The Director Project Controlling EMEA leads the regional Project Controlling organization and has end-to-end responsibility for financial governance, transparency and performance management across the EMEA project portfolio. The role acts as a strategic finance partner to EMEA Operations, Business Unit leadership and the Executive Leadership Team, converting complex project and portfolio information into clear decisions and actions.
The position ensures reliable forecasting, margin protection, cash optimization, strong risk management and consistent application of project accounting and control standards. It also develops a high-performing multinational team and drives standardization, digitalization and continuous improvement across countries and business units.
We offer:
- Career Development
- Competitive Compensation And Benefits
- Pay Transparency
- Global Opportunities
Learn More Here: https://www.dematic.com/en-gb/about/careers/
Should this role be filled in Italy the base pay range for this role is estimated to be 87.000 € - 127.600 € at the time of posting. Compensation will be aligned with the applicable National Collective Labour Agreement, namely the CBA "Metalmeccanico Industria".
Final compensation will be determined by various factors such as work location, education, experience, knowledge, and skills
Tasks and Qualifications:
Responsabilities:
EMEA Portfolio Performance and Executive Business Partnership
- Own the financial oversight and performance management of the EMEA project portfolio, ensuring predictable delivery against budget, forecast and strategic commitments.
- Act as trusted finance advisor to Business Unit Leaders on portfolio optimization, transformation and sustainable profitable growth.
- Lead regional portfolio and performance reviews, clearly articulating drivers of margin, volume, cost, risk, cash and forecast variances and defining corrective actions with accountable owners.
- Challenge Operations and Project Execution teams to protect project economics, improve outcomes and deliver agreed financial commitments.
Project Financial Governance and Controls
- Ensure robust project lifecycle governance, including contract review, baseline validation, EAC, percentage-of-completion accounting, forecast updates, variance management and project close-out.
- Ensure compliance with IFRS 15, US GAAP, internal accounting policies and regional/global control requirements.
- Strengthen the control environment through effective internal controls, balance-sheet and project reconciliations, audit coordination and timely remediation of findings.
- Drive consistency, data quality and transparency across project financial reporting, management dashboards and executive commentary.
Risk, Opportunity, Margin and Cash Management
- Lead EMEA portfolio risk and opportunity governance, ensuring early identification, robust quantification, ownership, mitigation and appropriate financial recognition.
- Drive margin protection and profitability improvement through structured deep dives, root-cause analysis, recovery plans, change-order governance, claims support and lessons learned.
- Optimize project cash flow and working capital through milestone billing, collections, advance payments, inventory/WIP management and disciplined follow-up of overdue receivables.
- Assess contractual and commercial exposures, including penalties, contingent revenues, customer claims, supplier/subcontractor risks and non-conformance costs.
Leadership and Organizational Capability
- Lead, coach and develop a multinational Project Controlling organization across EMEA
- Build a culture of accountability, constructive challenge, collaboration and continuous improvement, supported by clear objectives, performance management, succession planning and development actions.
- Ensure effective resource allocation and organizational design aligned with business priorities, portfolio complexity and transformation needs.
Transformation, Standardization and Digital Finance
- Drive standardization of project controlling methodologies, governance routines, reporting frameworks and key performance indicators across EMEA.
- Lead finance transformation and process-improvement initiatives in partnership with Finance, Operations, PMO, Business Transformation and IT.
- - Leverage SAP S/4HANA, Oracle, Power BI, advanced analytics and AI-enabled insights to improve forecasting accuracy, reporting efficiency, scenario analysis and decision support.
Commercial and Strategic Support
- Provide financial challenge and support during bid, quotation and contract-review activities for complex or strategically important opportunities.
- Assess cost structures, margins, cash profiles, commercial terms, capacity implications and risk-adjusted profitability using historical project performance and scenario analysis.
- Partner with Commercial, Legal, Sales Controlling and Estimation teams to improve deal quality and protect long-term customer and portfolio profitability.
Qualifications and Experience
- Master degree in Finance, Economics, Management Engineering, Business Administration or a comparable discipline.
- Minimum 10 years of progressive experience in project controlling, finance operations or commercial finance within a complex, international and project-driven environment; substantial leadership experience required.
- Demonstrated experience managing large project portfolios and multicultural teams across countries and business units.
- Strong knowledge of percentage-of-completion accounting, IFRS 15 revenue recognition, US GAAP and project financial controls.
- Experience in automation, engineering, construction, supply chain solutions, EPC or another long-cycle project business is highly desirable.
Functional and Technical Competencies
- Expertise in EAC forecasting, portfolio governance, FP&A, budgeting, risk management, cash flow, working capital, internal controls and audit management.
- Ability to link project schedules, operational progress, commercial obligations and financial outcomes; knowledge of earned value and integrated scheduling is an advantage.
- Strong digital mindset and practical experience with ERP, analytics and reporting platforms such as SAP S/4HANA, Oracle, Power BI and advanced Microsoft Excel.
- Experience leading transformation, process standardization, organizational change and performance-improvement initiatives.
Leadership and Personal Capabilities
- Strategic and analytical thinker with strong business judgement and the ability to translate complex issues into executive-level insights and clear actions.
- Credible, constructive and resilient leader who combines strong ownership with collaboration and develops accountability in others.
- - Excellent stakeholder management, influencing and communication skills across Finance, Operations, Commercial and senior executive audiences.
- Comfortable operating in a matrix organization, managing ambiguity and balancing regional consistency with local business requirements.
- Fluent professional English required; additional EMEA languages are an advantage. Willingness to travel across EMEA as business needs require.
