Finance Director Italy

Milan, Metropolitan City of Milan, Italy Full-time Company Description Eurofins Scientific is an international life sciences company which provides a unique range of analytical testing services to clients across multiple industries. It believes it is the world leader in food, environment, pharmaceutical and cosmetics products testing and in agroscience CRO services.
It is also one of the global independent market leaders in certain testing and laboratory services for genomics, discovery pharmacology, forensics, CDMO, advanced material sciences and for supporting clinical studies. In addition, Eurofins is one of the leading global emerging players in specialty clinical diagnostic testing. In 2020, Eurofins generated €5.4bn proforma turnover, from 900 laboratories across 50 countries, and employs about 55,000 staff.
Job Description In all countries where the Eurofins Group has significant presence, the Company has elected to pool all country level support services into a National Service Center (NSC), in order to be more efficient, more effective and to drive the adequate level of compliance and control.
Sitting in the Boards of Italian Legal Entities as responsible and representative of the administrative cycle and as Sole Director for Holding and Real Estate Companies, the Finance Director, as Managing Director of the NSC Italy, will be leading this organization. The scope of services delivered by this organization covers:

- Accounting and Reporting,
- Credit and collection
- Treasury, risk and Insurance management,
- Tax,
- Purchasing and procurement,
- Payroll and HR administration and
- IT solutions for all services rendered by the NSC
More specifically, the Finance Director is responsible for:

- creating and managing a strong cooperation framework with all the business leaders of the country. In particular, partnering with divisional business leaders and supporting decision making processes, while ensuring financial discipline across the different business lines (cash flow generation, cost management, ad hoc support),
- driving and communicating on the performance of the NSC through measurements, KPIs, actions plans etc.,
- setting up and systematically improve an optimal organization to deliver on the services in the scope of the NSC,
- acting as a recognized leader and managing performance of the NSC teams, processes and activities (reliable, effective, efficient), including the development of strong teams,
- driving the implementation of standard processes and systems, in close collaboration and alignment with the Business and Group Finance functions,
- acting as the custodian, in the country, of Eurofins’ compliance and control framework,
- being a proactive leader to set up and drive integration plans in the NSC for newly acquired companies,
The Finance director has a solid reporting line to the National Division/Business Line leader representing the largest Division/Business Line in Italy and a dotted reporting line to the Senior Finance Director.
POSITION & OBJECTIVES:
Creating and managing a strong cooperation framework with all the business leaders of the country and driving and communicating on the performance of the NSC through measurements, KPIs, actions plans etc. Along with the National Business Line leader, organize and drive the National Business Line Leaders (NBLL) meetings and calls,
Present, validate and reports on the priorities and improvement actions plans for the NSC,
Present, validate, reports and comments on the achievements of these improvement actions plans,
In close cooperation with the division controllers Manage the budget cycle (process, templates, timelines, guidelines) and support business leaders with the development of their budgets,
Review monthly results & performance against agreed targets and budget projections. Deliver reforecast of the year-end figures in case of significant deviations and/or if required by Group Management,
Manage financial discipline, including cost controlling. Propose, validate and implement corrective actions to keep operating and overhead costs in line with the levels of activity and agreed targets,

Setting up and systematically improve an optimal organization to deliver on the services in the scope of the NSC. Based on the Group guidance and principles, set up and maintain an optimized organization,
Put in place, maintain and improve the corresponding performance framework for this organization through Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and measurement,

Acting as a recognized leader and managing performance of the NSC teams, processes and activities (reliable, effective, efficient), including the development of strong teams, Organization and Management of a team of ca 30 FTE including 6 direct reports,
In strong cooperation with her/his direct report, organize and manage the different finance functions (Accounting & Reporting/Credit and collection, Treasury risk and insurance management, Tax & Legal, Purchasing, Payroll and Finance IT)
Recruit, inspire, motivate, develop and strengthen teams, including attracting and developing Top Graduates and High Potential, in line with agreed targets & budget.
Define and manage overall performance by target setting & monitoring, including the definition of corrective actions when & where needed.

Driving the implementation of standard processes and systems, in close collaboration and alignment with the Business and Group Finance functions, Active contribution and validation of the design of standard Group-wide Finance & Purchasing processes, as proposed by Group Finance,
Drive the implementation of these standard processes, KPI’s and controls across the different businesses and functions,
Actively support change management on these processes within the NSC team and largely within the business,

Acting as the custodian, in the country, of local and Eurofins’ compliance and control framework, Interact with local financial institution to promote and protect Eurofins’ interests
Manage the relation with external auditors and ensure actions plans of improvements are followed and deployed
Ensure and constantly improve a good level of internal control and guarantee segregation of duties
Enforce Eurofins Group procedures and rules in his perimeter (for all services delivered)
Ensure the right framework is put in place to report and correct any deviation vs. Eurofins Internal Control framework

Being a proactive leader to set up and drive integration plans in the NSC for newly acquired companies, In strong relation with M&A team, act according to the needs Importante Azienda the due-diligences process,
Communicate and facilitate the understanding of the management of the newly acquired company to put in place Eurofins’ organization and compliance framework,
Actively lead the integration activities (processes, systems and people) for activities in scope

Qualifications Personal skills:
Ability to go into the right level of details when needed but as well to create and follow a vision
Results oriented
High level of energy, drive and passion to succeed
Change agent, „can do“ mindset constantly challenging „status quo“
Very structured with strong organizational skills
Very accurate and highly reliable
Pragmatic, proactive, flexible and adaptable
Ability to work in an autonomous manner
People manager and motivator.
Education:
Master Degree in Finance/Accounting
Italian (fluent written and spoken),
English (fluent written and spoken),
Any additional language is an asset.
15 years or more of experience, of which at least 5 years in a similar position
Deep understanding of the local Italian tax and accounting requirements and procedures
Experience in rolling out massive financial processes changes and corresponding systems (ERP etc.)
Experience in managing a large accounting department/SSC is a plus
Besides Finance, experience in Payroll and purchasing management will help
Additional Information Work in a fast growing organization
Career in the multi-national, multicultural environment
Independent position with wide range of responsibilities
Unique opportunity to lead/ take part in international projects and gain experience with various businesses
Milan, Metropolitan City of Milan, Italy