Senior Business Controller

Athvance Sports; Amstelveen; Remote; EUR 90,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Athvance Sports in the Netherlands is seeking a hands-on Senior Business Controller to own the financial planning and control cycle for our events and verticals. You will work with the CEO, Commercial & Operations teams, and portfolio companies to translate budgets into actionable insights and drive performance.

The role blends strategic oversight with day-to-day finance, including budgeting, forecasting, reporting to the CFO and Board, and financial due diligence for potential investments.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration or a comparable field.
• 5+ years of experience in business controlling, FP&A or finance business partnering.
• Proven experience in events/sports/entertainment or media with project- or event-based models.
• Proven experience building and managing budgets and forecasts including revenue and cost modelling.
• Strong hands-on financial control experience: invoices, purchase orders, accruals and month-end close.
• Experience in fast-moving, entrepreneurial, project-based environments.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end budgeting and forecasting for events across four verticals, covering revenue and costs.
• Consolidate budgets into vertical and company-wide views, identifying risks and opportunities.
• Develop and improve standardised budgeting templates, processes and methodologies.
• Partner with Event Managers and teams to monitor actuals vs budget and maintain cost control.
• Oversee invoice, PO, accrual and month-end processes for accurate information.
• Lead post-event reviews and translate variances into actionable insights.

Skills

Advanced Excel

Analytical mindset

Interpersonal skills

Communication

Multitasking

Dutch & English

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Finance/Accounting/Business Admin or equivalent

Job description

Take ownership of financial planning and control across our sports events, business verticals and wider Group.

Works with CEO · Commercial & Operations Teams · Portfolio Companies · Board & Shareholder

About Athvance Sports

Athvance Sports builds scalable sports IP by placing live events at the heart of sport, competition and fan culture. We create formats designed for live audiences, digital platforms and global reach. We turn emerging formats into global sports properties with strong storytelling, recurring calendars and scalable revenue models.

Athvance Sports is part of the Athvance Capital investment fund, which combines Sports IP and Tech enablement in one ecosystem.

About the role

We develop, organise and commercialise sports events across four distinct business verticals. As we continue to scale, we are looking for a hands-on Senior Business Controller who will sit at the heart of our financial planning and control cycle.

Working closely with the Commercial and Operations teams, you will own the financial planning and control cycle for our events — from initial revenue assumptions and budgeting through to delivery, reporting and post-event analysis. You will translate individual event financials into clear vertical and company-wide insights.

Beyond event and vertical performance, you will support Group-level reporting to the CEO, CFO, Board and shareholder, and contribute to financial due diligence on M&A projects and the professionalisation of financial processes within our portfolio companies.

This is not a back-office role. You will be embedded in the operational rhythm of the business, working closely with Event Managers and business leaders to maintain a real-time grip on financial performance and help the business make better decisions.

Key responsibilities

Budgeting & Forecasting

• Own the end-to-end budgeting and forecasting cycle for events across our four business verticals, covering both revenue and costs.
• Consolidate event budgets into vertical and company-wide views, identifying key risks and opportunities.
• Develop and continuously improve standardised budgeting templates, processes and financial planning methodologies.
• Partner with Event Managers, Commercial and Operations teams to monitor actuals versus budget and maintain strong cost control throughout the event lifecycle.
• Oversee invoice, purchase-order, accrual and month-end processes, ensuring accurate and timely financial information.
• Lead post-event financial reviews and translate variances into actionable insights for future events.

Management & Board Reporting

• Deliver clear and actionable financial reporting across events, verticals and the Group to the CFO, CEO and Board.
• Translate financial performance into clear insights and narratives for senior management, Board and shareholder reporting.
• Ensure consistency between operational, vertical and Group-level reporting.
• Support the CFO on financial due diligence for acquisitions and investments, including financial analysis, data room preparation and coordination with external advisors.
• Support portfolio companies in strengthening financial administration, reporting and business planning, acting as a finance sparring partner where appropriate.
• Help establish consistent reporting structures and processes across the Group and its portfolio.

Finance Business Partner

• Act as a hands-on finance business partner to Event Managers and business leaders, challenging assumptions and providing financial insights that support better commercial and operational decisions.
• Balance attention to detail and financial control with a broader commercial and strategic perspective.

What you bring

Must have · Experience & Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration or a comparable field.
• 5+ years of relevant experience in business controlling, FP&A or finance business partnering.
• Proven experience in the events, sports, entertainment or media industry, with a good understanding of project- or event-based business models.
• Proven experience building and managing budgets and forecasts, including both revenue and cost modelling.
• Strong hands-on understanding of financial control, including invoice verification, purchase orders, accruals and month-end close.
• Experience working in a fast-moving, entrepreneurial and project-based environment.

Must have · Skills & Competencies

• Advanced Excel or Google Sheets skills.
• Strong analytical mindset with the ability to translate numbers into clear, actionable business insights for non-finance stakeholders.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills — equally comfortable presenting to directors and working hands-on with Event Managers.
• High degree of structure and precision without losing sight of the bigger picture.
• Ability to manage multiple concurrent workstreams in a fast-moving, deadline-driven environment.
• Fluent in both English and Dutch, written and spoken.
• Comfortable operating at both operational (event-level) and strategic (Group-level) altitude, and able to translate between the two.

Nice to have

• Experience with financial due diligence or M&A processes.
• Experience with investor, shareholder or Board reporting.
• Experience working with or supporting portfolio companies.

What we offer

• A pivotal role in a growing sports events company where your financial insights directly shape the events we bring to life.
• Close collaboration with experienced Directors and a passionate, hands-on team.
• Room to build and professionalise the Finance & Control function as the business scales.
• Exposure to M&A due diligence, portfolio companies and investor-facing work, broadening your experience beyond a traditional business controller role.
• Competitive salary and benefits package commensurate with experience.