Financial Controller

Financial Controller

Plovdiv area (Bulgaria) | Full-time | Reports to the COO | Start: as soon as possible

ABOUT OUR CLIENT

Our client is a fast-growing company that develops, manufactures and sells natural personal care products. Formulation and production take place at their own site near Plovdiv, while their products are sold across Europe through their own webshops and retail partners.

The group operates through six legal entities across the Netherlands and Bulgaria, with Odoo as the single system of record for finance, inventory and production.

WHY THIS ROLE EXISTS

Our client’s finance function has outgrown its current setup. They already have bookkeeping in place in both countries, with one bookkeeper in Bulgaria and one in the Netherlands, as well as an accountant in each country.

What they are currently missing is someone in-house who owns the numbers end to end - someone who investigates what actually needs to happen in the books, challenges the accountants when necessary, ensures the books are closed on time, and turns financial information into insights that management can act on.

They are therefore looking for a hands-on Finance Controller to take ownership of the finance function.

This is not a management role with a team underneath. The successful candidate will personally do the work and, over the next year, help rebuild the finance function into a more efficient operation that requires significantly fewer hours to run.

WHAT YOU WILL OWN

• Get to the bottom of things.

You will investigate the books across six entities, two countries and multiple currencies. You will identify what is incomplete, mis-booked or unexplained and drive each issue through to resolution. A significant part of the first few months will involve genuine investigation and clean-up work.

• Run the monthly close.

You will establish and maintain a monthly close process that runs to a fixed calendar, with reconciled balance sheets covering banks, intercompany, VAT, inventory, payables and receivables, as well as a reliable P&L for each entity.

• Direct the accountants, not the other way around.

You will coordinate the Bulgarian and Dutch bookkeepers and accountants, set deadlines, review their work and challenge anything that does not hold up. You will also take ownership of statutory filings, VAT and OSS, Intrastat and annual accounts in both countries.

• Turn numbers into decisions.

You will prepare monthly management reporting and cash-flow forecasts, analyse margins and cost prices, monitor budget versus actual performance, and provide the COO and management team with your own interpretation of the numbers and recommendations for action.

• Automate the work away.

Working closely with the COO, you will redesign finance processes so that as much of the routine work as possible runs automatically. This includes invoice capture and OCR, bank reconciliation, intercompany processes, approval flows and reporting, using Odoo and the company’s automation platform. The business already uses AI across its operations and expects the Finance Controller to make effective use of modern AI tools as well.

• Intercompany and transfer pricing.

You will keep the positions between the group entities clean, documented and reconciled, while supporting the company’s tax advisors with transfer pricing and cross-border structures.

WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE

After 90 days:

You have a clear understanding of the financial position of every entity, have documented the existing gaps and their causes, and the monthly close is running according to a fixed calendar.

After 6 months:

The books across all entities are reconciled and explainable, management has a reporting pack they actively use, and the first finance automations are live.

After 12 months:

The finance function requires structurally fewer hours to operate than it does today, while your own time has shifted away from repair work and towards analysis and supporting business decisions.

WHAT YOU BRING

• 6+ years of finance experience , including genuine ownership of a full set of books.
• Experience running or supervising bookkeeping across multiple businesses or entities, rather than working with only one set of accounts.
• Multi-entity and multi-country experience is essential, including consolidation, intercompany accounting, cross-border VAT, foreign currency and statutory reporting across more than one jurisdiction.
• Sufficient technical knowledge to challenge accountants on their own territory, combined with the ability to explain financial outcomes clearly to non-financial stakeholders.
• A genuinely hands-on approach . You are comfortable performing reconciliations yourself, working directly in the system and getting into the detail.
• Strong systems skills. ERP experience and advanced Excel/spreadsheet skills are essential. Odoo experience is a strong advantage.
• Experience with AI tools, SQL, BI or automation platforms would be a significant advantage. If you do not have this experience yet, you should have a strong willingness and ability to learn.
• Fluent Bulgarian and fluent English , both written and spoken. The management team works primarily in English.
• A critical and proactive mindset. You identify problems early, come with potential solutions rather than only raising questions, and follow through without needing to be chased.
• A degree in Finance, Accounting or a related field .
• ACCA, CPA or Bulgarian certified accountant qualification is welcome but not required.
• Working knowledge of Bulgarian and Dutch GAAP or IFRS would be an advantage.

WHO THIS ROLE IS NOT FOR

This position is not suited to someone who primarily wants to manage rather than do the work.

It is also not the right environment for someone who prefers to maintain existing processes simply because that is how things have always been done. Our client is looking for someone who wants to build, improve and modernise the finance function.

This is a hands-on and demanding role with significant ownership and visibility within the business.

WHAT OUR CLIENT OFFERS

• Direct and daily collaboration with the COO and involvement in key business decisions.
• Full ownership of the finance function within a growing international group.
• The opportunity to see the impact of your work within weeks, rather than years.
• Freedom and budget to redesign processes and introduce modern finance, AI and automation tools.
• A competitive salary, aligned with your experience and the level of ownership involved in the role.
• Additional health insurance.
• Food vouchers.
• 25 days of paid annual leave.
• Based at the client’s production site near Plovdiv , with an opportunity for hybrid working.