Job Title: Head of Finance
Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE
Scope: Corporate Finance function with governance and oversight of subsidiaries in multiple countries
Role Purpose:
The Head of Finance is the primary finance leader responsible for corporate-wide financial stewardship, governance, and performance management across the corporate entity and all subsidiaries operating in multiple jurisdictions.
Qualifications & Requirements
- Master's degree in Finance, Accounting, or related field; Master's/MBA preferred.
- Professional certification CPA, ACCA/FCCA is mandatory.
- 15+ years of progressive financial leadership experience, with at least5 years in a corporate Head of Finance, Finance Manager, or equivalent capacity overseeing multiple subsidiaries.
- Current experience must be in an Engineering Services/Construction/Contracting organization.
Key Responsibilities
Corporate Financial Leadership & Strategy:
- Develop and execute a unified finance strategy across subsidiaries aligned with corporate strategy, growth ambitions, capital structure, governance requirements, and stakeholder expectations.
- Lead corporate-wide financial consolidation and reporting, ensuring transparent and timely insights to stakeholders.
- Design and govern shared financial services, including central accounting, treasury, and compliance functions.
- Serve as a strategic business partner to the CEO, providing independent financial judgment and strategic counsel.
Governance, Controls & Subsidiary Oversight (Corporate Model):
- Establish and enforce corporate finance policies, delegation of authority (DoA), financial controls, and governance frameworks across all subsidiaries.
- Implement robust internal control systems across all subsidiaries, with audit readiness and risk mitigation as core objectives.
- Ensure all subsidiaries adhere to corporate standards on accounting, reporting, treasury, tax, and financial operations (including local statutory requirements).
- Maintain strong corporate-center oversight through structured performance reviews, governance calendars, and compliance reporting from subsidiaries.
Financial Planning, Budgeting, Forecasting & Performance Intelligence:
- Lead corporate-wide annual budgeting, rolling forecasts, and scenario planning; ensure alignment between corporate targets and subsidiary plans.
- Drive performance management: set financial KPIs, evaluate variances, define corrective actions, and track delivery with subsidiary leadership teams.
- Lead capital allocation and optimization decisions across subsidiaries, ensuring disciplined deployment of cash and investment capacity.
Consolidation, Reporting & Performance Intelligence (Corporate-wide):
- Own corporate financial consolidation and ensure timely and accurate production of corporate P&L, balance sheet, cash flow, and management reporting.
- Provide executive dashboards and insights across subsidiaries, business lines, and geographies, enabling clear performance accountability.
- Establish consistent reporting standards and close calendars, ensuring disciplined month-end and year-end processes across subsidiaries.
Commercial Finance, Value Creation & Business Partnership:
- Standardize commercial finance practices across subsidiaries, including pricing governance, bid/no-bid frameworks, margin controls, and contract performance oversight.
- Support major contract negotiations and investment approvals with financial due diligence, risk assessment, and sensitivity analysis.
- Drive profitability improvement initiatives and sustainable cost optimization across subsidiaries
Investment Strategy & Feasibility Studies:
- Identify, evaluate, and prioritize investment opportunities across subsidiaries and new markets, integrating business cases, market analysis, financial modeling, risk assessment, and capital allocation frameworks.
- Establish and govern standardized investment and feasibility methodologies, templates, approval frameworks, and governance processes to ensure consistency, transparency, and disciplined capital deployment across the company.
- Ensure commercial viability, financial sustainability, and alignment with stakeholder expectations.
- Provide clear, data-driven strategic recommendations to the CEO on investment pipeline, portfolio performance, and go/no-go decisions.
Accounting, Compliance, Audit& Statutory Governance:
- Lead accounting governance ensuring IFRS compliance, consistent accounting policies, and high-quality financial statements.
- Oversee internal and external audits across subsidiaries; ensure timely closure of audit findings and corrective action plans.
- Ensure statutory compliance across all jurisdictions while maintaining standardization and strong corporate oversight.
Corporate Treasury, Funding, Liquidity & Working Capital:
- Lead corporate treasury operations, including banking strategy, liquidity planning, cash pooling, and funding structures.
- Oversee cash flow forecasting and working capital optimization across subsidiaries.
- Establish and enforce corporate policies for financial risk management (FX, interest rate, credit risk, counterparty exposure).
Tax Governance & Cross-Border Compliance:
- Ensure compliance with UAE Corporate Tax and VAT (where applicable) and establish standards for tax governance across subsidiaries.
- Oversee transfer pricing governance, intercompany agreements, documentation, and cross-border compliance in line with international requirements.
