Finance and Operations Manager

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.