Financial Controller

Role Responsibilities

Financial Control & Reporting

Take ownership of the day-to-day finance function for the Netherlands entity whilst collaborating with the wider international finance organisation. Lead month-end close activities including journals, accruals, prepayments, reconciliations and reporting. Prepare management accounts, variance analysis, and cash flow reporting. Support budgets, forecasts, and reforecasts. Maintain robust financial controls and provide financial insight.

Operational Finance

Oversee sales invoicing, accounts receivable, and credit control. Support accounts payable, cash allocation, and finance administration. Oversee local payroll, pension contributions, employee expenses and related finance administration. Undertake operational, transactional, and administrative finance activities where required. Work collaboratively across Finance, Sales and Operations. Identify opportunities for process improvement.

Compliance & Governance

Support compliance with Dutch statutory reporting, corporate tax, VAT and other regulatory requirements. Support audits and maintain audit readiness. Maintain financial controls and documentation. Develop finance policies and scalable processes.

Systems & Transformation

Support transition to global finance systems. Support testing, process mapping, and implementation. Promote consistency of reporting and controls across the Group.

Growth & Team Development

Support development of a scalable finance function. Support onboarding and development of future finance team members. Maintain a practical and collaborative approach.

Skills and Experience

Essential:

• Relevant professional accounting qualification (or equivalent), or demonstrable equivalent experience gained through progressively responsible finance roles.
• Broad hands-on finance experience within a growing or international business.
• Strong knowledge of month-end close, reporting, reconciliations, and financial control.
• Experience of budgeting, forecasting, cash flow management, and audit preparation.
• Experience improving finance processes and supporting systems change.
• Strong understanding of Dutch accounting, tax and regulatory requirements.
• Strong VAT expertise, including experience managing VAT implications when purchasing products from vendors and selling products to customers within and outside the Netherlands.
• Experience managing payroll, pension contributions, and employee expenses.
• Experience working with services, regional or global finance teams.
• Legal right to work in the Netherlands and ability to attend the Nijmegen office regularly and the new facility in Breda from ~April 2027.
• Excellent organisational, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Excellent command of written and spoken English, required for effective day-to-day communication, reporting and collaboration with the wider international finance organisation, including colleagues and stakeholders in the UK and US.
• Ability to work independently and adapt to changing business needs.

Desirable:

• Previous supervisory or people management experience.
• Experience of finance system implementation or migration.
• Experience in a multi-entity international environment.

Additional Information

Right to Work
To be considered for this role, you must be legally entitled to work in the Netherlands. Employer-sponsored work authorisation is not available for this position.

Other Duties
The responsibilities described above are intended to outline the general nature of the role and are not an exhaustive list of duties. Responsibilities may reasonably evolve in line with business requirements.

Travel
Occasional domestic and international travel may be required to support business operations and collaboration with the wider finance organisation.

Why AHEAD:

Through our daily work and internal groups like Moving Women AHEAD and RISE AHEAD, we value and benefit from diversity of people, ideas, experience, and everything in between.

We fuel growth by stacking our office with top-notch technologies in a multi-million-dollar lab, by encouraging cross department training and development, sponsoring certifications and credentials for continued learning.

Use of AI:

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, assessing responses, or to capture recordings and create transcriptions or summaries during interviews. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans.

If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please refer to the UK Candidate Privacy Notice / Netherlands Candidate Privacy Notice or contact us at privacy@ahead.com.

You may opt-out of the review or analysis of your application and resume by AI tools by using the General Application. Please include the role you wish to for in the Additional Information field. You may also choose to opt-out of recording and transcription at any time, including after joining an interview. Candidates will not be penalized for choosing to opt-out.