Financial Controller Lead

ABOUT THE ROLEAs Financial Controller Lead, you will be a strategic finance partner to the executive team, helping drive data-informed decisions that support rapid growth and operational excellence. ABOUT THE ROLE As Financial Controller Lead, you will be a strategic finance partner to the executive team, helping drive data-informed decisions that support rapid growth and operational excellence. In a fast-paced technology start-up environment, you will own the financial planning and business performance management processes, providing clear insights into revenue, costs, profitability, cash flow, and key business metrics. You will work closely with leaders across Product, Sales, Marketing, Operations, Tech and People to translate complex financial and operational data into actionable recommendations. Beyond traditional financial controlling, you will help build scalable financial processes, improve reporting automation, evaluate strategic investments, and support board reporting, and business expansion initiatives. This is a highly visible role for someone who enjoys combining financial rigor with an entrepreneurial mindset and thrives in an environment where priorities evolve quickly and every decision has a measurable impact. KEY RESPONSIBILITIES Serve as the primary finance business partner to functional and executive leadership. Lead the company's budgeting, forecasting, and long-range financial planning processes. Develop financial models to support strategic initiatives, new products, pricing decisions, market expansion, and investment opportunities. Monitor and analyze business performance, identifying trends, risks, and opportunities to improve growth and profitability. Build and maintain executive dashboards and KPIs that measure financial and operational performance. Provide insightful variance analysis and recommend actions to optimize revenue, gross margin, operating expenses, and cash flow. Partner with Product, Commercial and Tech teams to evaluate business cases and resource allocation. Support board presentations, and due diligence processes. Drive continuous improvement of financial planning, reporting, and analytics through automation and scalable processes. Collaborate with Accounting to ensure accurate month-end close, financial reporting, and compliance with internal controls. Evaluate SaaS and technology business metrics, including ARR, MRR, CAC, LTV, churn, retention, and unit economics, where applicable. Support strategic initiatives, including international expansion, partnerships, M&A, and new business models. Build a culture of financial accountability while enabling fast and informed decision-making across the organization. WHAT YOU BRING Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business Administration, or a related discipline. 7+ years of experience in Business Controlling, FP&A, Strategic Finance, or Corporate Finance, preferably in a high-growth technology company or start-up. Strong financial modeling, forecasting, and business analysis skills. Experience partnering with senior executives and cross-functional leadership teams. Deep understanding of business drivers, or digital business models. Advanced Excel and financial modeling capabilities. Fluency using AI tools. Experience with ERP, FP&A, and BI platforms (for example MS Dynamics, NetSuite, Oracle, SAP, Workday Adaptive Planning, Power BI, Looker, Tableau, or similar). Excellent analytical thinking with the ability to transform data into strategic business insights. Strong communication and presentation skills, with confidence presenting to executives, investors, and board members. Comfortable operating in a fast-changing, ambiguous environment with a hands-on approach. Demonstrated ability to build scalable financial processes in a growing organization. Strong project management and stakeholder management skills. High level of ownership, curiosity, and a continuous improvement mindset. Preferred Qualifications Experience in fi