Job Summary The Area Head of ATR and Financial Controlling acts as a strategic and trusted partner to the Area Head of Finance, leading the full spectrum of Accounting-to-Report (ATR) and Financial Controlling responsibilities across the Area.

The role ensures accurate, timely, and compliant financial accounting and reporting in line with IFRS, APMM policies, and local statutory requirements. As a key member of the Area Finance Leadership Team, the incumbent drives performance improvement, balance sheet integrity, working capital optimization, and financial governance across Ocean and Logistics & Services entities.

This role plays a critical leadership position in strengthening financial stewardship, leading transformation initiatives across systems and processes, enabling automation and standardization, and delivering measurable business impact through strong cross-functional sparring and partnership.

Given the scope of the role, prior experience in OHADA accounting standards or significant exposure to the West Africa (WAF) region is critical, considering the regulatory complexity and financial governance requirements across these markets.

Key Responsibilities

- Drive Area finance objectives in close alignment with the Area Head of Finance, ensuring financial outcomes support broader business priorities and strategic ambitions.
- Own the accurate and timely completion of books of accounts for all scoped Area entities (APMM and local statutory), ensuring adherence to defined closing timelines and reporting standards.
- Ensure full compliance with IFRS, APMM accounting policies, and local statutory and tax regulations across the Area.
- Lead Balance Sheet governance and exposure management,



ensuring P&L; and BS hygiene, recommending accounting adjustments where necessary, and proactively mitigating future risk exposures.
- Drive holistic working capital and liquidity optimization across the Area in collaboration with OTC, PTP, Treasury, and business stakeholders.
- Own internal control frameworks (RICC/GRC), audit governance, and timely closure of audit observations (internal, statutory, tax, transfer pricing, and other regulatory audits).
- Lead the conduct of statutory and group audits for scoped entities, ensuring timely completion, filing, and remediation of audit findings.
- Prepare and review financial materials for Boards of Directors of legal entities, ensuring accuracy, transparency, and clarity of communication.
- Drive process efficiency, automation, and finance transformation initiatives, challenging the status quo and identifying opportunities for standardization and productivity gains.
- Translate organizational and Area objectives into actionable plans, leading, developing, and engaging the ATR and Financial Controlling teams to deliver sustainable performance.
- Resolve complex accounting and finance issues through effective collaboration with COEs, GPLs, BPOs, ATR HQ, and other internal stakeholders.

Qualifications and Skills Education & Experience





- Qualified Accounting qualification required (CA / CMA / ACCA / CPA / CIMA). MBA Finance or Dip IFRS may be considered in exceptional cases.
- Minimum 15+ years of post-qualification experience with at least 57 years in Accounting and Controllership roles.
- Strong experience in financial reporting, statutory compliance, and balance sheet governance.
- Proven leadership experience managing teams across multi-entity or multi-country environments.
- Hands-on experience with ERP systems (SAP / S4HANA or equivalent).
- Demonstrated exposure to audit management, treasury collaboration, and working capital optimization.
- Experience in finance transformation and process automation initiatives preferred.
- Hands-on experience with OHADA accounting standards or prior exposure to the West Africa (WAF) region is essential for success in this role.

Key Skills

- Deep expertise in IFRS, local GAAP, accounting standards, and financial controllership.
- Strong cash flow and working capital management capability.
- Ability to influence without authority across senior stakeholders and cross-functional forums.
- Strong analytical mindset with high problem-solving capability.
- Executive presence with ability to lead crucial conversations and hold stakeholders accountable.
- Strong communication skills with the ability to translate complex financial data into clear business narratives.
- Results-driven with robust ownership of business outcomes.
- Proven capability in driving automation, efficiency, and process standardization.
- Strong people leadership, coaching, and team development skills.

📌 Area Head of ATR & Financial Controlling, West Africa Region (Chennai)
🏢 A.P. Moller - Maersk
📍 Chennai