About the Role / About the Job
We are currently seeking an outstanding Manager - Finance (Bilingual) to support a cluster of schools in the UAE. This role presents an exciting opportunity to join a highly successful family of schools and help shape the future of Abu Dhabi’s leading school group. As a Finance Manager, you will oversee all areas related to school finance operations, including budgeting, forecasting, monthly closing, and various financial reporting requirements. You will implement new IFRS standards, enhance finance operating policies, ensure compliance with Department of Administration (DOA), and develop training plans to optimize finance operations. The position will be based in schools and requires strong leadership skills to manage the finance team by setting clear KPIs and conducting performance assessments.
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Responsibilities
Main Duties:
- Lead the school finance team and manage all functions within the finance department, such as annual school budget, re-forecast, Accounts Payable (AP), Accounts Receivable (AR), treasury, fixed assets, and general ledger (GL) & reporting.
- Collaborate closely with the School Principal and Operations Support Manager (OSM) to provide strategic and operational financial guidance.
Specific Duties:
- Prepare the school annual budget and periodic forecasts, submitting them to HQ finance in a timely manner.
- Present monthly financial performance to Principal, Senior Leadership Team (SLT), and OSM with recommendations for achieving targeted EBITDA through cost optimization initiatives.
- Prepare statutory financial statements for the school.
- Approve manual journal vouchers (JVs) posted by accountants and monitor month-end activities to ensure accurate and timely closing of books.
- Lead the implementation of new finance systems.
- Review weekly AR reports and present them to the Principal and OSM.
- Review payment plans and financial hardship requests from parents, obtaining necessary approvals to support them.
- Manage school billing and collection processes, sending timely reminders and warning letters, and providing information to School Principals for decision-making to enhance collections and reduce bad debt.
- Initiate legal processes to recover receivables from customers, maintaining all necessary documentation.
- Review balance sheet schedules and develop action plans to reconcile any unreconciled balances.
- Ensure timely compliance with internal and external audit requirements.
- Approve purchase requisitions (PRs) and ensure proper budget control to achieve targeted EBITDA margins.
- Regularly review open purchase orders, goods received notes (GRN), and open liabilities to improve P2P turnaround time and supplier experience.
- Review bank reconciliations to ensure that reconciliation items are cleared.
- Identify potential process gaps, suggest improvements, and implement best-in-class processes.
- Review supplier and petty cash payments in ERP systems.
- Review various financial surveys from ADEK and economic development agencies.
- Provide ad-hoc reporting as required by HQ, Principal, OSM, SLT, and other stakeholders.
- Provide training to accountants and create proper backup within the team.
Qualifications
Minimum Qualifications:
- Professional accounting qualification.
Minimum Experience:
- 10 years of experience, with a minimum of 5 years in managing finance and business operations.
- Experience in education or other multi-site B2C environments.
- Experience in change management and navigating fast growth or dynamic environments.
Job Specific Knowledge & Skills:
- Well-versed with IFRS standards; process-oriented with capability in executing finance projects.
- Fluent in English and Arabic, with strong written and oral communication skills.
- Detail-oriented with diligent follow-up abilities; capable of executing tasks in a timely manner.
- Skilled in multi-tasking and thriving under pressure.
- Effective liaison skills with business functions.
- Strong team management, development, and leadership capabilities.
- Deadline-oriented and proactive in taking ownership of work.
- Organizational abilities for self and others.
- Proficient in influencing and networking with cultural sensitivity.
- Excellent interpersonal skills.
This job description is not all-inclusive. The organization reserves the right to amend this job description at any time. We are an equal opportunity employer committed to a diverse and inclusive work environment. We encourage UAE Nationals to apply.
We are dedicated to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expect all staff to share this commitment. Offers of appointment are subject to satisfactory references and police clearance.
