Regional Finance Director – Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova
FMCG, Retail, Distribution or Wholesale
REGIONAL FINANCE DIRECTOR
Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova
FMCG, Retail, Distribution or Wholesale
LOCATION: Bucharest, Romania
THE COMPANY
Our client is a market leader in the FMCG sector, operating across multiple countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The business model is complex, involving multi-supplier relationships, high transaction volumes, and intricate financial flows across the value chain. With a significant presence in Romania, Bulgaria, and Moldova, the company plays a critical role in enabling brand and supply chain success for global FMCG producers.
THE ROLE
As part of a broader transformation to strengthen financial performance, reporting, and cost discipline, the company is seeking a Regional Finance Director to lead and develop the financial function across the three-country cluster.
We are recruiting a Regional Finance Director who will take full responsibility for the financial leadership of the company’s operations across Romania, Bulgaria, and Moldova. This is a strategic and operational leadership role that requires an experienced finance professional with the ability to oversee financial performance, ensure compliance, lead a large regional finance team, and act as a business partner to both local leadership and the Group Finance function.
The role reports to the Group Chief Financial Officer and is part of the extended Group Finance Leadership Team. The job holder will manage a team of approximately sixty finance professionals across three countries and will work within a matrix structure, ensuring alignment with both local country management and central functional finance teams.
MAIN OBJECTIVE: The key focus of the role is to transform the finance function into a forward-looking and strategic business partner to commercial and operational stakeholders, ensuring profitability, cost efficiency, and operational effectiveness in a complex and evolving environment.
Key Responsibilities:
- Financial Planning and Strategy – Lead the budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning processes for the region, ensuring alignment with business objectives and group strategy. Act as a financial business partner to country leadership teams, providing insights for decision-making, cost optimization, and profitability improvements.
- P&L and Performance Management – Own the full profit and loss accountability across three countries, ensuring profitability, accurate financial reporting, and performance against key financial indicators.
- Cash Flow, Treasury, and Credit Risk – Oversee liquidity management, optimize working capital, maintain strong banking relationships, and ensure effective credit risk policies are in place.
- Compliance and Risk Management – Ensure compliance with IFRS and local accounting and tax regulations, while maintaining robust internal controls and managing external audits.
- Controlling and Commercial Finance Leadership – Lead controlling activities and provide business leaders with timely, data-driven financial insights to guide pricing, cost, and investment decisions.
- Team Leadership and Development – Manage and develop a regional finance team of approximately 60 people, fostering cross-border collaboration, capability building, and succession planning.
- Digitalization and Process Improvement – Drive the automation of financial reporting and processes, reducing manual work and increasing efficiency across the finance function.
- Cross-Functional Business Partnering – Act as a key partner to country managers and commercial teams, supporting strategic initiatives with financial expertise and guidance.
- Audit and External Stakeholder Management – Coordinate annual financial audits, and manage relationships with external auditors, tax consultants, and financial institutions.
- Cost Optimization and Efficiency – Identify areas for cost reduction and implement initiatives that improve operational efficiency and long-term financial sustainability.
THE CANDIDATE
The Regional Finance Director will be an accomplished financial leader, capable of managing complexity across multiple markets and aligning local financial operations with broader strategic objectives.
He/she will bring a strong business mindset, operational focus, and the ability to translate financial data into clear, actionable insights that support commercial and strategic decision-making.
The ideal candidate will be both a rigorous financial controller and a trusted business partner, with the leadership presence to influence senior stakeholders and lead diverse finance teams through transformation and growth.
Experience
- Regional Financial Leadership: Proven track record in senior finance leadership roles (Finance Director, CFO, Cluster/Regional Controller), with responsibility over multi-country operations in dynamic, fast-paced business environments.
- Core Financial Expertise: Strong background in financial strategy, planning, controlling, cash flow management, and business partnering. Experience with P&L accountability, treasury, credit risk, and cost optimization in high-volume industries such as FMCG, distribution, retail, or wholesale.
- Multi-Stakeholder Management: Demonstrated ability to engage with cross-functional leadership teams, group-level finance, external auditors, and financial institutions. Skilled in navigating matrix structures and aligning regional teams with corporate frameworks.
- Finance Transformation: Experience leading process improvement, automation, and digitalization initiatives. Familiarity with ERP systems (e.g., SAP, Oracle) and advanced Excel-based financial modeling is preferred.
Competencies
- Leadership and Team Development: A people-first leader who inspires, mentors, and manages large finance teams across different countries. Promotes a culture of ownership, collaboration, and high performance.
- Strategic and Commercial Acumen: Ability to connect financial performance with business drivers. Offers forward-looking analysis to influence pricing, investment, and operational decisions while maintaining financial control.
- Execution and Accountability: Demonstrates strong ownership of financial outcomes and discipline in execution. Balances long-term thinking with a hands-on, results-oriented approach.
- Cross-Cultural Collaboration and Communication: Comfortable leading in multicultural environments, engaging with stakeholders at all levels across geographies, and adjusting communication styles to drive consensus and alignment.
- Change Management and Resilience: Brings a transformation mindset, ready to lead through uncertainty and complexity. Resilient and adaptable, with the drive to simplify and improve systems and processes.
Language and Location Requirements
- Fluency in English is essential.
- Working knowledge of Romanian is an absolute must, other regional languages is considered an advantage.
- Willingness to be based in Bucharest, Romania, and to travel regionally as required.
ATTRACTIVE ASPECTS
This is a rare opportunity to step into a high-profile regional leadership role at the heart of a dynamic and fast-paced multinational organization.
The successful candidate will drive the financial strategy of a complex regional business and contribute directly to cross-border decision-making at group level. With a focus on both strategic impact and operational efficiency, the role provides the opportunity to lead transformation, build strong regional teams, and influence business performance across multiple markets.
It is an excellent opportunity for an experienced finance leader seeking regional scope, meaningful impact, and long-term career development, supported by a competitive compensation and benefits package.
APPLICATION PROCESS
If this role is interesting for you, please apply by submitting your CV.
Candidates whose backgrounds align closely with the role will be invited to participate in comprehensive interviews to evaluate fit, motivation and alignment with the role’s requirements.
If, this opportunity does not interest you, but you would like to recommend a member of your professional network who might have the right profile and a potential interest in pursuing it, please don’t hesitate to forward them this ad or directly send us their coordinates.
Please consider that only the suitable candidates will be contacted for interview, but we appreciate everyone’s interest in our projects and would like to keep in touch for future projects.
Pendl & Piswanger offers HR and management advisory services in the last 40 years in CEE. As members of InterSearch, a worldwide executive search firm with more than 100 offices in 50 countries, we are amongst the top search firms globally and operate across all major industry sectors. We are experienced, innovative, and totally committed to our clients who gain competitive advantage by hiring great people. For more information, please visit www.ro.intersearch.org.