Senior Manager – Group Financial Assurance

Position: Senior Manager – Group Financial Assurance & Consolidation

Position Reports to: Group Global Financial Controller

Location: Flexible (France Preferred)

Function: Finance

Contract: Full Time

Role Overview

This is a broadened, high-impact Senior Internal Auditor role, designed to go well beyond traditional internal audit. The position is built around three strategic pillars and acts as a trusted partner to Group Finance, local finance teams, external auditors, and external accounting firms across the organization perimeter.

The role combines internal audit leadership, group-level consolidation support and ownership of the consolidated financial statements (prepared with an external accounting firm), global coordination and management of external audits (local entities and Group consolidated financial statements), and continuous improvement of finance and business processes.

The objective is to strengthen financial governance, audit quality, consolidation robustness, and operational efficiency while supporting a scalable, well-controlled global organization.

This role offers strong exposure to senior leadership, complex international and multi-entity environments, and direct involvement in group consolidation, audit, and finance transformation topics.

Beyond compliance, this role provides assurance that the Group’s financial information, controls, and processes can be trusted — locally and at consolidated level.

Key Responsibilities

Pillar 1 – Internal Audit & Risk Management

• Plan, lead, and execute risk-based internal audits (financial, operational, compliance) across organization entities and functions.
• Assess the design and operating effectiveness of internal controls, including entity-level and process-level controls.
• Identify control gaps, root causes, and pragmatic, business-oriented recommendations.
• Perform deep-dive audits on high-risk or complex areas (e.g. revenue recognition, inventory, trade spend, projects, ERP processes).
• Monitor remediation plans, challenge delays or weak actions, and validate closure of audit findings.
• Contribute to the evolution of audit methodologies, risk assessment frameworks, and audit tools.

Pillar 2 – Global External Audit Coordination & Consolidation Support

Consolidated Financial Statements (Preparation & Coordination)

• Serve as the primary point of contact for the external accounting firm responsible for the preparation of the organization consolidated financial statements.
• Prepare, structure, and coordinate all materials required for the establishment of the consolidated financial statements, including:
• Group reporting packages and supporting documentation
• Key accounting position papers and critical accounting judgments
• Reconciliations between local statutory data, group reporting, and consolidation outputs
• Actively support and coordinate the consolidation process, ensuring clarity, consistency, and timely resolution of issues between Group Finance, local entities, and the external accounting firm.
• Ensure consistency and robustness of accounting positions applied at consolidation level.

External Audit Management (Local & Group)

• Act as the central coordination point for external audits across all organization entities.
• Support and challenge local finance teams in preparing for statutory audits, ensuring consistent quality, documentation, and timelines.
• Own the end-to-end management of the external audit of the consolidated financial statements, including:
• Audit planning and scope alignment
• Coordination of audit requests and responses
• Review, challenge, and follow-up of audit adjustments and management letters
• Coordinate with external auditors to:
• Align audit scope and planning across entities
• Ensure consistency of accounting positions
• Avoid duplication between internal and external audit work
• Drive a culture of "audit readiness and consolidation robustness by design", strengthening upstream processes rather than reacting during audit cycles.

Pillar 3 – Continuous Improvement & Process Excellence

• Act as a catalyst for continuous improvement within organization finance and selected business processes.
• Identify structural weaknesses, inefficiencies, or inconsistencies during audits and external audit coordination.
• Partner with Group Finance, local controllers, and operational teams to:
• Simplify and standardize processes
• Strengthen controls while improving efficiency
• Support fin