(Senior) Manager Accounting and Finance Operations

About This Opportunity

We are representing a confidential European defence technology organization based in Munich. Our client is building critical capabilities in a high-stakes environment, working with a small, exceptionally talented team where individual contributors directly shape company direction and outcomes.

This is a senior finance role for someone who thrives in ambiguity and wants to build systems from the ground up. You'll work across accounting, controlling, tax compliance, and export control finance—partnering directly with leadership to establish the financial infrastructure that supports government contracts and R&D programmes.

Responsibilities

Accounting, Consolidation & Reporting

• Work with the finance team and external advisors to improve and run core accounting processes
• Design and implement processes ensuring compliance with German pricing law (LSP, Marktpreisansatz)
• Prepare and oversee statutory accounts under HGB; support audit processes
• Support hands-on bookkeeping tasks, including invoice preparation for external processing

Tax Compliance & Transfer Pricing

• Oversee tax compliance for the German entity, coordinating with external advisors
• Operate and document intercompany transfer-pricing arrangements with contemporaneous TP documentation
• Support corporate tax coordination, including loss-carryforward monitoring and correct treatment of depreciation in the German entity

Controlling & Management Reporting

• Build the controlling function from scratch: cost-centre and cost-carrier accounting, including setup of structures in SAP CO
• Establish project controlling for R&D programmes and government contracts—cost attribution, WIP tracking, and margin analysis at the programme level
• Support budgeting and forecasting across entity, consolidated, and cash-flow layers; partner with FP&A on annual budgets and rolling forecasts

ERP / SAP & Process Improvement

• Support SAP implementation, migration, and FI/CO module extension projects in coordination with other functions
• Drive process automation and continuous improvement within the ERP environment

Export Control & Trade Compliance

• Serve as the finance interface to export control: ensure invoicing, revenue recognition, and shipment/milestone workflows align with export-licence status under German AWV/AWG, EU dual-use rules, and UK export controls
• Flag transactions with export-control or end-use sensitivity for review, working with legal/compliance on the licensing process

Stakeholder Management

• Work directly with senior stakeholders to create transparency and build out the process landscape
• Support the Director of Finance on due-diligence processes, fundraising data rooms, and board-level financial reporting

What We're Looking For

• 7+ years of significant experience in group accounting or financial controller roles, ideally spanning multiple legal entities
• 3+ years in a finance function of a company delivering defence or public-sector projects
• A degree in business administration, economics, or related field, or equivalent professional qualification (e.g. Bilanzbuchhalter, Steuerberater, ACCA/ACA/CIMA)
• Hands-on SAP experience required (FI & CO modules minimum)
• Solid technical knowledge of HGB; IFRS familiarity required, UK GAAP a plus
• Working knowledge of corporate tax and VAT in at least Germany
• Willingness to challenge the status quo and bring forward best practices from your own experience
• German speaker with working proficiency in English

How We Work With You

Candidates apply directly through Get A Job.ai. Our recruiting team will screen your application and conduct an initial interview. If there's a strong match, we will submit your profile to our client for consideration. Please do not contact the client directly—all communication and coordination will be managed by our talent team to ensure a smooth, confidential process.

Pay

Compensation details will be discussed during the screening process based on experience and qualifications.

Get A Job.ai is an equal opportunity recruiter. We evaluate candidates based on merit, capability, and potential, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or any other protected characteristic.