Job Title

Airports Business Controller - North America

Job Description

Location: North America
Direct Reports: Leading Managers (4 to 6). Indirect 50+ FTE  

FTE responsibility business: 1200 FTE

Revenue impact: 0,5 – 0,6 €Bn

Geographical scope: North America local state complexity

Number of Projects: LAP 2-3 >100€Mio, NOP 5-10 50<100€ Mio, Service 75€ Mio

Travel: ~25%
 

The Airports Business Controller - NA is a senior finance leader responsible for the financial stewardship, business partnering, and strategic support of the Airports business across the Europe region. This role is pivotal in driving financial performance, supporting business transformation, and ensuring the region’s contribution to the global Airports strategy.

The US Airports organisation is at the start of an exciting phase. As the Airports market is growing steadily, the integration of Vanderlande and Vanderlande logistics is about to start. On April 1st 2026, the North America Airports has been brought together in one organisation with one P&L. In this “merger of equals” the Airports North America controller will play a pivotal role. Driving change and challenging the current performance, in order to really unlock the full potential of the new organisation and realizing ambitious growth and profitability targets.

As an Airports Business Controller – North America, you will report directly to the Global Airports Business Controller and act as a key business partner to the Europe leadership team. You will collaborate closely with the Global Airports finance team, local controllers, and cross-functional stakeholders to ensure financial transparency, performance tracking, and strategic alignment across the region. Next to a pivotal role in the transformation of the North America organisation, you will lead a team of direct reports within the commercial business control finance team and play a pivotal role in managing, coaching, and developing this team to support the business in achieving its strategic and financial goals.

You will also work in close partnership with the Airports North America Leadership team providing financial leadership during a.o. tender processes, supporting the development of commercial propositions, and ensuring that financial risks and opportunities are clearly understood and addressed in customer negotiations. You will also be part of organisational discussions to optimize the current set up and footprint.

Finally, you are also part of the global Vanderlande Finance organisation, where you will play a pivotal role in development of the global finance organisation.

Your responsibilities

Strategic Business Partnership

• Act as a strategic business partner to regional leadership, providing financial insights and challenge to support decision-making and performance management. 

• Drive change across the new Airports US organisation during the integration of Vanderlande Industries and Vanderlande Logistics. 

• Collaborate closely with the Sales team during tender processes, ensuring robust financial input into bids and alignment with commercial strategy. 

• Support value-based pricing, commercial proposition development, and customer negotiations, including financial, contractual and tax considerations.

 Team Leadership & Development

• Lead, coach, and develop the team, fostering a high-performance culture. Support the team in an ambiguous environment, where change is the new normal. 

• Set clear objectives, provide regular feedback, and support professional growth through mentoring and training.  

• Guide the team through change, ensuring engagement and capability-building during the transformation of finance processes, systems, and ways of working.  

• Encourage a culture of adaptability and continuous learning to support the Future Finance organisation. 

 Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)

• Lead the FP&A cycle for the Europe Airports Region, including budgeting, forecasting, and long-range planning, ensuring accurate and timely group reporting, while driving adoption of advanced analytics and automation to enhance insight and efficiency.

Performance Monitoring & Improvement

• Monitor and analyze project and service performance across countries, identifying risks, opportunities, and improvement levers, while controlling organizational costs and driving operational and continuous improvements in financial processes, systems, and reporting, aligned with the transformation agenda of Airports Region.
• Lead or participate in process improvement initiatives, including automation and standardization, and share insights with finance and non-finance stakeholders to support a culture of continuous improvement, aligned with the transformation agenda of the Future Finance organisation.

Governance, Compliance & Controls

• Ensure compliance with internal controls, accounting standards, and corporate governance, coordinating with auditors and implementing recommendations as new systems and processes are rolled out during transformation.
• Conduct risk assessments and implement mitigation plans, adapting controls as the finance function evolves.

Cross-Functional & Strategic Initiatives

• Contribute to cross-functional initiatives, including sustainability, digitalization, and organizational development, while representing finance in transformation projects to ensure the function’s needs and perspectives are integrated into broader business changes.
• Support the implementation of new digital tools or systems by providing finance requirements, testing support, and change management leadership.

What do we ask from you?

• Master’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or Business Administration.
• 10-15+ years of relevant experience in an international company, preferably in a business-to-business and project-oriented environment.
• Proven leadership experience managing and developing high-performing finance teams.
• Experience in regional or international finance roles, including business partnering experience, with a sales focus and strong commercial acumen.
• Demonstrated ability to influence across complex matrix organizations.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with a proven ability to drive strategic initiatives and manage change.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, capable of working effectively with stakeholders at all levels across different cultures and geographies.
• Proficient in Excel and PowerPoint; Power BI is advantageous.
• Fluent in English; Dutch or other regional languages are a plus.
• Willingness to travel within the North America region

Capabilities needed:

• People leadership: Inspiring, developing, and empowering a team to deliver high-impact results.
• Change Leadership: Act as a champion for change both within and outside of the finance function.
• Independent thinker: Comfortable in taking an opposing, independent view. Challenges the norm and seeks for ongoing improvement.
• Stakeholder Management: Building effective relationships across all organizational levels.
• Strategic thinking and analytical skills: Analysing complex business problems, identifying key opportunities for improvement and aligning those with the company's strategic direction.
• Data-driven problem solver: Able to translate data to insight to action.
• Able to prioritize effectively and make decisions in a fast-paced environment.
• Commercial acumen and business partnering mindset, especially in sales and execution environments.

Contact

If this opportunity aligns with your expertise and ambitions, we invite you to apply by submitting your CV. For further information, please contact Stef Alferink (recruiter) by phone +31 413 755 087.