Manager Business Control

Lucas Bols is looking for a seasoned Manager Business Control to set the direction for, and continuously improve, our Business Control function — while personally owning the finance business partnership for the US, our most important cocktail market globally.

This is a dual mandate: functional leadership and hands-on business control. You will have one direct report (Business Controller), and will working in close collaboration with the finance team. You set the standard for the function, shape how it operates, and personally drive the financial engine behind our most strategically important market.

We are a commercial brand-building company with 30+ brands and 110+ markets. Business Control is how we make better marketing and commercial decisions: where and when to invest behind brands, the effectiveness of the various forms of brand investments, and what is actually driving depletions. This role makes that happen.

Reporting directly to the CFO, you are the financial engine behind important decision-making processes. Your work directly shapes how the business allocates brand investments, steers distributor activations, and drives depletions — market by market, brand by brand.

Role and Responsibilities:

Functional Leadership & Direction Setting

• Manage, coach, and develop your direct report; work in close and effective collaboration with the second Business Controller who reports directly to the CFO
• Set the standard for quality, proactivity, and commercial orientation across the Business Control function — not just for your direct report, but as the de facto functional lead
• Define and continuously improve the Business Control operating model: how the function serves the full breadth of the Lucas Bols business — brands & markets
• Work closely with the CFO to build a function that progressively operates with more autonomy, consistency, and commercial impact
• Act as the go-to person for methodology, analytical frameworks, and quality standards across Business Control

Business Control - US (personally owned)

• Own the US financial performance narrative: monthly actuals, variance analysis, and management commentary for Group reporting, in close cooperation with the US team
• Lead the US budget and rolling-forecast cycle — challenging assumptions, stress-testing inputs, and aligning commercial ambition with financial reality
• Act as the primary finance business partner to the US Managing Director and commercial leads on pricing, distributor economics, trade spend, margins, and channel profitability
• Develop and own the commercial performance framework for the US: depletions, ROI on Advertising & Promotional spending (“A&P”), distributor sell-through, and channel profitability — translated into clear recommendations that drive decisions
• Drive business cases and investment analyses that challenge A&P allocation, prioritise brand investment, and quantify the commercial return on key decisions
• Proactively identify performance risks and opportunities — and bring solutions, not just signals

Planning & Reporting Excellence

• Drive improvements in the planning and reporting cycle — faster, sharper, more decision-useful

Education & Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Finance, Economics or Accounting
• RC qualification is a strong plus

Experience

• 15+ years of relevant experience, the majority of which in Business Control, Commercial Control, Commercial Finance or FP&A — not in Audit, Financial Accounting or Financial Control
• Demonstrated leadership experience: managing, developing, and holding a team to a high standard
• Proven track record as a senior finance business partner embedded with commercial leadership — someone who has influenced real decisions, not just produced reports
• Solid in understanding and working with matrix business model set-ups (markets/countries vs. brands)
• Background in spirits, alcoholic beverages, consumer brands or FMCG is a strong plus; understanding of distributor models, trade spend mechanics, A&P dynamics, and depletion economics is essential to add value quickly
• Experience in an international environment with cross-border reporting lines

Skills & Competencies

• Excellent financial modelling and analytical skills
• Strong communicator — able to cut through complexity and land a clear message at board and commercial leadership level
• Tactically and organisationally sharp: able to assess a function’s maturity and systematically raise the bar
• Working foreman: enjoys setting direction and developing others as much as getting some hands dirty. “Managers” would not be a fit
• Self-starter with a bias for action and ownership — does not wait to be asked
• Comfortable working across time zones and with remote teams
• IFRS-literate; US GAAP knowledge is not required
• Fluent in English; Dutch is a plus

What we offer:

• Competitive salary, including holiday allowance and 13 th month
• Bonus scheme
• 30 vacation days
• Solid pension plan
• Disability & Accident insurance
• Travel allowance
• Provision of varied and healthy lunch
• A role with direct CFO and CEO visibility and real strategic impact across the Lucas Bols group
• A great office in the heart of Amsterdam within a high-quality international team
• Other perks include great (cocktail) parties and a rare opportunity to be trained a professional bartender in our unique Bols Cocktail Academy

Our Company:

Lucas Bols is one of the world’s leading cocktail and spirits companies and one of the oldest Dutch businesses. With over 450 years of heritage and craftsmanship in distillation and cocktails, and a portfolio of over 30 brands active in over 110 countries, we combine Amsterdam’s creative spirit with a true global reach.

Our brands include Bols Cocktails (the world’s #1 liqueur portfolio outside the US), Passoã (the world’s #1 passion-fruit liqueur and the original ingredient to the Pornstar Martina), Tequila Partida (the world’s highest rated tequila) and Fluère (a premium non-alcoholic spirits range at the core of our innovation no- & lower-alcohol cocktail strategy).

Working at Lucas Bols means joining a tight-knit, ambitious, and commercially driven team where ownership and entrepreneurship is encouraged and impact is visible. The world is our playground!