Employee Profile

Jos S.

Name: Jos S.
Title: Controller
Career Area: Finance & Accounting
Location: Singapore
Education: Post Graduate Executive Master of Finance & Control (EMFC)

“The ability to work with a cross-functional and multi-cultural team and the freedom you get in your “license to operate”, enables you to see tangible results of your efforts and work done i.e. opportunity to witness your input/work making a difference in the business.”


After eight years with Cargill, I’ve found that you need to be an agent of your own development and success when it comes to making a career in this company. Keeping a global mindset and inquisitive nature, plus being patient at times, will help you get development opportunities. Besides intrinsic motivation, it helps to have dedicated mentors/career coaches as you advance in your career that can help you navigate the world of Cargill, which can be quite complex at times, given its global span.

Describe your work responsibilities and the importance of your role.

My current role is controller for GOSC Asia. I am responsible for Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam. It is my task to ensure the control environment around our trade flows is well secured and there are no unexpected surprises for senior management. Predominant focus is on risk management (commodity positions, FX) and financial analysis, as well as consistent and accurate reporting of monthly financial statements to our headquarters. The controller plays an important role in the BU team, acting as a link between commercial teams, trade execution teams and compliance functions like tax and legal.

Describe your day-to-day activities and the skills needed to perform well.

My day to day activities vary from one day to the next. A few items I have been recently working on are: BU budgeting for coming fiscal year, liaising with the BU leader to prepare for an upcoming senior management seminar, closing the fiscal year-end books and reporting the P&L, reviewing and advising on commercial agreements to distribute a new product in South East Asia, executing on quarterly performance and development reviews for my team members and working on structured finance deals with a couple of our key customers.

Describe your career path.

I started my career with Cargill in January 2007 as a Financial Management Trainee in Amsterdam, the Netherlands as part of Grain & Oilseeds Supply Chain Europe (GOSCE) BU. In 2009, I spent 6 months on foreign assignment in Bucharest, Romania to get acquainted with the origination side of the grain and oilseeds supply chain. Upon return, I started my post graduate EMFC study next to my daily job, which I finished in 2012. When I returned to Amsterdam in 2009, I started to supervise a team and develop my managerial skills. In 2012, I got the role of Accounting Manager GOSCE Benelux, responsible for the soft seed crushing operations in Netherlands and Belgium reporting to the local controller. In February 2014, I started my first long term expatriate assignment as a controller in Singapore.

What do you find most rewarding about your work?

The ability to work with a cross-functional and multi-cultural team and the freedom you get in your “license to operate”, enables you to see tangible results of your efforts and work done i.e. opportunity to witness your input/work making a difference in the business. Lastly, the ability to grow, nurture and develop new talents within the organization.

Why did you choose to join Cargill and what keeps you here? In other words, how has a career at Cargill helped you to thrive?

I chose to join Cargill since I wanted to work for a company that is producing/shipping/trading tangible products and has industrial operations (plant assets) to support that. Secondly, since Cargill is a food company with global reach, we can actually make a difference in terms of nourishing people by moving food from areas of surplus to areas of deficit. My experience has shown that as long as you stay inquisitive and curious on learning new things and apprehending new tasks, the opportunities to develop will come. You are truly the owner of your own success, I think that is an attractive aspect of working for this company.

What advice would you give someone interested in a career at Cargill like yours?

Work hard, be willing to learn, meet as many people as you can (Cargill is a networking organization), be patient for opportunities to arise, be open and vocal and demonstrate strong performance.

Share an interesting tidbit about yourself such as hobbies, volunteerism, favorite foods or activities, accomplishments inside or outside of work.

When not at work I like to run (currently training for Singapore marathon) and do mountain biking. I have a couple of diplomas in wines, that is one of my favorite hobbies besides practicing sports. I have participated in the CASC Platform Master Class of 2013 (held once every 2 years) in Vancouver, Canada. This was a tough but rewarding experience, working through various assignments and case studies during 1 week, supervised and challenged by Cargill senior management. I was one of the 25 participants globally, which makes me proud.