Financial Manager

About the role

We are an international Clinical Research Organization (CRO) seeking a transformative Financial Manager/Controller to lead our newly acquired US subsidiary. Reporting directly to the Chief Financial Officer in Germany, you will act as the financial architect of our US expansion, overseeing migration to a global ERP system, establishing rigorous internal controls, and building a world‑class finance team. You will be the primary bridge between our US operational ambitions and our global financial standards, ensuring compliance, profitability, and scalability.

Responsibilities

• Financial Leadership & Strategy – Post‑Acquisition Integration: Lead the financial integration of the US subsidiary into the global group, harmonize local accounting policies with Group standards, and ensure strict adherence to US regulatory requirements.
• Strategic Partnership: Provide actionable financial insights to Group management and the US CEO on study profitability, resource utilization, and pipeline conversion to drive business growth.
• Team Building: Design, grow and lead the US finance organization to support rapid scaling, building a small team that supports significant investments from the group.
• Technical Accounting & Compliance – Revenue Recognition (ASC 606): Oversee the complex revenue recognition process for long‑term clinical trial contracts, determine performance obligations, allocate transaction prices, and utilize input methods (cost‑to‑cost) to accurately measure progress and recognize revenue.
• Project Accounting: Manage the lifecycle of study budgets, rigorously track “pass‑through” costs and investigator grants, and monitor budget‑vs‑actual performance at the study level.
• International Reporting: Prepare a monthly reporting system in collaboration with group controlling to ensure a homogeneous process, comparability and meaningful analysis at group level.
• Tax & Regulatory Stewardship: Manage all US tax compliance with a local tax accounting firm, including Federal, State, and Sales/Use tax nexus; oversee Transfer Pricing documentation and filing of IRS Form 5472.
• Systems Implementation & Digital Transformation – ERP Implementation Lead: Act as Functional Lead for migration from legacy software to the new global ERP platform (e.g., NetSuite/Oracle), lead requirements gathering, data migration and user training.
• Systems Integration: Champion integration between the ERP and the Clinical Trial Management System (CTMS) to automate flow of study milestones to financial triggers.
• Process Engineering: Design and implement scalable processes for sales management, procurement, accounting and reporting with automated, audit‑ready controls.
• Treasury & Cash Management – Cash Forecasting: Develop robust cash‑flow forecasts accounting for clinical trial payment schedules and timing lag between investigator payments and sponsor reimbursements.
• Intercompany Cash Management: Manage intercompany funding requests and loan agreements.
• Banking Relations: Manage local US banking relationships and administer banking platforms in alignment with the German treasury department.

Candidate Profile

• Education & Certification: Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance required; active CPA license preferred.
• Work Authorization: Established right to work in the US.
• Experience: 5‑7+ years of progressive finance experience, at least 2 years in a CRO or highly regulated professional services organization.
• Technical Mastery: Deep hands‑on experience with ASC 606 and project accounting in a service environment; advanced Excel skills preferred.
• Digital Leadership: Proven experience leading or playing a key role in an ERP implementation (e.g., NetSuite, Dynamics 365, Oracle); experience with CTMS platforms is a strong plus.
• Global Exposure: Experience working in a subsidiary of an international company, managing intercompany transactions, transfer pricing, and multi‑currency reporting.
• Location & Availability: Able to reside within 1 hour of Webster, Texas and be in the office 2‑3 days per week.
• Competencies: Builder’s mindset, strong communication skills, ability to translate complex financial concepts for non‑financial stakeholders, some German language skills a positive advantage, and resilience to manage multiple high‑stakes priorities simultaneously.