Director of Finance Transformation

ALS Limited; Madrid; On-site; EUR 150,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

ALS Limited seeks a Director of Finance Transformation to lead the global Intelligent Process Automation (IPA) programme within the Robot Factory, Data & AI team. The role oversees automation portfolio end-to-end, from discovery to executive reporting, partnering with business leaders across regions.

Responsibilities include strategy, portfolio growth, business case development, and benefits tracking. This senior role requires strong communication and global collaboration with cross-country

Qualifications

• 8+ years in finance transformation or intelligent automation.
• Led end-to-end IPA programmes with measurable benefits.
• Experience presenting to executives and influencing leadership.

Responsibilities

• Set and evolve global IPA strategy and multi-year automation roadmap.
• Own and grow automation portfolio and quantify benefits.
• Coordinate global rollouts from pilots to regional waves.
• Produce monthly IPA performance reviews and dashboards.

Skills

RPA leadership

UiPath expertise

Finance transformation

Executive communication

Cross-country experience

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

TM1

LIMS

Job description

At ALS, we encourage you to dream big. When you join us, you’ll be part of a global team harnessing the power of scientific testing and data-driven insights to build a healthier future.

Role overview

The Director of Finance Transformation co-leads ALS's global Intelligent Process Automation (IPA) programme, turning manual finance and operational processes into automated, measurable savings. The role sits within the Robot Factory, Data & AI team and owns the automation portfolio end to end, from process discovery and business case approval, benefits tracking and executive reporting. The role works across all business streams in multiple regions, and is the main link between technical delivery teams and senior business leaders.

Key responsibilities

Strategy and portfolio

• Set and evolve the global IPA strategy, including strategic pillars, KPIs and the multi-year automation roadmap.
• Own and grow the automation portfolio, prioritising opportunities by financial benefit and strategic fit.
• Maintain the opportunity pipeline and benefits framework, including tiered financial benefit categorisation and FTE/TEC savings commitments.

Discovery and business cases

• Lead process discovery with business stream SMEs and process owners to identify and assess automation opportunities.
• Build business cases with quantified labour, cost and quality benefits, and secure sponsor sign-off.
• Advise on the right solution for each problem, including RPA versus native platform changes (e.g. ALIMS, TM1, ERP).

Delivery and governance

• Support the RPA and business analysis teams through design, build, testing and deployment.
• Coordinate global rollouts, from pilot sites through to regional waves.
• Maintain the solution catalogue, documentation standards and naming conventions for all robots in production.

Reporting and stakeholder engagement

• Produce the monthly IPA performance review and executive dashboards for the EGM and senior leadership.
• Audit reported savings against source data so figures presented to leadership are accurate.
• Act as the main point of contact for business stream leaders on automation priorities, progress and benefits.

Key stakeholders

• Reports to Group CFO Executive General Managers (EGMs) - Monthly performance reviews, pilot and wave selection, savings commitments
• Business stream leaders - Opportunity prioritisation, sponsorship, benefit sign-off
• SMEs and process owners - Process discovery, requirements, user acceptance

Skills, experience and qualifications

Essential

• 8+ years in finance transformation, process improvement or intelligent automation, including at least 3 years leading a programme or team.
• Hands-on experience running an RPA programme, ideally on UiPath, from discovery through to production support.
• Strong financial acumen: building business cases, quantifying FTE and cost savings, and tracking realised benefits.
• Proven ability to present to and influence executive leadership, with clear written and visual communication.
• Experience working across multiple countries, business units and cultures.
• Bachelor's degree in finance, business, engineering, IT or a related field.

Desirable

• Experience with AI and document-understanding tools alongside RPA.
• Knowledge of laboratory, testing or inspection industries, or of LIMS platforms.
• Familiarity with ERP and financial planning systems (e.g. TM1).
• Process improvement or project management certification (e.g. Lean Six Sigma, PMP, UiPath certifications).

Success measures

• Realised annual savings (FTE capacity and TEC) delivered against committed targets.
• Number of automations in production, and their uptime and exception rates.
• Pipeline health: opportunities discovered, assessed and approved each quarter.
• Global rollouts delivered on schedule across pilot and wave countries.
• Accuracy of benefits reporting to the EGM, with figures reconciled to source data each month.
• Stakeholder satisfaction across business streams.

Working at ALS

The ALS team is a diverse and dedicated community united by our passion to make a difference in the world. Our values are important to us, and shape how we work, how we treat each other and how we recognise excellence. At ALS, you’ll be supported to develop new skills and reach your full potential. We invest in our people with programs and opportunities that help you build a diverse career with us. We want everyone to have a safe, flexible and rewarding career that makes a positive impact on our people, the planet and our communities.

Everyone Matters ALS is proud to be an equal opportunity employer and is committed to fostering an inclusive work environment where the strengths and perspectives of each employee are both recognised and valued.

ALS also welcomes applications from people with all levels of ability. Reasonable adjustments to support candidates throughout the recruitment process are available upon request.

Eligibility

To be eligible to work at ALS you must be a Citizen or Permanent Resident of the country you are applying for, or either hold or be able to obtain, a valid working visa.