Head of Finance & Reconciliation - UAE

Job Title: Head of Finance & Reconciliation - UAE

Location: Dubai

Salary: Competitive Salary Package + Benefits

Job Purpose:

Responsible for the management of financial processes and procedures and optimization of costs for the Company to ensure achievement of the set business objectives as well as having an oversight responsibility on Reconciliation / Settlement.

Responsibilities:

Reporting

• Ensure timely and accurate financial reporting for internal purposes (top management, board of directors, annual general meetings, board committees, etc.), group and statutory requirements.
• Preparing the Annual Operating Plan (AoP), understanding and challenging the key business drivers.
• Preparation of re-forecasts of the AoP or any other targets as necessitated by circumstances to keep the planning document relevant.

Treasury

• Review working capital requirement on a regular basis.
• Effectively and efficiently manage the cash and liquid assets of the Company with a view to ensuring that obligations to customers are met as and when due.
• Negotiate/arrange external finance when necessary.

Business Budgeting & Planning

• Review the Business Plan prepared and get it approved by EXCO and the Group.
• Assist the Country Manager / Director to define the strategy of the institution within the regulatory, industry, technological framework in-country.
• Prepare yearly budget in collaboration with the various departments.
• Monitor the budget execution and ensure measures are taken to close performance gaps.
• Ensure all expenditure is within AoP and any necessary unbudgeted expenditure is in line with policy and procedures.

Regulatory

• Ensure compliance with banking regulations and adherence to Central Bank stipulations on Company operations.
• Develop and implement financial control policies and procedures.
• Ensure all processes and controls are well documented and updated on a regular basis.
• Ensure accurate and timely submission of tax returns and payment.

Account Reconciliation Activities

• Prepare the account reconciliation daily to ensure compliance with Central Bank and group directives.
• Follow up on the reconciling items and endeavor to resolve all issues whether process or system related.
• Process partners’ payments after checking the invoice for accuracy and completeness.
• Ensure timely approval of cheques/transfers and follow up with the bank to ensure settlement within the set timelines.
• Post payments into the system in a timely manner and reconcile the payments register on a timely basis.
• Update the cheques/Transfers register on a daily basis to enable informed cash management.
• Prepare Merchants settlements after verification and validation of their respective collections as per contractual obligations.
• Handle Merchants queries and concerns relating to their account statements.
• Raise invoices to Merchants before monthly AR closure, send invoices to respective partners, receipt in payments received from Company Partners, and analyze and maintain trade debtors schedule.

Leadership and People Management

• Motivate and manage Business Development Managers / Sales Executives to generate business for new accounts and develop them to achieve consistent profitability through a clear process of target settings.
• Supervise and direct the team to deliver customer solutions.
• Conduct regular appraisals to review performance and address promotion, recruitment, and recommendation for training of staff, incentives, and rewards.
• Encourage and foster a congenial working environment to enable Corporate Sales Executives to achieve their objectives through teamwork and operational efficiency.

Educational Qualifications & Functional / Technical Skills:

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting or business-related field.
• Excellent knowledge of all accounting functional areas.
• 5 years of experience in Finance with 3 years of experience in accounting for telecommunications industry or banking/financial & regulatory reporting or exposure to negotiations with regulators and banking institutions and statutory reporting (annual financial statements or regulators reporting).

Other requirements (Behavioral etc.):

• Ability to think outside the box.
• Problem-solving and analytical skills, result-oriented.
• Able to work within and manage a team of professionals, guiding and coordinating towards achieving common objectives.
• Strong leadership skills and strong ethics.
• Networking ability – Internal & External.