Area Financial Controller

Role Reports to: 
Director Business Administration

About the Role:
As an Area Finance team, business partnering means working closely with business leaders to provide insights, challenge assumptions, and guide decision-making to optimize performance, ensure compliance, and deliver sustainable value.

The Area Financial Controller plays a pivotal role in ensuring the financial integrity, compliance, and performance of the countries under their scope. Acting as the primary financial partner and control point for countries, the role ensures strong financial governance, accurate reporting, and timely completion of audits of countries.

Responsibilities

Area Finance Team

Key responsibilities include:

• Oversight of country financials, including P&L and Balance Sheet
• Support for group and regional policies and initiatives
• Cash repatriation, financial statement audits, and risk management
• Budgeting and forecasting
• Ad-hoc financial analysis and project support
• Tax and compliance matters
• Timely escalation of issues to the regional team

Area Financial Controller

Key responsibilities include:

1. Financial Reporting & Control

• Ensure timely, accurate, and compliant monthly, quarterly, and annual financial closings for all countries in their scope.
• Review and challenge country P&L, Balance Sheet, and cash flow positions, ensuring reliability and consistency with IFRS and Group policies.
• Oversee balance sheet reconciliations, accruals, provisions, and intercompany settlements.
• Lead periodic financial performance reviews with countries

2. Business Analysis & Performance Management

• Prepare detailed variance analyses and management commentaries for Area leadership.
• Support annual budgeting, forecasting, ensuring alignment with business plans.
• Provide financial insights to support business decisions.

3. Cash Management & Repatriation

• Monitor cash flow and liquidity across countries, ensuring adherence to region cash management policies
• Manage and follow up on cash repatriation plans from local entities 
• Review and follow up on overdue receivables, ensuring clear escalation and resolution to area management

4. Statutory Compliance, Audit & Tax

• Ensure local statutory accounts are prepared, audited, and filed within legal deadlines for countries in scope.
• Coordinate external audits and ensure audit findings are addressed promptly.
• Oversee internal audit preparation and remediation for the countries in scope.
• Supervise and support local tax compliance (corporate income tax, VAT, withholding taxes, transfer pricing documentation).
• Serve as the primary contact point for tax audits, risk assessments, and local authorities, keeping the area and regional teams informed.

5. Governance & Internal Control

• Ensure full adherence to Group accounting, compliance, and internal control policies.
• Conduct periodic reviews of local processes and controls, identifying gaps and implementing remediation.
• Promote a strong control and compliance culture in countries

6. Country Support & Stakeholder Management

• Act as first point of contact for country BA teams, providing guidance on accounting treatment, reporting standards, and finance policies.
• Provide coaching and capacity-building to country BAs to enhance financial discipline and reporting quality.
• Liaise with regional finance teams for consolidation, policy updates, and technical clarifications.
• Support Area Management with ad hoc analyses, and business cases if required

Qualifications

Requirements for the role:

Industry and Technical Knowledge

• 10+ years in finance or accounting within shipping or maritime
• Degree in Accounting or Finance; CPA, CA, ACCA or CMA preferred
• Strong analytical and statistical skill

Business Systems and IT

• Commitment to data quality and benchmarking
• Advanced SAP and MS Office, especially Excel
• Process and systems improvement experience
• Accurate data processing under pressure

Communication and Organization

• Self-directed, with initiative
• Excellent written and spoken English
• Strong planning and time management
• Effective cross-functional collaboration
• Explains complex data clearly to non-finance audiences

Leadership and Behaviors

• Leadership potential: guides, coaches and influences
• Proactive, positive, “can do” attitude
• Ownership and commitment to delivery
• Team player
• Integrity and confidentiality