Cluster Financial Controller

Cluster Financial Controller - Wider Europe

Location:
Belgrade, Serbia and Warsaw, Poland

Contract Type:
Indefinite Contract

Closing date
: 28 September 2025 at 21:59 UK Time

Requirements: You must have the legal right to work in one of the listed countries at the time of application. We are unable to support with visa sponsorship and relocation.

Role Context – About The Team:

The role is created as part of the transformation of Professional Services and the global finance team, moving transactional finance processes to an external MSP. It is a part of in-country Controllership team and is created following the merger of SSA & WE controllership; geographic scope is Wider Europe only (excluding Ukraine) to preserve clear accountability and prevent overlap.

The Cluster Controller will deliver Wider Europe sub-region finance operating requirements, ensuring risks/controls are managed. This role will support organisational change in the way in which the business unit/geographical area carries out its transactional finance, monthly close process, and financial compliance. The post holder will be required to organise the various teams to ensure consistent standards of performance and accuracy across the business whilst maintaining strong and efficient interaction with the MSP.

The Wider Europe region manages significant complexity resulting from statutory tax reporting and country compliance regulations, local banking restrictions, as well as political upheaval. Local language and knowledge of government regulation are still essential and delivered in part by retained country finance expertise. This role will support the Regional Financial Controller in maintaining corporate oversight of the retained model and management of the risks resulting from this complexity.

The post holder will be a proactive self-starter with the ability to think strategically while keeping an eye on the detail. They will be a skilful and flexible finance professional with good communications skills and understanding of commercial finance. The person will be in constant contact with the Regional Financial Controller, business leads, and members of the financial community across the WE sub-region.

The in-country team will primarily focus on high-risk and complex finance operating requirements that must be retained in-country. Where there is capacity and no tax/status exposure, in-country roles will support the Centre of Excellence Controllership activities. In-country roles include statutory and tax reporting responsibilities where operating complexity is high and local stat/tax filing is retained in-country.

Role Purpose – The Job:

• This role leads the delivery of financial accounting activities and end‑to‑end financial control for the Wider Europe (WE) sub‑region, excluding Ukraine, ensuring accurate, timely, and reliable statutory & management reporting.
• The role will line manage the Controllership Team in the wider Europe sub‑region (excluding Ukraine), who will be based in multiple locations providing retained in-country specific activities/processes, local, complex statutory/tax reporting, managing retained banking responsibilities, liaising with local authorities, supporting sanctioned countries and managing escalations raised by in-country teams and the MSP.
• The post holder will co-ordinate and provide oversight for the completion of finance tasks in some countries in the WE sub-region, where there are no finance roles.
• The post holder will ensure compliance with UK GAAP, IFRS, local GAAP and British Council policy, partnering with Tax & Statutory team, Treasury and the Financial Control Centre.
• The role safeguards assets and ensures a robust control environment through balance‑sheet governance, cashflow forecasting and FX risk management.
• This role will serve as the first escalation point for auditors, tax authorities and regulators within the WE sub-region.

Wider Europe Sub-region/Cluster: Turkey, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Israel, Armenia, and the Western Balkans.

Main Accountabilities:

Leadership and Management

• Provide inclusive leadership and people management to the Wider Europe sub-region controllership team (Senior Accountants and Accountants); champion financial accounting, providing a good standard of financial insight and discipline.
• Support a culture of continuous learning and improvement and promote learning from our experience across the unit and wider organisation. Support team members ensuring performance management as per corporate policies.
• Role model The British Council values and EDI in day-to-day interactions with colleagues at all levels. Ensure high levels of professionalism are demonstrated by everyone and that client and customer needs are reflected in ways of working.

Financial Management

• Lead the delivery of retained financial control processes supporting Purchase to Pay (P2P), Order to Cash (O2C), Record to Report (R2R), and Cash & Liquidity Management (CLM), ensuring consistent, accurate and robust financial accounting in line with accounting practices and corporate policies.
• Work closely with the Managed Service Provider (MSP) and retained in-country financial controllers to ensure the financial accounts are completed correctly and in a timely manner, and numbers are reported accurately.
• Support the delivery of month‑end and year-end close, balance‑sheet reconciliations and statutory filings for the WE sub-region.

Relationship and Stakeholder Management

• Provide stakeholder engagement and business partnering for retained financial processes, building strong working relationships with key stakeholders and the MSP to ensure that activities comply with professional accounting standards and other external reporting requirements in the British Council.
• Provide controllership input to cross‑functional initiatives (e.g., country closures, asset disposals, crisis responses) and advise Procurement on tax and payment clauses (where required)

Sector/subject expertise

• Provide guidance and advice on professional accounting standards, local accounting and reporting requirements, technical accounting issues and other external reporting requirements in the British Council. Liaise with other specialist finance functions such as Tax, Treasury, Finance Policy, and Global Process Owners as needed. Proactively identify unusual or complex transactions and recommend appropriate professional accounting treatments. Produce periodic reports relating to financial accounting when required.

Service Improvement

• Implement new or updated accounting and reporting requirements in line with professional accounting standards; communicate change effectively with internal stakeholders; ensure appropriate training.
• Support, contribute to and drive process standardisation and further optimisation of the Financial Control operating model, policies, and systems to meet the organisation's global and local reporting requirements.

Requirements Of The Role:

Minimum/essential

• A significant number of active years of financial controllership and related experience. Experience of leading a geographically dispersed and culturally diverse team.
• Knowledge of Professional Accounting Standards
• Experience of commercial accounting in a subsidiary, including financial management, accounting and reporting to local authorities.
• SAP/ERP experience.
• Qualified accountant with considerable post-qualification experience.

Desirable:

• Experience of Shared Services operations.