Controller in Runcorn

Yokogawa's UK operation runs complex, long-cycle industrial automation projects — the kind where financial control isn't back-office admin but a genuine steering instrument. As Controller, you own the financial management and control framework for the UK entity from our Runcorn base. You set the policies, run the planning and budgeting cycle, keep the risk picture honest, and give the UK leadership team the numbers and the advice they need to make good calls. You lead the finance team that makes all of that happen.

A Day in Your Life

• Morning starts with the month-end close review: you challenge the variances your team has flagged, decide what needs escalating, and sign off the reporting pack for regional finance.
• After lunch, a working session with your team on tightening the internal control framework around project revenue recognition.
• You end the day advising the Managing Director on the budget reforecast: where the risks sit, what you'd cut, what you'd protect.
• Long-cycle project accounting: revenue, cost and risk on engineering projects that run for years, not quarters — keeping the picture true the whole way through.
• Balancing local statutory and tax requirements with group reporting standards and deadlines set in Tokyo.
• Building financial capability beyond the finance team, so budget holders across the business actually own their numbers.
• Driving the finance function's own modernisation — better systems, better data, less manual work — while the monthly cycle never stops.
• You operate as the senior finance voice in the UK entity, with direct exposure to regional and global finance leadership.
• Yokogawa's scale — over 60 countries — means real routes onward: regional finance roles, group controlling, or broader general management.
• You'll deepen expertise in project-based controlling, a discipline that travels well across the industrial world.

Team & Culture

• You lead and develop the UK finance team, setting direction, managing performance, and growing your people.
• You work daily with the UK leadership team and with finance colleagues across Europe — collaborative, direct, and built on trust.
• The culture rewards people who take ownership, say what the numbers actually show, and help others get better.

Who You Are

• A finance leader who reads the business behind the numbers — you apply market and commercial insight, not just accounting rules.
• Comfortable with complexity: conflicting information, multiple entities, long project lifecycles — you make sense of it and decide.
• Someone who instils trust: you gain the confidence of leadership and auditors alike through honesty, integrity and authenticity.
• Strategic in outlook — you see ahead to future possibilities and translate them into plans the business can execute.

What You'll Do & What You Bring

You will:

• Own financial management and control for the UK entity: planning, budgeting, forecasting, reporting and analysis.
• Set and maintain financial policies, procedures and internal controls, and ensure compliance with them.
• Lead financial modelling, scenario planning and data analysis that inform pricing, investment and risk decisions.
• Identify and manage organisational and financial risk, and own the mitigation agenda.
• Shape and improve the financial information systems and management-information landscape.
• Contribute to functional strategy and advise senior management on the financial implications of business decisions.
• Lead, direct and develop the finance team: objectives, performance management, and capability building across the wider organisation.

You bring:

• A Master's degree (or equivalent) in finance, accounting, economics or a related field; a professional qualification (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent) is a strong advantage.
• Ten or more years of broad finance experience, ideally in an industrial, engineering or project-driven environment.
• Six or more years managing and developing finance teams.
• Deep, hands-on strength in financial modelling, management accounting, budgeting, compliance and risk management.
• Confidence with financial information systems and modern data analysis, and the presentation skills to make numbers land with non-finance audiences.

Why Join Now

Yokogawa is investing in the technologies reshaping industry — AI-driven autonomous operations, the energy transition, industrial cybersecurity — and the UK business is part of that push. Finance here is being asked to lead, not just report. You'd arrive at the moment where the Controller role shapes how the UK entity plans, decides and grows for the next decade.

What We Offer

• A senior leadership role with genuine influence over the UK entity's direction.
• Salary and benefits in line with the seniority of the role, confirmed in full during your recruiter screening — including pension and holiday entitlement above UK statutory minimums.
• Hybrid working arrangements, agreed with your manager, anchored at our Runcorn office.
• Structured professional development within a global finance community.

Applicants must have the right to work in the UK.

Create Value for the Future, Deliver Real World Impact

Yokogawa is a leading global provider of industrial automation and test & measurement solutions. We are at the forefront of innovation, advancing the future of industry through AI-driven autonomous operations, industrial cybersecurity, robotics, and next-generation technologies that enable smarter, safer, and more sustainable industries.

We don't stop at improving industries. We aim to reimagine them by accelerating the energy transition, scaling AI-driven operations, and playing a pioneering role in manufacturing DX, biotechnology, and emerging space-related initiatives. Yokogawa is tackling some of the world's most complex challenges. Our purpose is clear: utilizing our ability to measure and connect, we fulfill our responsibility for the future of our planet.

Be Part of the Team

Our over 18,000 employees in more than 60 countries are united by the shared desire to innovate solutions with our customers that point the way to a brighter future. We are customer-centric and focused on building long-term relationships based on trust. Looking beyond incremental change, we aim to deliver meaningful value.

Here, you will work with experts in a diverse variety of fields and be part of global teams where the emphasis is on respect, collaboration, integrity, value creation, and gratitude. Join us if you're someone who's excited to explore new frontiers, take ownership of their work, and turn ambitious ideas into real-world impact.

Yokogawa United Kingdom Ltd is an equal opportunities employer under the Equality Act 2010. We welcome applications from everyone, including disabled candidates — tell us if you need adjustments at any stage of the process. We're committed to openness about pay: we'll share the salary range for this role during your recruiter screening, and in any case before you meet the hiring manager. Your application data is processed by Yokogawa United Kingdom Ltd as data controller in line with UK GDPR.