Director of Accounting & Controlling at Destinus · Hengelo

Imagine this. You are building the accounting and controlling backbone behind a fast-growing aerospace and defence company operating across multiple countries, manufacturing sites, and legal entities. As Director of Accounting & Controlling, you will own the integrity of our group financial reporting, set the standard for IFRS and local GAAP compliance, and make sure our numbers are accurate, controlled, scalable, and audit-ready.

Reporting directly to the CFO, you will be the group's senior technical accounting authority and a key finance leader across the organization. This is not a role for someone who wants to manage accounting from a distance. You will set the agenda, challenge existing processes, solve complex accounting issues, and drive execution across a distributed international finance organization.

At Destinus, we are revolutionizing the defense industry with cutting-edge Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Our innovative technologies are designed to meet the unique demands of modern defense operations, delivering unparalleled speed, precision, and cost effectiveness. Destinus partners with government agencies and defense organizations worldwide to provide advanced solutions for mission-critical operations, enabling a new era of efficiency and technological superiority. Join us in shaping the future of defense with groundbreaking aerospace innovations.

What You'll Do

• Lead the monthly, quarterly, and annual group close across all consolidated entities, ensuring accurate, complete, and timely financial reporting
• Own the group close calendar and drive execution across Accounting, Controlling, FP&A, Tax, Treasury, and regional finance teams
• Act as the senior escalation point for complex accounting and close issues, driving them to resolution without compromising reporting quality or timelines
• Coordinate consolidation adjustments, intercompany eliminations, foreign currency translation, and other group-level accounting activities
• Own and continuously strengthen internal accounting controls, policies, and their consistent application across the group
• Drive improvements to our ERP and finance systems landscape, including Microsoft Dynamics environments, IFRS and local GAAP configurations, regional VAT setups, transfer pricing, intercompany eliminations, and consolidation processes
• Own group-wide cost accounting standards and methodologies across manufacturing entities, including standard and actual costing, absorption, WIP, and variance analysis
• Lead the Operations Finance function through the Operations Finance Lead and ensure disciplined capture and reporting of manufacturing costs including labor, overhead, scrap, absorption, and WIP
• Own the variance bridge process and ensure significant deviations are understood, explained, and assigned to the right accountable teams across Manufacturing, Program Management, Procurement, and Finance
• Connect Cost Accounting, Operations, Manufacturing, and Program Management so operational drivers such as volume, yield, labor mix, and capacity utilization are reflected in forecasts and budgets
• Partner closely with FP&A to ensure accounting actuals, forecasts, and budgets remain methodologically aligned as the business scales
• Own accounting judgments related to inventory, WIP, and program cost capitalization under IAS 2
• Govern the group chart of accounts and ensure it remains consistent, scalable, and aligned with consolidation and management reporting requirements
• Own balance sheet quality across the group, establishing clear standards for account ownership, reconciliations, substantiation, aging, suspense accounts, clearing accounts, and provisions
• Partner with FP&A and Treasury on working capital, provisions, capex accounting, and other balance sheet forecasting inputs
• Oversee AP and AR processes across the group, strengthening controls, segregation of duties, cash conversion, and sub-ledger reconciliation
• Drive DSO and DPO discipline and establish robust policies around credit control, payment terms, and dispute resolution
• Act as the primary management counterpart for external auditors across group and statutory audits
• Own audit timelines, PBC processes, technical accounting documentation, and the timely resolution of audit findings
• Ensure statutory financial statements are accurate and filed on time across jurisdictions in coordination with local teams and external advisors
• Support lender and investor diligence with accurate, audit-ready financial schedules and clear technical accounting narratives
• Standardize accounting processes and controls across entities and eliminate unnecessary manual workarounds as the organization grows
• Partner with IT and ERP teams to build scalable accounting, costing, consolidation, and reporting structures within systems such as Microsoft Dynamics 365
• Own group accounting policies, procedures, and SOPs, creating a consistent framework for control, onboarding, and training
• Build and develop a high-performing accounting and controlling organization across multiple European jurisdictions, setting clear expectations and creating accountability across direct and indirect teams
• Mentor Controllers and Accounting Managers across the group and act as the technical escalation point when complex accounting decisions need to be made

What You'll Need

• 10+ years of progressive Accounting, Controlling, or Finance experience, including substantial responsibility within a multi-entity, multi-currency European environment
• Public company experience is required
• Deep technical knowledge of IFRS and strong familiarity with local GAAP requirements across European jurisdictions
• Demonstrated experience owning group accounting policies and making complex technical accounting judgments
• Proven experience leading group close and consolidation processes at significant scale, ideally within environments exceeding EUR 1 billion in revenue
• Strong manufacturing cost accounting experience, including standard and actual costing, variance analysis, absorption, inventory, and WIP
• Experience working closely with Manufacturing and Operations teams, with the ability to connect operational performance with financial outcomes
• Strong ERP experience with Microsoft Dynamics 365, SAP, Oracle, or an equivalent large-scale platform, including exposure to chart-of-accounts design, costing structures, consolidation, and finance transformation
• Experience leading geographically distributed finance teams and developing senior accounting and controlling professionals
• Excellent English communication skills, with additional European languages considered an advantage
• Experience within aerospace, defence, industrial manufacturing, or another regulated and program-driven environment is strongly preferred
• Experience with statutory reporting requirements across multiple European jurisdictions is a strong advantage
• Familiarity with program-based revenue recognition, government or institutional customers, and complex manufacturing environments is an advantage.

Who You Are

You combine technical accounting depth with the drive to get things done. You care about clean numbers, strong controls, and clear ownership, but you also understand that Finance needs to move at the speed of the business.

You are comfortable being the person people turn to when the accounting answer is not obvious. You challenge assumptions, translate complex IFRS topics into practical decisions, and know when to go deep and when to move quickly.

You think beyond the next close. You build processes, systems, and teams that can support a company as it grows across countries, manufacturing sites, and increasingly complex operations. You work naturally across Accounting, FP&A, Treasury, Tax, Manufacturing, Operations, and leadership, and you are persistent about getting decisions and open issues to closure.

Most importantly, you build capability around you. You develop strong teams, create accountability, and make sure critical accounting knowledge is embedded across the organization rather than concentrated in one person.