The Job
In a context where the Group’s Finance Core Model is currently under construction and evolving, the Expert Consultant acts as an expert service provider on behalf of the Finance Executive Committee (Codir), which is its final guarantor and accountable owner. Working in close synergy with the Project Manager—who drives project governance and timelines—the Expert Consultant is dedicated to managing technical compliance, process expertise, and Core Model alignment.
The mission involves :
1/ Securing the subsidiary’s integration trajectory by performing rigorous fit-gap analyses, designing compliance solutions and target workaround scenarios, and technically validating the quality of financial flows and functional testing (UAT) prior to the switchover, backed by a technical quality veto right on the Go-Live milestone
2/ Ensuring—continuously and upstream— with the Finance Codir and its dedicated functional experts that deployment and alignment proposals are fully in phase with the Group’s target orientations and evolving Core Model arbitrages.
Key Responsibilities :
Presentation and Alignment with the Finance Codir
Act as the operational relay for the Finance Codir on the ground during integration – working in close synergy with the Project Manager – and adapting the level of escalation to the complexity of the subjects.
Continuously ensure proper alignment of the proposed integration trajectories and projects with the latest evolutions and arbitrations of the Group Core Model, aligning target timelines with the Project Manager.
Submit and obtain validation from the Finance Codir regarding the relevance and accuracy of the “gap analysis” performed within the subsidiary.
Management of simple / standard issues: Maintain complete autonomy over the analysis of gaps that do not challenge the guiding principles of the Core Model (e.g., alignment of standard processes, minor local configuration adaptations).
Management of complex / structural issues: In the event of complex gaps (e.g., heavy local regulatory/tax constraints, major impacts on Finance IS flows, derogatory accounting schemes), structure the analysis and prepare the documentation required for validation by the Finance Codir’s dedicated experts before any local validation.
Technically investigate potential requests for local specificities and prepare arbitration files for the Finance Codir, in connection with functional experts (Accounting, Controlling, Finance IS, etc.) and in coordination with the Project Manager on project impacts.
Gap Analysis and Business Diagnosis on the Ground (Fit-Gap Analysis)
Lead diagnostic workshops with the subsidiary to be integrated, in close coordination with the project manager for scheduling and governance, in order to map the existing situation (processes, tools, local regulations).
Identify and formalize gaps in relation to the ambitions of the Core Model currently under construction.
Draft and document the required compliance workstreams.
Design of Workarounds
Co-build target solutions and any temporary or permanent workarounds with the subsidiary and the Finance IS team.
Have these workaround scenarios validated by the Finance Codir prior to any implementation to guarantee compliance, coordinating with the Project Manager regarding timeline and budget impacts.
Testing, Quality Validation, and Model Improvement
Define the functional testing strategy (UAT) for the subsidiary’s financial flows.
Validate the technical and regulatory compliance of data before the Go-Live, holding a technical quality veto right over the switchover milestone (co-validating the Go / No-Go with the Project Manager, who holds the timeline veto).
Escalate relevant local specificities or innovations observed on the ground to the Finance Codir in order to feed into the continuous improvement and construction of the Group Core Model.