Operations Finance Lead

Operations Finance Lead

Destinus · Hengelo, Netherlands (Hybrid) · — · Posted 2026-09-14

Workplace: hybrid

Department: Finance

Description

About the role

Imagine this. You are building the financial backbone behind a fast-scaling, multi-site manufacturing organization. As our Operations Finance Lead, you will take ownership of how we understand manufacturing costs, margins, inventory and operational performance across the group. This is not a role where you simply inherit established processes. You will build, standardize and improve them, creating the financial discipline and visibility needed to scale our operations.

You will lead operations controlling, cost accounting and FP&A across manufacturing and supply chain, while partnering closely with Operations, Supply Chain, Engineering and Finance leadership. From product costing and inventory economics to forecasting, MES implementation and site performance, you will connect what happens on the factory floor with the numbers driving business decisions.

At Destinus, we are revolutionizing the defense industry with cutting-edge Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Our innovative technologies are designed to meet the unique demands of modern defense operations, delivering unparalleled speed, precision, and cost effectiveness. Destinus partners with government agencies and defense organizations worldwide to provide advanced solutions for mission-critical operations, enabling a new era of efficiency and technological superiority. Join us in shaping the future of defense with groundbreaking aerospace innovations.

What You’ll Do

• Own operations cost accounting across multiple manufacturing sites, including inventory accounting, cost of goods produced and sold, capitalization of labor and manufacturing overhead, and manufacturing-related month-end close activities
• Take ownership of inventory economics, including variance capitalization, COGS release, excess and obsolete inventory and slow-moving stock exposure
• Ensure manufacturing and inventory accounting is consistent across sites and legal entities and aligned with group accounting policies, IFRS and applicable local GAAP requirements
• Own and continuously improve the product costing framework across products and sites, including BOMs, routings, labor and overhead rates
• Drive cost and margin performance through variance analysis across purchase price, usage, mix, yield, labor efficiency and overhead absorption, identifying root causes and translating them into clear actions
• Partner with Operations and Supply Chain to understand and optimize key cost drivers across materials, conversion, productivity, capacity and waste
• Lead budgeting, forecasting and long-range planning for manufacturing and supply chain, connecting volumes, pricing, efficiency, capacity, headcount and capex assumptions to financial outcomes
• Build rolling forecasts and analyze monthly performance, creating a clear bridge between operational results, margins, working capital and the P&L
• Own operational KPIs with financial impact, including OTIF, yield, efficiency, days on hand and forecast accuracy
• Build practical management reporting and dashboards that give operations and executive leadership clear visibility into cost, margin, inventory and working capital performance
• Turn complex operational and financial data into actionable insights that support decisions around sourcing, pricing, investment and capacity
• Design and standardize finance processes across sites for costing, forecasting, month-end close and reporting, replacing fragmented practices with scalable group-wide frameworks
• Support MES implementation and ensure reliable manufacturing data flows into financial systems, working closely with Operations and IT to strengthen standard costing, inventory valuation, cost centers and BOM structures
• Establish strong internal controls over inventory, cost accounting and manufacturing transactions, maintaining clear segregation of duties and audit-ready documentation
• Define and roll out group-wide operations finance policies, templates and reporting calendars to create consistency across sites and legal entities
• Lead and coordinate operations finance across multiple manufacturing locations, developing site controllers and cost accountants while building a strong and consistent finance capability across the group
• Act as a trusted finance partner to Operations, Supply Chain and Engineering leadership, balancing the realities of individual sites with the financial discipline required at group level
• Support external audits, lender and investor processes and relevant multi-jurisdiction compliance requirements

Requirements

What You’ll Need

• Solid experience in operations finance, manufacturing controlling, finance business partnering, cost accounting or FP&A within an industrial, engineering or manufacturing environment
• Proven experience owning or building product and standard costing frameworks, inventory accounting and manufacturing variance analysis
• Strong understanding of operational finance, budgeting, forecasting, margin analysis and performance management
• Experience building finance processes, controls and reporting structures rather than only operating within established frameworks
• Strong understanding of internal controls and financial compliance within multi-entity or multi-jurisdiction organizations
• Confidence working with large data sets, ERP systems such as Microsoft Dynamics and advanced Excel or equivalent financial tools
• Experience with ERP or MES implementation, redesign or integration is a strong advantage
• Ability to translate complex financial and operational information into clear recommendations for non-finance stakeholders
• Experience coordinating finance activities across multiple sites or legal entities and managing or mentoring finance professionals
• Strong communication skills and the ability to challenge, influence and collaborate effectively across Finance, Operations, Supply Chain and Engineering
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Engineering or a related field
• CPA, ACCA, CIMA, CMA or equivalent professional qualification is a plus
• Fluency in English, with another European language considered an advantage
• Willingness to travel regularly between Destinus sites
• Experience in aerospace, defense, high-tech manufacturing or a fast-scaling industrial environment is a strong plus
• Experience supporting external audits, institutional lenders, investors or financial diligence processes is also an advantage

Who You Are

You are hands-on, analytical and comfortable building structure where it does not yet exist. You can move from detailed product costing and inventory analysis to a strategic conversation with senior leadership without losing sight of either. You challenge numbers when they do not reflect operational reality, take ownership instead of waiting for instructions and know how to bring different sites and teams behind a common way of working. You thrive in a fast-moving environment where finance is expected to help drive the business, not simply report what already happened.

Apply

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