Business Controller, Asia Pacific (Reporting & Analysis)

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READY TO BRING PASSION INTO YOUR CAREER?

A global leading skincare and make-up company, Clarins group is the embodiment of a committed family history, with a fierce passion for innovation and spirit of independence. Its raison d’être is "making life more beautiful, passing on a more beautiful planet".

Operating in more than 150 countries, we are now the number one skincare company in Europe and are accelerating our development on all other continents, particularly in Asia and the Americas.

Because our 8,000 talents are unique, we are committed to promoting diversity in all its forms.

Do you want to help write the next chapter of our story? We’re looking for a Business Controller, Asia Pacific based in Singapore.

THE ROLE:

The Business Controller, Asia-Pacific (Reporting & Analysis) is part of the APAC FP&A team supporting Singapore Regional Hub and our subsidiaries within APAC region (Australia & New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Taiwan). This position is located in Singapore and will report to our APAC Financial Planning & Analysis Director (RFPAD). 
 
The Business Controller, Asia Pacific (Reporting & Analysis) is a key business partner, whose daily mission is to deliver added value to the regional organization through a rigorous controlling expertise angle and through a palette of studies. These studies are conducted to develop the business sustainably, give a clear vision of actual performance, identify the potential axis of improvements and accompany the decision makers with meaningful insights. 

Anticipation, analysis, communication and support are the essential pillars that structure the position towards the various regional departments and APAC subsidiaries in total compliance with regional and Group Strategy. 

As a regional pivot, they gather the relevant explanations on significant deviations versus Budget and prior year on a monthly basis, prepare meaningful and clear consolidated sum-ups and provide key commentaries to the regional management for decision making purposes. They also support the subsidiaries finance teams on controlling matters, ensuring the Group guidelines are correctly applied. 

Acting as the interface between finance functions and business stakeholders, the Business Controller, Asia Pacific has four distinct roles as per below:
•    Commentator: ability to explain the numbers, tell the business story in numbers, variance analysis, management report
•    Business Partner: focus on value creation, act as business advisor and integrator, provide insight, challenge decision making process
•    Scorekeeper : focus on book keeping, reconciliation, P&L management
•    Custodian : focus on governance and compliance, value protection, conscience of the business
 

WHAT YOU'LL DO:

1) Drive the APAC region consolidation, reporting & financial analysis on a monthly basis: 

On this part of the role, the perimeter extends to 9 markets for which the Business Controller, APAC will:

• Monitor the monthly reporting submissions from the markets and ensure timeous and complete submissions, acting as main contact point for APAC markets on their monthly reporting
• Review the actual reporting from the markets on a monthly basis and engage with the market FP&A team to obtain explanations for major variances and understand the main events each month 
• Strong business partnering is needed to be able to highlight and explain the gaps in actual versus Budget/Re-estimates as well as versus prior year to the various business stakeholders
• Prepare the consolidated monthly reporting decks with thorough analysis and comments
• The major focus will be on the monthly P&L reporting and analysis, along with the additional quarterly reporting including labour, inventories, purchases, capex etc. 
• Ad Hoc additional analyses are realized pro-actively to add relevancy to the comments and help regional/local decision making in corrective actions

2) Monitor APAC region budget & re-estimate process and prepare consolidated reporting & analysis
On this part of the role, the perimeter extends to 9 markets for which the Business Controller, APAC will:

• Work with RFPAD to establish the retro-planning of the region 
• Collaborate with regional departments to issue guidelines for the respective submissions e.g. HR, Digital, Supply Chain etc.
• Work on the pre-submission alignment with the markets in collaboration with RFPAD to ensure that final reporting is in line with approved expectations
• Monitor the Budget/Re-estimate process and follow-up closely with the local teams to ensure timeous submissions according to global and regional calendars
• Prepare the consolidated reporting for each budget cycle together with detailed analysis to understand the variances across the region (whether vs prior year or previous budget submission) 
• Again the major focus will be on the monthly P&L reporting and analysis, along with the additional quarterly reporting including labour, inventories, purchases, capex etc. 
• Assist the RFPAD in the preparation of the financial presentations to the Board. 

3) Work on value adding analyses
On this part of the role, the Business Controller, APAC will assist to gather information, perform relevant analyses and make recommendations to support business objectives, including:

• Continuous assessment of the financial risks and opportunities identifiable through the various analyses and meetings held with the different stakeholders
• Prepare the consolidated monthly risk and opportunities reporting along with relevant commentaries/ explanations
• Perform P&L benchmarking exercises between markets, determining key cost drivers and opportunities for efficiencies and leveraging of best practices
• Following seasonality of expenses and monitoring YTD/YTG spending and ambitions
• Other analyses as determined by business needs 

4) Coordination of FP&A regional support and guidance
This part of the role consists in promoting the Group FP&A standards and helping the different subsidiaries and regional departments understand how to apply them, along with working on:

• Advise the subsidiaries on reporting requirements and provide trainings FP&A topics as necessary
• Identify the gaps versus the Group standards and propose the adequate corrective actions
• Ensure all markets are applying Group rules in a consistent manner
• Review and enhance business operations and financial processes: constantly seeking value-adding and simplification of the processes currently in place
• Initiate & participate in process improvement projects to improve and standardize reporting and budgeting processes 

Other responsibilities may be added to the above, which are consistent with the title Business Controller, Asia Pacific (Reporting & Analysis), including involvement in internal audit topics; finance IT projects or take additional projects to lead the change in our Clarins organization.

YOU HAVE:

• A Degree in business related qualification (Accounting/Finance degree)
• Minimum 5 years of relevant experience in with sizable companies preferably in the beauty, retail or FMCG industry ideally in the APAC region. Previous experience in Audit is a plus.
• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Excel & PowerPoint
• Display a high degree of responsibility, integrity, attentive to details with an investigative nature
• Must demonstrate strong analytical skills and ability to make sense of large sets of data with accuracy.
• Capacity to lead projects with stakeholders from various expertise background and cultures 
• Excellent communication skills with ability to explain financial concepts for non-financial collaborators
• Proactive, agile, committed and able to work independently
• Collaborative team member with strong interpersonal skills
• Time management efficiency and capable of prioritizing

WE HAVE:

• Close to 70 years of expertise in beauty and spa, with the Clarins and myBlend brands
• Unique products and innovative services
• A commitment to Social & Environmental Responsibility embedded in our raison d'être
• A caring and inclusive corporate culture
• Development and training opportunities
• Attractive compensation and benefits
• A flexible work environment, with up to 2 days of remote working per week

If you have a curious mind, a thirst to go further and the drive to boldly take on new challenges, join us.

At Clarins Group, we believe in making life more beautiful for our employees and our customers. Inclusion and diversity are firmly grounded in our core values, which are part of our DNA. We strive to achieve inclusiveness and we foster an equal-opportunity culture where everyone can reach their full potential and do their best work. We welcome applications from all backgrounds.

To learn more about our group and our commitments to people and the planet, visit www.groupeclarins.com.