Financial Controller

About the role

Focus: Understanding why performance looks the way it does 

 
At Howden Thomassen Compressors, we are committed to delivering clear, accurate, and meaningful financial insights that support strong business performance. As our Financial Controller, you will play a key role in analysing cost structures, understanding performance drivers, and supporting operational leaders with actionable financial insights. 

 
This role is hands‑on and closely connected to the business. You will own cost centre structures, budgets, forecasts, and actuals, while challenging spend and driving efficiency. If you enjoy diving into financial performance, explaining results, and improving reporting quality, this role offers the opportunity to make a direct impact.

What you will do

• Own cost centre structures, budgets, forecasts, and actuals; challenge spend and drive efficiency 
• Act as finance business partner to cost centre owners and operational leaders 
• Analyse cost structures, drivers, and operational efficiency; support decision-making  
• Calculate and analyse variances and efficiency; identify root causes and corrective actions 
• Define, maintain, and update standard labour and overhead rates 
• Analyse financial performance vs. budget, forecast, and prior year; identify risks and opportunities 
• Translate financial data into actionable management insights 
• Explain results, trends, and variances in a clear narrative 
• Improve reporting efficiency, automation, and insight quality 
• Support MEC reporting process 

What do you bring

An ideal candidate would likely have the following profile:  

• Education at HBO+ or WO level (e.g., Accountancy, Economics, SPD) 
• Experience with controlling in a project organisation, including Percentage of Completion (POC) 
• Experience with financial controlling and variance analysis 
• Knowledge of ERP systems; Dynamics 365 is a strong advantage 
• Knowledge of reporting in a high‑demanding environment 
• Strong experience with Excel 
• Fluent Dutch and strong English proficiency  

 
We’ve put together some criteria that we think is important for this role, but don’t worry if your experience and expertise isn’t an exact match. If you feel that you can add value to our role and to Howden more broadly, we would welcome your application and be eager to learn more about you. 

Why you'll love working with us

This role offers the best of both worlds: the stability of a long‑established engineering company and the energy of a business that’s evolving. You’ll collaborate with colleagues across departments, across the Netherlands, and across the global Howden/Chart network. You’ll also work closely with external partners such as auditors, banks, and tax authorities. 
 

 
And while our current systems require some manual work, that also means you’ll have a real opportunity to influence how we operate in the future. If you enjoy improving processes, making things smarter, and building something better, you’ll feel right at home.

Our benefits

• Type of Employment: Full time (40 hours a week)  
• Collective Labor Agreement: The "CAO Metalektro" is applicable  
• Additional Compensation: Commuting Allowance  
• Holidays: 27 days  
• Additional "ADV" days: 13 days  
• Pension: We are with the PME pension scheme which is in line with the CAO Metalektro  
• Equipment: Laptop  
• Insurance: Additional collective insurances related to loss of income due to a long period of incapacity to work plus a collective accident insurance 

Howden is an equal opportunity employer

The Company intention in respect of recruitment, selection and promotion is to appoint the most suitable candidate for each job regardless of that person’s race, religious beliefs, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, age or disability.