Head of Controlling

For one of our clients, a company in the consumer health sector, we are looking for a freelance Head of Controlling for a temporary assignment of minimum 4 months. This is a leadership role with real ownership — you'll manage a team, drive the reporting cycle, and tackle a key challenge: bringing order and clarity to a complex data and tools environment. If you combine strong controlling expertise with a sharp IT mindset, a solid commercial background, and hands-on experience in an industrial environment, this assignment was made for you.

What You'll Focus On

- Performance & Reporting

Take full ownership of the monthly reporting cycle, delivering reliable dashboards to the Executive Committee and shareholders. You'll analyse variances between actuals, budget and forecasts, and turn numbers into clear, actionable insights.

-Budget & Forecast

Lead the year-end budget process and coordinate forecasting across all business units. You'll challenge assumptions, consolidate inputs, and ensure the financial plan is coherent and credible.

- Profitability & Strategic Support

Deliver profitability analyses by product, brand, customer or channel. Build business cases for investment decisions and assess the financial impact of key strategic choices.

-Business Partnering

Act as a trusted sparring partner for operational managers and commercial directors — challenging their plans, supporting their decisions, and helping them optimise costs, margins and investments. Your commercial controlling background will be key to supporting the sales and marketing teams in steering their performance effectively.

-Data & Tools Diagnostic — A Key Priority

This is where your IT mindset will make all the difference. The current reporting environment relies heavily on Power BI, but the landscape has grown complex and messy over time. Your mission:

• Conduct a full diagnostic of existing data flows, reporting tools, and file architecture
• Identify what works, what doesn't, and what should simply be retired
• Clean and rationalize the data environment
• Deliver clear recommendations on which tools to keep, improve or replace
• Lay the groundwork for a more reliable and scalable reporting infrastructure

-Team Leadership

Manage and develop a small team of Industrial and cost controllers, keeping momentum through the year-end period and ensuring continuity in deliverables.

What We're Looking For

• Proven experience as a Head of Controlling in a group or multi-entity environment
• Experience in an industrial environment is a must — you understand the operational realities of a manufacturing or industrial business
• Solid background in commercial controlling — you're as comfortable analysing sales margins and channel performance as you are with cost controlling
• Strong IT mindset — you're comfortable diving into data architecture, questioning existing tools, and driving rationalization
• Solid hands-on experience with Power BI and ERP systems (D365 is a plus)
• Ability to quickly assess a complex situation and propose pragmatic solutions
• Strong business partnering skills
• Fluent in French (working language) with a good command of English
• Highly agile and adaptable — you thrive in fast-changing environments and can shift priorities without losing focus
• Stress-resistant and performance-driven — you're comfortable operating in a high-demanding, LBO-backed environment where pace, precision and accountability are non-negotiable
• Available immediately or within 3 weeks for a 4-month assignment until end of December

Robert Walters Belgium is acting as an Employment Business in relation to this vacancy.