Arabic-Speaking Commercial Controller, MEA

Perfetti Van Melle Group; Dubai; On-site; AED 300,000 - 540,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health coverage

Retirement plans

Wellbeing initiatives

Continuous learning

Job summary

Perfetti Van Melle Export Middle East & Africa DMCC in Dubai seeks an Arabic-speaking Commercial Controller to oversee trade spend, rebates, promotions, visibility, and e-commerce investments across MEA. The role partners with country teams to budget, forecast, and monitor spend, validate rebate calculations, review contracts, and ensure adherence to policies while driving profitability.

The ideal candidate has strong financial control, SAP experience, and advanced Excel skills to communicate

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration; professional certifications like CPA/CMA advantageous.
• Proven track record in commercial financial control within a multinational or FMCG environment.
• Proficient with ERP systems (SAP) and advanced Excel, including financial modeling.
• Experience with data analytics tools and market data platforms is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Manage and control Trade Spend across MEA, including customer rebates, promotions, visibility, displays, e-commerce activities and other commercial investments.
• Partner with country teams to prepare annual Trade Spend budgets and latest estimates, review market assumptions and maintain detailed plans for commercial investments.
• Monitor actual spend and open commitments against budget and forecast, highlighting risks, variances, overspend and potential savings to Finance and commercial management.
• Validate customer rebate calculations, claims and debit notes against contractual terms, actual sales or IMS performance, activity execution and supporting documentation.
• Review commercial contracts and BDAs, track validity and missing documentation, and ensure payments are supported by signed agreements.
• Conduct regular market and store visits to audit retailers’ implementation of contractual commitments, including visibility, displays, promotions and other commercial activities.
• Prepare and review P&L reporting by retailer, highlight loss-making or low-profitability accounts, identify drivers and recommend actions to improve profitability.
• Review commercial purchase requisitions and POs for correct activity classification, GL account, Internal Order, budget availability, approvals and supporting documents.
• Identify savings opportunities by reconciling open commitments against actual activities, customer claims and market performance, and follow up on reductions.
• Partner with Marketing to calculate ROI of marketing activities and customer investments, including promotions and displays.
• Ensure compliance with policies including No PO, No Pay, and support internal controls and audit requirements across commercial, procurement, OTC and P2P processes.
• Maintain commercial trackers covering Trade Spend, contracts, customer claims, savings, open commitments and outstanding actions.

Skills

Excel

Financial modeling

Pivot tables

Education

Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration

Tools

SAP

IMS

Job description

Perfetti Van Melle Export Middle East & Africa DMCC in Dubai seeks an Arabic-speaking Commercial Controller to oversee trade spend, rebates, promotions, visibility, and e-commerce investments across MEA. The role partners with country teams to budget, forecast, and monitor spend, validate rebate calculations, review contracts, and ensure adherence to policies while driving profitability.

The ideal candidate has strong financial control, SAP experience, and advanced Excel skills to communicate