Carlotta Vallecoccia

From Amsterdam to London, and now to Milan, cross-culturalism has been a defining element throughout Carlotta’s career. 

We caught up with Carlotta to hear more about the making of her global mindset. Having spent her career in the Netherlands, London and now as CFO at Kraft Heinz, Italy. Carlotta is balancing business partnering with finance transformation, ensuring that financial strategy supports broader company goals.

The road to CFO

Navigating new dynamics and the nuances of communication ultimately shaped Carlotta into the finance leader she is today:

“With every new working environment, I’ve not only had to adapt to individuals but to the overarching culture of each country I’ve been in. It informs everything from how you incentivise team members, to how you deliver good or development feedback.”

That adaptability alongside a killer combo of strategic and finance acumen has allowed Carlotta to shine since joining Kraft Heinz nearly a decade ago:

“It’s been equal parts challenging and rewarding because of the many different skill-sets I’ve been able to hone in my time here and the people I’ve shared paths with. I started out in FP&A, moved to revenue management which became my passion, and led the commercial side of the biggest category in the UK for Heinz beans and soup.”

Not to mention the small matter of stepping into the CFO role for the first time in 2024:

“I’ve learned to love the moments of change, with all its learning curve. Building trust and relationships is the first priority to then connect data, insights and strategy. It’s exciting to put my full-focus on shaping a highly performing team and driving the business forward in today’s digital age.”

Forecasting the future of finance

Sometimes it feels like CFOs are expected to provide near clairvoyant capabilities when it comes to predicting future outcomes for the business, all while keeping one eye on the present and one eye on the past. For Carlotta, that’s the biggest challenge she sees facing the digital finance function today: 

“Don’t get stuck in the past in the pursuit of driving decisions for the future. The complexity of the present-day macroeconomic environment needs to be much more integrated into our forecasting capabilities in order for the business to succeed.”

That all-important 360 view of the business is a finance leader’s secret weapon, and what Carlotta is leveraging in her CFO role at Kraft Heinz Italy today:

“The CFO is the right hand of the CEO. My background in revenue management proved to me that the ultimate vision for the digital finance function should be value creation and a seat at the table for major business decisions.” 

However, while it’s all very exciting to see the finance function reimagined as increasingly integral to the business’s strategy and success, Carlotta cautions against making finance the be-all and end-all for every decision made: 

“It’s a wonderful thing for finance to have become even more of a central force for businesses in recent years. But the increased importance placed on data visibility does bring with it a heavier workload. We have to make sure finance doesn’t take on too many roles and responsibilities, and instead empowers other functions to have the right data to make their own decisions.”

Modern finance leadership

It’s a full-circle moment for Carlotta to have spent years fostering communication and collaboration across cultures, to now implementing those learnings as a major part of her CFO role at Kraft Heinz:

“Finance impacts the culture of the company, because it dictates so many facets of how we work. Today, a key focus for me is on driving cross-functional collaboration. It’s the best way to ensure better planning and forecasting so we know where we are going and if we’re not meeting expectations we prepare a plan b and plan c.”

Uniting powerful forces from one department to another is a big part of what gets Carlotta up in the morning. And it’s just the beginning of her journey as CFO:

“What motivates me is being able to solve complex problems together with a team, helping businesses to go to that next level, and getting us all one step closer to a collective vision. There’s an adrenaline I get from progress and I can’t wait to see where I can take the company and my career next.”