HQ Accounting Team Lead

MSF-Netherlands; Netherlands; Hybrid; EUR 48,000 - 66,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

30 vacation days

Pension scheme

8% holiday allowance

Commuting allowance

Work from home allowance

Hybrid work (min 3 days in office)

Training opportunities

Office lunch discount

Job summary

MSF-Netherlands is seeking an HQ Accounting Team Lead based in Amsterdam to lead the headquarters accounting team and ensure timely, high-quality financial outputs aligned with global standards. You will set priorities, manage workloads, and provide hands-on technical guidance in bookkeeping, payments, closing, and audits.

This permanent Dutch contract (40 hours/week) features a 12-month starting period, with a salary between €4,269 and €5,877 gross per month.

Qualifications

• Educational background in Accounting, Finance, or a relevant field.
• 3 to 5 years of experience in accounting or financial administration, preferably in international environments.
• Strong people management skills/experience.
• Strong understanding of accounting standards, bookkeeping, balance sheet reconciliation, payment processing, audit preparation, and other financial processes.
• Chartered accountant background or equivalent professional qualification is desirable.
• Experience with Microsoft Dynamics is an asset.
• Fluency in English is required.
• Dutch and other MSF working languages are an asset.
• Preference will be given to candidates who already reside in The Netherlands and hold a valid work permit.
• Relocation support is not provided.

Responsibilities

• Team leadership and daily delivery: Manage the HQ Accounting team day to day, including workload allocation, prioritisation, performance management, staff development, and wellbeing.
• Provide leadership and technical guidance to ensure accurate, compliant, and timely accounting processes, while promoting shared standards, capability development, and knowledge exchange across locations.
• HQ accounting: Ensure timely, high-quality delivery of HQ accounting outputs in line with global standards and deadlines.
• Apply your accounting expertise to bookkeeping, payment processing, audit preparation, and other core financial administration processes.
• Execute transactional and closing activities directly when areas are complex, time-critical, or high risk.
• Quality, compliance, and internal controls: Safeguard the integrity of the financial administration by supporting the consistent application of accounting policies, procedures, and controls.
• Identify risks, inconsistencies, and operational issues, facilitate internal quality controls, and ensure required documentation is complete, accurate, and up to date.
• Audit, systems, and continuous improvement: Coordinate the team’s input to support timely follow‑up on audit actions.
• Contribute to process, system, and ERP changes from an HQ accounting perspective.
• Identify practical improvements, support implementation, and strengthen the reliability and efficiency of day‑to‑day accounting operations.

Skills

People management

English fluency

Education

Accounting/Finance degree

Tools

Microsoft Dynamics

Job description

About the organisation

MSF is an international, independent medical humanitarian organisation. We are a non-profit, self-governed worldwide movement of more than 63,000 people. We provide emergency medical assistance during armed conflict, natural disasters, outbreaks of deadly diseases, and for people excluded from healthcare. MSF delivers care based on need. When we see injustice, we speak out. We remain impartial, knowledgeable, and effective, and this can make the difference between life and death. People are our priority. At Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) / Artsen zonder Grenzen, we are committed to an inclusive culture that encourages and supports the diverse voices of our employees. We welcome applications from people of all gender identities, ages, sexual orientations, nationalities, races, religions, beliefs, social and marital status, abilities, and other diversity characteristics, and recognise how these intersect.

Position title & Location

Our Finance Department is looking for an: HQ Accounting Team Lead Based in Amsterdam

MIS OF THE ROLE

MSF Operational Centre Amsterdam (MSF OCA) is reorganising its Finance Department. Historically organised around separate headquarters and programme finance structures, Finance is moving towards a global functional model designed to better support MSF OCA's strategic direction. The new model enables Finance to operate as one connected function across headquarters and country operations. We are recruiting an HQ Accounting Team Lead to lead and support the daily work of the headquarters accounting team. You will set priorities, manage workloads, guide and empower team members, and ensure the team delivers reliable accounting services for MSF OCA headquarters. This role is key to making the new Global Accounting function work in practice. As a people manager and daily team leader, you will create clarity, support collaboration, monitor progress, and help resolve bottlenecks. You will foster an accountable and supportive team culture while providing hands‑on technical guidance in bookkeeping, payments, transactional activities, closing processes, and audit preparation. You will also identify risks, inconsistencies, and improvement opportunities to strengthen the quality and reliability of HQ accounting operations.

Key Responsibilities

• Team leadership and daily delivery: Manage the HQ Accounting team day to day, including workload allocation, prioritisation, performance management, staff development, and wellbeing.
• Provide leadership and technical guidance to ensure accurate, compliant, and timely accounting processes, while promoting shared standards, capability development, and knowledge exchange across locations.
• HQ accounting: Ensure timely, high-quality delivery of HQ accounting outputs in line with global standards and deadlines. Apply your accounting expertise to bookkeeping, payment processing, audit preparation, and other core financial administration processes. Execute transactional and closing activities directly when areas are complex, time-critical, or high risk.
• Quality, compliance, and internal controls: Safeguard the integrity of the financial administration by supporting the consistent application of accounting policies, procedures, and controls. Identify risks, inconsistencies, and operational issues, facilitate internal quality controls, and ensure required documentation is complete, accurate, and up to date.
• Audit, systems, and continuous improvement: Coordinate the team’s input to support timely follow‑up on audit actions. Contribute to process, system, and ERP changes from an HQ accounting perspective. Identify practical improvements, support implementation, and strengthen the reliability and efficiency of day‑to‑day accounting operations.

Candidate Profile

• Educational background in Accounting, Finance, or a relevant field.
• 3 to 5 years of experience in accounting or financial administration, preferably in international environments.
• Strong people management skills/experience.
• Strong understanding of accounting standards, bookkeeping, balance sheet reconciliation, payment processing, audit preparation, and other financial processes.
• Chartered accountant background or equivalent professional qualification is desirable.
• Experience with Microsoft Dynamics is an asset.
• Fluency in English is required.
• Dutch and other MSF working languages are an asset.
• Preference will be given to candidates who already reside in The Netherlands and hold a valid work permit.
• Relocation support is not provided.

Contract & Remuneration

This is a permanent role. We start off with a 12-month contract, with the intention of renewing based on performance. This role is offered on a Dutch employment contract (40 hours/week), with a preferred start date of 1 October 2026.

The gross monthly salary ranges from €4,269 to €5,877 based on full-time employment. The exact salary depends on relevant work experience.

Benefits

• 30 paid vacation days annually, contingent upon full-time employment status.
• A competitive pension scheme.
• 8% holiday allowance, paid out with the salary every year in May.
• Commuting allowance & work from home allowance.
• Hybrid working option with a minimum of 3 days in the office, based on full-time employment.
• Learning and development opportunities through in‑house and external training.
• Discounted (delicious!) daily lunch at the office.

Application Process

The closing date for applications is: Sunday 6 September 2026.

Selection will be by means of one interview round. A test may be part of the selection/interview process. Interviews will take place in the week following the close of applications. Please note the application deadline specified above may be subject to change at MSF-Netherlands's discretion.

Information

For questions about the role or process, contact Irene Tellekamp (Team Recruitment) at [e-mail].

To better understand how we approach recruitment at MSF OCA/MSF Netherlands, explore the values and principles that guide our hiring here.

Please note that we are unable to process unsolicited applications.

For further information about our recruitment process or to learn more about our current open vacancies, please feel free to contact us at: [e-mail].