EU Retail Financial Controller

Bridgestone; Zaventem; Hybrid; EUR 90,000 - 135,000; Full time

Job summary

Bridgestone is seeking an EMEA Retail Financial Controller to safeguard accuracy and compliance of financial reporting across the EMEA retail business. You will coordinate month-end close, support audits, and provide expert guidance on accounting standards.

You will partner with regional teams, Shared Service Centre, Tax and Treasury, delivering insightful financial and tax input for strategic initiatives in a complex matrix environment.

Qualifications

• Master/degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics or related discipline.
• Minimum five years of relevant experience in multinational and multi-entity setup.
• Experience in financial controlling, statutory reporting, audits, tax compliance and internal controls.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate month-end close across retail entities and prepare analyses (management accounts, variance, KPIs).
• Ensure IFRS compliance, statutory accounting, tax and legal requirements.
• Support audits and strengthen internal controls and reporting processes.

Skills

Financial controlling

IFRS knowledge

Excel advanced

Power BI

Stakeholder management

Analytical thinking

Multinational exposure

Education

Degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics

Tools

SAP

Job description

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POSITION SNAPSHOT

Type of work: Hybrid

Type of contract: Open-ended/permanent

Full/Part Time: Full time

Location: Zaventem, BE

ABOUT US

Bridgestone Americas, Inc. (BSAM), headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee, and Bridgestone Europe, Middle East and Africa (BSEMEA), headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, operate collectively as a “Bridgestone West” strategic region. This region services the strategic business needs of teams across the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Africa. BSAM and BSEMEA are subsidiaries of Bridgestone Corporation, globally headquartered in Japan. Bridgestone and its subsidiaries develop, manufacture and market a wide range of Bridgestone, Firestone and associate brand products and solutions to address the needs of a broad range of customers and industries.

ABOUT THE ROLE

About the Role

The EMEA Retail Financial Controller plays a key role in safeguarding the accuracy, integrity and compliance of financial reporting across the EMEA retail business.

Reporting to the EMEA Retail Finance Director, the role works closely with regional retail finance teams, Bridgestone corporate finance, Tax, Treasury, Legal and the Shared Service Centre in a complex, multi-entity and matrix environment. The position combines hands-on financial controlling with business partnership. You will coordinate month-end and statutory reporting, support internal and external audits, strengthen internal controls, and provide expert guidance on accounting standards.

You will also contribute financial, tax and legal insight to cross-functional projects, business cases and turnaround initiatives, translating complex financial information into clear recommendations for senior stakeholders.

Responsibilities:

• Coordinate the month-end close process across retail legal entities and prepare and analyse financial information, including management accounts, variance analysis, business insights and key performance indicators.
• Ensure the accuracy and integrity of financial statements and compliance with IFRS, statutory accounting, tax and legal requirements, while providing specialist support on lease accounting, intercompany transactions, group restructures and other complex accounting topics.
• Coordinate and support external and internal audits, statutory reporting and other compliance reviews, monitoring remediation actions and strengthening the internal control environment.
• Partner with regional finance teams, the Shared Service Centre, Tax, Treasury, FP&A and other stakeholders on financial reporting, fiscal compliance, earnings analysis and other financial requirements.
• Support forecasting, budgeting and strategic planning processes, contributing financial insight to support profitable performance and agreed business objectives.
• Prepare clear financial information and recommendations for senior executives and management boards, translating complex financial topics into actionable business insights.
• Assess business cases and new business opportunities, and support competitor analysis, benchmarking, revenue modelling, profitability analysis and turnaround initiatives.
• Provide financial, tax and legal input to cross-functional initiatives and undertake ad hoc financial analysis to support retail sites, regional teams and senior management.
• Provide indirect leadership and support to the retail finance community, coaching colleagues on accounting standards and financial policies and fostering a one-team, customer-focused and continuous-improvement mindset.
• Drive improvements in financial systems, processes, controls and reporting capabilities, promoting standardisation, efficiency and high-quality data across the retail network.

Qualifications & Experience Required

Education, Master, other certification:

• Degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business or a related discipline.

Experience (years):

• Minimum five years of relevant experience, including multinational and multi-entity exposure at both strategic and operational level.
• Experience in financial controlling, statutory reporting, audit, tax compliance and internal controls.
• Experience working in a decentralised business model and a large matrix organisation.
• Proven experience in driving continuous improvement and developing financial systems and processes.

Technical Skills:

• Strong financial controlling and analytical capabilities.
• Deep understanding of IFRS and relevant accounting principles.
• Strong understanding of financial reporting, compliance and internal controls.
• Advanced Excel skills.
• Experience with ERP, consolidation and reporting tools, ideally SAP, Power BI or equivalent.
• Ability to identify issues, challenge assumptions and develop practical recommendations.
• Ability to understand financial performance at point-of-sale level.

Languages Skills:

• Fluent English, written and spoken.
• Additional European languages are an advantage.

Soft/Behavioral Skills:

• Strong commercial mindset with the ability to balance technical finance requirements with business priorities.
• Ability to translate complex financial information into clear messages for non-finance and senior stakeholders.
• Excellent relationship and stakeholder management skills.
• Proactive, resilient and adaptable, with the confidence to operate in a fast-paced and changing environment.
• High attention to detail and precision.
• Strong collaboration and coaching skills.
• Strong indirect leadership skills.

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WHAT WE OFFER

At Bridgestone, what really matter is to foster co-creation opportunities and empowering you to be creative and curious to make mobility safer, more efficient, and more sustainable for future generations. Whatever role you fill, when you represent Bridgestone, you are a valued teammate, and part of our larger mission to “Serve Society with Superior Quality”, for that, we offer you more than just a competitive payment; we will provide you:

• A supportive and engaging onboarding experience to ensure a smooth transition into our team.
• The opportunity to develop and grow, through training and regular mentorship.
• Corporate Social Responsibility activities.
• A truly global, dynamic and challenging work environment.
• Agility and work/life effectiveness and your long-term well-being.
• A diverse and inclusive team.

We are committed to create an even more inclusive culture that advances equity, embraces individuality, and helps our increasingly diverse teammates, customers, and communities thrive, by providing equal opportunities in employment. This means that all job applicants and members of staff will receive equal treatment and that we will not discriminate on grounds of gender, marital status, race, ethnicity, color, nationality, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, religion or age.