Finance and Operations Manager

Job Description: Finance & Operations Manager (Middle East) Role Overview Department: Finance Location: Dubai, UAE (with regional oversight across GCC and Philippines) Reports to: Group Finance Director Our client, an international design studio, is seeking a high-caliber Finance & Operations Manager to lead the finance function across their GCC and Philippines studios. This is a pivotal role that blends financial leadership, operational rigour, and strategic business partnering. The successful candidate will navigate the unique commercial dynamics of a project-based design business-including WIP management, utilisation tracking, and resource-led revenue models-while ensuring regional compliance and driving operational excellence to support our continued growth. Key Responsibilities Financial Leadership & Reporting * Team Management: Lead and mentor a 4-person Finance & Operations team, fostering a culture of high performance, professional development, and technical excellence. * Management Accounts: Oversee the timely preparation of accurate monthly management accounts (P&L, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow), ensuring strong month-end controls and full IFRS compliance. * Consolidation: Manage the consolidation of financial reporting across UAE and KSA entities, delivering actionable insights for Board-level reporting. * Budgeting & Strategy: Lead the budgeting, forecasting, and rolling forecast processes, ensuring they are tightly aligned with pipeline activity and workforce planning. * Commercial Analysis: Provide sophisticated financial modelling and commercial analysis to support strategic decision-making by the Group FD, CFO, and Principal. Project & Operational Oversight * Project Financials: Take full ownership of project-based financial management, including WIP, utilisation tracking, recovery rates, margin analysis, and revenue recognition. * Commercial Partnering: Proactively support project review meetings to identify and mitigate financial risks, such as margin erosion, scope creep, and delayed billing. * Operational Integrity: Ensure the accuracy of timesheets, cost allocations, and milestone-based invoicing in strict alignment with contract terms. * Systems Optimization: Partner with the Group Finance Systems & Process Manager to drive the adoption, automation, and standardization of systems (including Deltek) across regional offices. Compliance & Governance * Regulatory Adherence: Lead statutory accounting, corporate tax, VAT, and Zakat compliance (including specific ZATCA requirements in KSA). Ensure adherence to FTA, FATCA, and other relevant regional regulations. * Audit Management: Lead the annual audit process, acting as the primary point of contact for external auditors and tax advisors. * Treasury & Payroll: Oversee regional payroll, pension schemes, and partner drawings; manage cash flow, treasury functions, and banking relationships to maintain strong AR performance.

Qualifications, Experience & Skills * Professional Qualification: ACA, ACCA, CPA, or equivalent international accounting qualification. * Industry Experience: Proven experience in a project-based environment, ideally within architecture, design, engineering, or professional services. * Technical Expertise: * Deep knowledge of statutory accounting, audit management, and regional tax compliance. * Advanced proficiency in Excel and financial systems (experience with Deltek is highly preferred). * Operational Mindset: Strong understanding of internal controls, with a "hands-on" approach to process improvement and systems automation. * Leadership: Demonstrated experience in managing, mentoring, and developing small teams. * Communication: Exceptional ability to communicate complex financial concepts to non-financial senior stakeholders and leadership teams. * Personal Attributes: Proactive, solutions-oriented, and highly organized. Must be comfortable operating within a fast-paced, creative, and design-led studio environment.