Steffen Last

Finance Business Partner | Collaborative Finance Strategist | Bridging Finance with C-Level and Directors | Uniting Insights for Growth | Improve Profitiability | Private Equity

Erkelenz, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

About

Dynamic finance professional business partner with over 10 years of experience in financial management, strategic planning, and commercial finance. I excel at collaborating with C-suite executives to drive growth, enhance profitability, and align financial strategies with long-term organizational goals. Currently, as the Manager of Strategic Planning & Commercial Finance at SIG International Services GmbH, I oversee financial reporting, forecasting, and strategic decision-making for a 5-year plan while managing a team of 2 FTE. I have a proven track record in conducting in-depth analyses, such as CAPEX investments and cost-to-serve evaluations, to inform strategic decisions. With strong leadership skills and a results-oriented mindset, I am committed to driving excellence in financial management. Holding a Master of Science in Financial Management and Accounting from Nordakademie Elmshorn, I thrive on leveraging financial insights to support organizational objectives and enhance business performance in fast-paced environments.

Experience

  • Regional Finance Director at LPR Group
    Jul 2025 - Present · 1 yr

  • SIG Group (Linnich, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Deutschland · Hybrid)
    • Manager Strategic Planning & Commercial Finance
      Dec 2022 - Jul 2025 · 2 yrs 8 mos

      ▪ Partner with global leaders to drive strategic decision-making, leveraging a structured, results-oriented approach to financial resource allocation and commercial improvements. ▪ Defining robust top-down-targets/KPIs for the 5-year plan, ensuring compliance and alignment with long-term strategic goals. ▪ Oversee planning processes for the 5-year plan and preparing of the value creation chapter for the board of directors meeting. ▪ Lead business case evaluations and commercial improvement initiatives, driving projects in fast-paced, dynamic environments. ▪ Conduct post-analysis of CAPEX investments/new product business cases to generate insights and con-tinuously improve investment decision-making processes. ▪ Lead the Global Market Controlling team, overseeing performance monitoring and reviews while fos-tering career growth and skills development for team members.

    • Manager Global Markets Controlling
      Feb 2022 - Dec 2022 · 11 mos

      ▪ Coordinated financial resource allocation to customer projects, establishing a strong CAPEX approval process, resulting in swift response times. ▪ Managed market controlling processes and the global markets controlling team, implementing new tools such as Power BI to streamline workflows and enhance financial transparency globally. ▪ Led global initiatives, including portfolio analysis and cost-to-serve analysis (both backward- and for-ward-looking), identifying winning and underperforming segments to guide strategic decisions. ▪ Developed action plans targeting critical 'must-win' areas, driving growth and profitability improve-ments while enhancing overall financial performance.

  • Customer Controller at FrieslandCampina
    Jan 2019 - Jan 2022 · 3 yrs 1 mo

    ▪ Oversaw the successful integration of a subsidiary legal entity into the primary company legal entity, ensuring seamless operational and financial consolidation, compliance, and strategic alignment. ▪ Analyzed growth levers on Net Sales and Gross Margin, focusing on pricing and mix impacts. ▪ Delivered transparent performance insights, including key drivers, risks, and opportunities, to man-agement. ▪ Collaborated with the commercial team to develop pricing strategies and provided support during cus-tomer negotiations ensuring competitive and profitable outcomes aligned with group strategy. ▪ Ensured accurate reflection of pricing strategies and trading conditions within SAP as a key user, main-taining data integrity and compliance.

  • Senior Controller at LVMH Perfumes & Cosmetics
    Jul 2017 - Dec 2018 · 1 yr 6 mos

    ▪ Provided strong financial leadership as a member of the local management team. ▪ Oversaw the full P&L and balance sheet for actuals, forecasts, and budgets, ensuring accuracy and alignment with organizational goals through in-depth analysis. ▪ Led FP&A processes, including financial modeling, analysis, and reporting, to support strategic deci-sions and enhance financial outcomes. ▪ Ownership of the engagement with internal and external auditors including year-end audit.

  • Reemtsma (6 yrs 8 mos)
    • Finance Operations Executive (GTR)
      Dec 2014 - Jun 2017 · 2 yrs 7 mos

      - A&P and Overhead Controlling - Coordinating the month-end reporting processes - Maintaining the A&P budgets within SAP and in the LE application - Controlling the budgets and investigating deviations - Driving improvements in system, data and analysis in standard financial reporting for managing the business - Ensuring compliance with IFRS and group reporting principles

    • Business Intelligence Executive - Global Duty Free
      Apr 2012 - Nov 2014 · 2 yrs 8 mos

      - Managing the analysis and implementation of the Global Duty Free Business Intelligence solution - Engaging with multiple stakeholders across divisions to ensure accurate definition of all requirements - Acting as a link between the business, the development team, and group IS - Developing new reporting standards - Training users across the world

    • Commercial Analyst - Global Duty Free
      Nov 2010 - Mar 2012 · 1 yr 5 mos

      - Sales Controlling - Processing the latest estimate for volume, net revenue, and gross margin for European and American duty-free - Administrating the duty-free database - Evaluating the sales performance - Developing and producing standardized reports