Business Controller

To achieve its climates goals, the Netherlands is committed to achieving carbon-free electricity. Nuclear Energy Organisation Netherlands (NEO NL) contributes to this by building and operating two new nuclear power plants, on behalf of the government. It is one of the most ambitious energy projects the Netherlands has ever seen. At NEO NL, your work will directly contribute to this national ambition and make an impact that lasts for decades. To make this assignment a success, we need extraordinary people. People like you.

For the start-up phase of NEO NL, we are looking for: Business Controller

Your assignment:

As a Business Controller, you provide objective financial insight, forward-looking analysis, constructive challenge, and effective business partnering across NEO NL to improve business performance and decision-making. Reporting directly to the Head of Corporate Finance, you translate NEO NL’s project and operational activities into dependable financial insights, safeguard the integrity of multi-year budgets and rolling forecasts, and ensure operational decisions are grounded in sound financial information.

Your key activities include:

- Annual Budgeting: Transform programme and project budgets alongside departmental estimates into NEO NL’s integrated annual budget, ensuring categorisation and timing align with shareholder (EZK) planning and reporting requirements.

- Rolling Forecasting: Maintain and update rolling forecasts as project-level (Project Controls) and departmental estimates evolve, ensuring assumptions are documented, traceable, and defensible.

- Variance Analysis & Cost Control: Monitor actual expenditures against budgets and forecasts, investigate and explain variances, and flag emerging cost or schedule risks early to protect strict programme cost discipline.

- Strategic Business Partnering: Act as a financial sparring partner to operational and project managers, embedding financial rigour by constructively challenging cost estimates, contract structures, and investment proposals before they reach the CFO or investment committee.

- Management & Shareholder Reporting: Produce actionable management information (KPIs, dashboards, value drivers, cost reports) and consolidate periodic reporting to the Board and the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy (EZK), translating operational complexity into Rijksbegroting-aligned reporting.

- Continuous Improvement: Proactively contribute to the design, refinement, and optimisation of business control processes, reporting templates, and financial systems in a scaling organisation.

Your background and experience:

- A Master’s Degree or equivalent level of education in Finance, Business Economics, Accounting, or a related discipline.

- Over 6 to 10 years of relevant professional experience in business control, financial planning & analysis (FP&A), or project cost control.

- Proven experience operating in capital-intensive infrastructure, energy, or major engineering project environments.

- Demonstrated ability to operate effectively and build processes within a start-up or scale-up organizational environment.

- Strong ability to translate complex technical and operational information into clear financial insights, and vice versa.

- Excellent command of both Dutch and English, written and spoken (essential for executive and ministerial stakeholder interfaces).

We also value if you have:

- Familiarity with public sector finance, state-owned entities, or Rijksbegroting-aligned budgeting and reporting frameworks.

- Experience collaborating closely with Project Controls teams on large-scale project scheduling and Capex forecasting.

- Proficiency in modern business intelligence, dashboarding tools, and enterprise ERP systems.

Competencies:

At NEO NL, everyone needs four core competencies to be successful: Learning Agility, Collaboration, Responsibility, and Communication. For this role, we additionally look for:

- Constructive Challenge & Independent Judgement: Possesses an assertive, independent mindset with the ability to challenge senior stakeholders constructively and uphold financial discipline under ambiguous circumstances.

- Translating Complexity: Exceptional skill in deconstructing multi-layered operational and project data to provide clear, forward-looking financial insight and actionable advice.

- Analytical Problem Solving: Systematically investigates variances, evaluates alternative scenarios and root causes, and implements structured, sustainable solutions.

What we offer:

- A strong and committed team – Become part of a diverse and ambitious team of 100 professionals who share a common goal and mission.

- A culture of trust and ownership – We believe in responsibility, collaboration, open communication, and a safe working environment.

- Dynamic environment – Experience the energy of building a new organisation step by step, and two nuclear power plants that will help the Netherlands for many decades from now.

About the organisation:

NEO NL is a state-owned company. Our mission is clear: deliver long-lasting nuclear energy solutions that support the Dutch ambition of climate neutrality. With unmatched standards of quality and safety, and driven by deep expertise and responsibility, we are creating a resilient energy system while advancing nuclear knowledge for generations to come.

At NEO NL, you won’t just have a job, you will have a once in a lifetime opportunity to ensure the Netherlands becomes less dependent of fossils fuel, and to have clean and reliable energy for generations to come. You will be part of an ambitious, supportive, and international team, working at the forefront of policy, technology, and society.

This is your chance to make history. Join us and be part of something that lasts.