Financial Controller Trainee

Terminal Investment Limited (TIL) is a leading global investor, developer, and operator of container terminals, with a strong track record of forming strategic joint ventures with other major terminal operators. Since its founding in 2000, TIL has rapidly grown into one of the world’s largest and most geographically diverse terminal operators, with a presence in 26 major trade ports across 21 countries.

Our terminals are strategically situated in key locations around the globe, including major origin and destination (O&D) and transshipment hubs in Europe, Asia, North America, South America, and West Africa. Positioned at the crossroads of global trade, five of our terminals rank among the world’s top 20 container ports by throughput. These prime locations enable us to serve major trade routes and provide access to both established and emerging markets, reinforcing our role as a critical player in global supply chains.

TIL Terminals:

• Our terminals have been selected for their important and strategic locations around the world, including major origin and destination (O&D) and transshipment trade hubs and gateways in Europe, Asia, North America, South America and West Africa.
• Our terminals are positioned at the heart of world trade, with five of the terminals located in the world’s top 20 container ports in terms of throughput (source: Drewry)
• Our terminals are well placed to serve major trade routes and provide access into key mature and developing markets.

Financial Controller Trainee

Main Responsibilities

Join our Management Reporting team for a 6-month internship and help turn numbers into insights across an international portfolio of 70+ container terminals. Under the guidance of experienced Financial Controllers, you will support monthly management reporting, budgeting and forecasting, KPI development, and process improvements - while learning how performance is measured and driven in a complex global operating environment.

Please note that to apply for this role, you must be enrolled in a Swiss university that can issue a convention de stage, and you must be in the final year of your Master’s program.

What You’ll Do

• Assist with compiling, checking, and formatting submissions into management reporting packs; contribute to variance analyses vs. budget/forecast and prior periods.
• Support development of templates, data collection, version tracking, and consolidations during budget and reforecast cycles.
• Help build/maintain operational and financial KPI dashboards; ensure data quality and consistency.
• Coordinate with finance teams at terminals to clarify definitions, timelines, and deliverables; assist communications to Terminal Directors and senior management.
• Contribute to standardization and light automation (checks, templates, simple macros, or BI visuals).
• Maintain checklists, data dictionaries, and process notes to strengthen reporting cadence.

What You’ll Learn
• Practical exposure to management accounting and IFRS consolidation in a real-world corporate setting.
• How a global portfolio of terminals is measured (volumes, tariffs, productivity, cost levers) and managed through reporting cycles.
• Hands-on experience with month-end, budget, and forecast processes and stakeholder communication.
• Tools used in FP&A/controlling: Cognos/TM1 (Apliqo), Excel, Power BI.
• Presenting concise, data-driven insights to finance and non-finance stakeholders.

Minimum Qualifications/Experience/Skill:

• Currently pursuing a Master’s in Finance, Economics, Business, Accounting or a quantitative field (, Industrial Engineering, Data/Business Analytics).
• Coursework or projects in management accounting, corporate finance, financial analysis, or data analysis.
• Strong numeracy and an analytical mindset; curious about how operations drive financial outcomes.
• Solid Excel skills (PivotTables, index/match, etc).
• Clear written and verbal communication in English; additional languages are a plus in our multicultural environment.
• Organized, detail‑oriented, dependable; comfortable working to deadlines with a supportive team.

Our company provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetics.

To discover more about TIL, click