real to-do list.

• Partner with the business: be the sparring partner of the Cluster Director on investments, portfolio, pricing.
• Turn analysis into decisions: combine financial, commercial and operational insight, and translate analysis into decisions people act on.
• Own planning and performance: run the integrated cycle for the cluster budget and forecasts for P&L, cash and balance sheet. Create performance insights for the cluster and ensure that growth ambitions are supported by credible assumptions and translate into sustainable margin growth and cash generation.
• Build and lead the team. Develop your Country Finance Managers, align targets and calendars across countries, and grow business partnering, digital and data skills in the team.
• Drive the transformation. Co-lead the roll-out of our new ERP, BI and automation initiatives in the cluster and move Finance from decentralized to genuinely aligned.
• Keep the house in order. Reliable management and statutory reporting, robust internal controls, working capital discipline and proactive risk management.

They are one of the world’s leading swine genetics companies. Their breeding programme, research and data science help pig producers around the globe become more efficient, more sustainable and more profitable. They are headquartered in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, located in more than 20 countries and serving over 50 markets which are structured into 5 clusters (each cluster consists of a number of countries). Each cluster is managed by a cluster team led by a Cluster director, with the Cluster Finance Director playing a key role.

They have grown by more than 10% per year since 2014. That growth changes the role of Finance. Their customers are becoming larger and more international, their market is consolidating, and the investment decisions they make in R&D today define their position ten years from now. Through their transformation program they are rebuilding the way they steer the company: five international clusters, a new ERP and BI landscape, and a more matrix-based organisation in which local business ownership and group functional leadership must reinforce each other. Finance function that sits at the table where decisions are made.

• An academic degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Economics or similar.
• 8-12 years of relevant experience in a commercially driven, international environment, including your first leadership experience.
• Strong foundations in business control, FP&A, and financial reporting and the ability to explain the “so what” to non-financial managers in two sentences.
• The mindset of a change maker: you are comfortable with ambiguity, you make things concrete, and you take people with you rather than around them.
• Analytical, curious, direct and culturally sensitive - your working day crosses several countries and perspectives.
• Excellent communication skills in English; an additional language relevant to the cluster is an advantage.

• A senior role with genuine ownership: you design how Finance works in your cluster instead of inheriting it.
• A seat at the cluster leadership table and in the international Finance Leadership Council, where the group finance agenda is set.
• A transformation you will see through from design to go-live - new ERP, new operating model, new reporting - which is rare at this stage of a career.
• International scope from day one, in a company that is global in reach but small enough that you know the people behind the numbers.
• A clear runway: this role is a stepping stone towards broader group responsibility.
• Hybrid working from their headquarters in ‘s-Hertogenbosch, an attractive package matching the seniority of the role