Group Financial Controller

RoleGroup Financial Controller

Location: India

Reporting to: Head of Internal Accounting, UK

Direct Reports: Global General Finance Team (Pune, India)

Role Purpose

The Group Financial Controller will lead the central Global General Finance Team and act as a key member of the wider Finance Organisation. This new role will focus on building out new capabilities in the existing Global General Finance team for the next stage of growth of the wider Group. Responsible for ensuring robust financial control, accurate group reporting, effective team leadership, strong awareness of Indian tax and regulatory requirements within a large international group structure.

Key Responsibilities

Global financial support

• Lead and develop the Global General Finance Support Service (GFSS)
• Drive global month end process standardisation
• Support the ongoing finance re-organisation into a Controllership focussed team and an FP&A focussed team
• Continually support consolidation of workload from other regions into the GFSS with a view to standardisation. Other regions covers UK, France, Turkey and China
• Expand GFSS capabilities to encompass Financial Reporting as well as existing Management Reporting capabilities – e.g. take on Bank Covenant Reporting
• Ensure strong financial governance, internal controls, and compliance with group policies and local statutory requirements

Group Accounting & Reporting

• Lead month-end, quarter-end, and year-end close processes in line with group reporting timelines
• Ensure accurate and timely reporting under group accounting standards (UK GAAP)
• Manage consolidation inputs, intercompany accounting, and reconciliations within a large international group
• Liaise with group finance teams to ensure consistency, transparency, and high-quality financial information

Team Leadership

• Lead, develop, and motivate a centralised finance team based in Pune, covering General Finance duties
• Build on and enhance the existing team to be able to handle more complex areas of Accounting including statutory responsibilities for International entities
• Drive efficiency, standardisation, and continuous improvement within the centralised finance function.
• Build succession plans and support capability development within the team
• Foster a high-performance culture aligned with group THREAD values

Compliance, Tax & Risk

• Oversee local India statutory accounts, audits, and regulatory filings under India GAAP
• Maintain strong awareness of Indian tax matters, including corporate income tax, GST, transfer pricing, and withholding taxes
• Work closely with Internal Tax department to ensure compliance and optimisation
• Identify and manage financial risks, ensuring appropriate controls and mitigations are in place.

Stakeholder Management

• Act as the primary finance contact for auditors, tax advisors, banks, and regulatory bodies in India
• Build the team to become the global primary finance contact for all audit matters
• Partner effectively with global and regional finance leaders across the international group
• Support cross-border initiatives, integrations, and finance transformation projects

Key Requirements

Qualifications & Experience

• Qualified Chartered Accountant (CA), CPA, ACCA, or equivalent.
• Significant post-qualification experience in senior finance leadership roles
• Proven experience working within a large international group, including group accounting and reporting
• Strong experience managing and scaling centralised or shared services finance teams
• Solid understanding of Indian tax and regulatory frameworks, with the ability to work effectively with tax specialists
• Previous experience of M&A integration would be an advantage

Skills & Competencies

• Excellent spoken and written English
• Strong technical accounting and financial control expertise
• Clear leadership and people management skills
• Ability to operate effectively with multiple Finance and non Finance stakeholders from multiple levels within a diverse organsation
• High level of integrity, professionalism, and commercial awareness