Finance Manager

About the Role

The Finance Manager will oversee financial management, reporting, planning, and governance activities to ensure precise financial statements, robust business controls, and strict compliance with corporate and statutory requirements. This role entails collaborating with business and support units to enhance profitability, manage costs, assess potential new store opportunities, and review lease agreement proposals through detailed financial and feasibility analyses. The manager will also act as a finance backup for UAE Finance to maintain business continuity and operational efficiency.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) including budgeting, forecasting, feasibility analysis, lease renewals, and detailed financial assessment to assist strategic decisions and profit enhancement.
• Work closely with business units, brand teams, and corporate functions to track financial performance, uncover opportunities, and implement corrective measures.
• Coordinate legal documentation and commercial proposals, ensuring timely engagement with legal and other stakeholders for approvals.
• Manage monthly financial closing and reporting to guarantee accuracy, completeness, and compliance with accounting standards and company policies.
• Analyze key performance indicators such as sales, markdowns, productivity, and overhead expenses, offering actionable insights to leadership.
• Ensure compliance with Corporate Tax, VAT, FAR, COC, CFO Scorecard requirements, along with other statutory and internal guidelines.
• Support and maintain strong financial controls, policies, and risk management procedures.

Required Qualifications and Skills

• 3 to 5 years of relevant finance experience, preferably within UAE retail or FMCG sectors.
• Qualified Chartered Accountant (CA) from 2021 or 2022 or an equivalent credential is essential.
• Demonstrated expertise in FP&A, business partnering, management reporting, budgeting, forecasting, and month-end closing.
• Familiarity with UAE VAT and Corporate Tax regulations is advantageous.
• Experience in evaluating business cases, conducting store feasibility studies, and analyzing lease proposals.
• Proficient with tools like Cognos, Power BI, ERP systems, and advanced Excel functionalities.
• Strong analytical skills to understand revenue, cost, and profit drivers.
• Excellent communication and coordination abilities.
• Skills in managing FP&A processes, budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis.
• Focus on cost control and profitability optimization.
• A problem-solving mentality with the ability to work efficiently under pressure and deadlines.
• Experience with Record to Report (R2R) processes is a plus.
• Stakeholder management and influencing capabilities.
• Commercial awareness and business acumen.
• Competency in financial modeling and scenario planning.
• Strong presentation and management reporting skills.
• A mindset geared towards process enhancement and automation.
• Attention to detail coupled with a strong orientation towards financial controls.