Financial Controller

Mars; Greater London; On-site; GBP 85,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company bonus

Learning & development support

Job summary

Mars is recruiting for a Fixed Term Contract role in London to run financial operations and reporting for the European unit. You will support the CFO and EKA Business Partners, delivering accurate period closes, robust internal controls, and governance around contracts and investments while collaborating with cross‑functional teams across Europe.

The role focuses on overheads, cash, and performance insights, and involves backfill coverage with EOS-related activities, under the Mars/EKA framework.

Qualifications

• Master’s Degree / professional accounting qualification or equivalent.
• Significant experience in custodianship and financial operations within complex environments.

Responsibilities

• Create and manage financial reporting ensuring an efficient period close process with accurate information and supporting documentation.
• Develop and maintain a secure internal control environment and ensure compliance with local GAAP and regulatory requirements.
• Plan and manage year-end audits with internal and external auditors and coordinate with Treasury, Tax, and ERP teams.
• Lead financial systems development projects and drive data quality and process improvements for EOS readiness.
• Analyse overheads and cash flow, provide forecasts, and partner with leadership to optimize budgets.
• Supervise day-to-day finance operations and collaborate with EOS Finance Lead and RC Europe finance community.

Skills

Financial operations

Internal controls

Financial reporting

Stakeholder management

Education

Master’s Degree / professional accounting qualification

Tools

1NAV/Navision ERP

Blackline

Treasury system

Tax software

Job description

Fixed Term Contract - September 2026 to October 2027

Royal Canin is undertaking a major transformation programme called EOS to deliver against its strategy of being Fit for Future and removing business risk. The transformation has 4 key elements: new technology, E2E standardized core processes, a strengthened data & analytics foundation, supported by a dedicated transformation team and change management. Following a successful pilot the 1st wave of implementations will go live in summer 2027 and RC EKA (European Key Accounts) will participate in the first wave. The approach will see local associates with relevant expertise moving onto the project and their day-to-day roles covered via backfills for the length of the project.

This role will be part of the backfill team covering day to day responsibilities in the running of the unit and it offers pan European perspective and stakeholders, in-depth and varied customer dynamics, and an agile entrepreneurial environment. The primary responsibilities of the role are to lead sound financial operational processes for the unit and strengthening the foundations. This includes delivering financial reporting accuracy & compliance, the creation of a secure internal control environment and excellent governance around customer contracts and investments, plus supporting the CFO and EKA Business Partners on optimization of unit financial KPIs especially Overheads and Cash.

What are we looking for?

• Master’s Degree BA / Business School or professional accounting qualification
• Significant experience in custodianship and financial operations within complex environments

What will be your Key Responsbilities?

Create and manage financial reporting ensuring an efficient and effective period close process that delivers -accurate information; -maintenance of appropriate supporting documentation; - identification and timely resolution of complex accounting matters; - review including monitoring of key performance indicators to identify insights; - compliance with all Mars Finance Manual policies, Recurring Reports Manual and other guidance/practices including compliance to local GAAP/statutory and other local legal/regulatory requirements -Plan and manage the year-end and/or other audit processes with the internal and external auditors, where applicable, including timely resolution of all findings and comments. Serve as a liaison with specialist teams (e.g., Treasury, Tax, 1Navision ERP and Currency Centers) and ensure appropriate unit compliance with all related requirements.

Create and maintain a secure internal control environment including appropriate segregation of duties by providing leadership and expertise. Be a role model for ethics, integrity and trust in all areas including ensuring identification of and appropriate responses to fraud and theft. – Accountable for the ICE programme delivery to optimize effective controls with the objective of minimizing risk. Ensure Blackline timeliness and quality back up for accruals.

Manage and streamline all finance-impacted processes in compliance with Mars requirements and to increase overall efficiency. Be the first point of contact for Auditors and taxes. Ensure appropriate segregation of duties, access, and controls can be managed within the system(s). Be responsible for Cost Collector maintenance in 1NAV.

Lead financial systems development projects in line with RC and Mars programmes (excluding EOS). Identify opportunities for local continuous improvement in data quality, processes, documentation and systems in readiness for EOS transformation.

Be a key contributor to understanding unit financial performance of actuals in an accurate and timely manner, with specific responsibilities for analysing Overheads and Free Cashflow. Drive actionable performance insights, robust forecasts and identify, assess and communicate risks and opportunities on Overheads and NCFO into the unit. On Overheads act as Business Partner to the Leadership Team, especially GM and P&O Director, to deliver targets and optimize the budget.

Together with external consultants, manage the tax obligations across Europe (currently 4 VAT jurisdictions).

Provide day to day supervision of tasks across the Financial Operations day-to-day team and work with the EOS Finance Lead to effectively manage resources and bring out the best in the team. Provide strong work planning and monitoring to enable the team to stay on track with all day to day and EOS work. Bring strong contribution to the overall EKA Finance team, including acting as a sounding board to business partner roles and input into the CFO + Direct Reports HPC and engagement activities.

Be a strong contributor to the RC Europe Financial Controller community, sharing learnings and best practices plus collaborating across the region to deliver its controllership priorities efficiently and effectively.

What can you expect from Mars?

Work with diverse and talented Associates, all guided by the Five Principles. Join a purpose driven company, where we’re striving to build the world we want tomorrow, today. A strong focus on learning and development support from day one, including access to our in-house Mars University. An industry competitive salary and benefits package, including company bonus.