Chief Financial Officer m/w France

Location: France

Department: Finance

Reports to: Managing Director France

Team Size / In Same Team: Finance team France (Accounting, Controlling, Credit Management)

Contract Type: Permanent

Start Date: To be defined

Why you should join us:

Knauf stands for opportunity. We believe that opportunity looks different to each person, and that's exactly why we see potential everywhere.

Knauf is a global, family owned leader in building materials. Since 1932, we have been shaping better spaces through drywall systems and high performance acoustic and thermal insulation solutions.

With over 43,000 employees in more than 90 countries, Knauf combines entrepreneurial agility with industrial excellence. In France, we operate within a competitive and demanding construction market, requiring financial rigor, operational efficiency and strategic foresight.

As CFO France, you will play a pivotal role in driving financial performance, ensuring compliance and supporting sustainable growth in a complex industrial environment.

If you are a strategic finance leader with strong operational acumen and a hands on mindset, this role offers a high impact platform within a global yet family driven organization.

What the role involves:

As Chief Financial Officer France, you are the strategic and operational finance leader of the GYPS French entities. You ensure financial robustness, performance optimisation and governance compliance, while acting as a key business partner to the Managing Director and the leadership team.

You operate in a manufacturing driven context (industrial sites, supply chain complexity, raw material volatility, energy cost exposure), requiring strong analytical depth and cost control expertise.

Our sales team is also evolving in a complex market environment. Facing major actors, our distinctive competence is a unique positioning, offering a wide range of drywall solutions, and also insulation solutions.

As Chief Financial Officer France. You ensure financial data accuracy and initiate several analyses that support and challenge our strategies to reach our business targets.

With the active and permanent support of your team of business controllers, you guarantee our compliance with legal and group requirements, ensure appropriate reporting and provide all recommendations needed to optimise our governance and performance.

Key responsibilities: Financial Strategy & Business Partnering

Define and implement the financial strategy aligned with France's business plan and Group objectives.

Act as a trusted advisor to the Managing Director and Executive Committee on profitability, investments, efficiency, pricing strategy and risk management.

Provide economic justification and provision of financial insights to facilitate decision making of all country functions.

Controlling & Performance Management

Own control and reporting system of the company to drive performance at each level of value chain (manufacturing, supply, finance, sales etc.).

Ensure transparency of financial and operational performance within country management and regional finance head.

Design and implement new systems of controls, reports, KPI dashboards, information flows, reporting procedures to drive business performance of the country.

Partner with regional finance team to align financial goals with business strategies, ensure effective cost management and performance control, represent country at regional level.

Lead budgeting, forecasting and long range planning processes.

Drive margin analysis (product, customer, channel), cost structure optimisation (fixed vs variable), CAPEX ROI analysis and working capital management.

Accounting, Tax & Compliance

Ensure accurate and timely financial reporting (French GAAP and IFRS).

Guarantee compliance with local tax regulations, statutory obligations and internal control frameworks.

Supervise audits (internal & external) and maintain robust financial governance.

Cash Flow & Working Capital Optimization

Oversee credit management, DSO optimisation, inventory control and cash forecasting.

Secure strong liquidity management and proactive risk mitigation (customer risk, FX exposure, commodity price sensitivity).

Investment & Industrial Projects

Challenge and validate business cases for industrial CAPEX (plant upgrades, automation, energy transition projects).

Ensure disciplined investment governance and post investment performance tracking.

Team Leadership & Transformation

Lead, structure and develop the French finance team.

Oversee the implementation of strategic initiatives and drive transformative changes to achieve business objectives and enhance operational efficiency.

Champion strategy implementation and change management within finance & controlling ensure the successful execution of strategic priorities, including CI project within Finance and Admin area, and new ERP (S4 SAP Hana) implementation.

Mentor and guide local controllers and finance team members, fostering a culture of excellence and continuous improvement.

Ensure efficient cooperation with Finance Shared services.

Drive digitalisation initiatives (ERP optimisation - ideally SAP S/4HANA environment), automation of reporting, and continuous process improvement.

What you need:

We're looking for someone with:

• Minimum 10-15 years of progressive finance leadership experience, ideally in industrial / manufacturing / construction materials sectors.
• Proven track record as CFO, Finance Director or Senior Controller in a multi site environment.
• Strong expertise in industrial controlling (standard costing, variance analysis, absorption costing, CAPEX evaluation).
• Solid knowledge of French statutory accounting and tax frameworks.
• Experience in ERP environments (SAP S/4HANA strongly preferred).
• Demonstrated ability to lead restructuring, cost optimisation and performance turnaround initiatives.
• Strong business acumen and capacity to challenge operational stakeholders constructively.
• High level of integrity, resilience and decision making autonomy.
• Fluent in French and English - B2 as minimum level.

Recruitment Process (Guideline)

• 1st round : interview with country General Manager and People leader.
• 2nd round : interview with Western Europe CFO & Western Europe People leader.
• Last step : interview with Western Europe CEO.

We look forward to discovering your profile; your next professional experience could start here!

KNAUF is an equal opportunity employer: we celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.

This job description provides a summary of key responsibilities and qualifications associated with this specific role. It is not exhaustive and may be subject to change as the needs of the organization evolve.