Commercial Finance Manager

Hays have partnered with a leading Consultancy Firm in their search for a Commercial Finance Manager to join their team in Dubai.As the Commercial Finance Manager, you will lead the Commercial Finance team, providing oversight, coaching and direction across the full project and client lifecycle. Working closely with Leadership and key internal functions, you will help drive commercial performance while ensuring strong financial governance.Reporting directly to the MEA Finance Director, you will lead a high-performing team responsible for supporting pipeline management, project mobilization, project financial management, reporting, revenue forecasting and working capital. This is an excellent opportunity for an ambitious finance professional looking to broaden their leadership experience within a fast-paced consulting environment.Responsibilities:

• Lead, coach and develop a high-performing Commercial Finance team, creating a collaborative, stakeholder-focused culture.
• Provide oversight, support and direction across day-to-day operations, empowering the team to deliver while providing guidance and escalating key risks where required.
• Develop team capability through coaching, structured feedback, knowledge sharing and continuous upskilling.
• Foster a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, innovation and exceptional client service.
• Oversee and support the delivery of commercial finance business partnering to Partners and Practice Leaders, acting as an escalation point for key issues and complex commercial matters.
• Build trusted relationships with senior stakeholders, providing commercial insight to support decision-making.
• Direct the production of financial reporting, dashboards and management information, ensuring accurate and insightful reporting on practice and regional performance, profitability, pipeline, working capital and revenue outlook.
• Provide guidance and act as an escalation point for project mobilisation where governance requirements, client documentation or commercial arrangements present increased risk or policy exceptions.
• Provide oversight of project financial performance, including WIP, accounts receivable, cost-to-complete, profitability, reserves and write-offs, supporting the team in resolving issues and escalating material risks.
• Drive strong financial governance throughout the project lifecycle, ensuring timely identification and resolution of commercial risks.
• Oversee project reserve and write-up/write-off management, ensuring decisions reflect project risk, are aligned with forecast financial performance, and are compliant with IFRS.
• Partner with the Collections team and business stakeholders to improve cash collection performance and reduce DSO.
• Oversee the leads and proposals pipeline, ensuring high-quality and accurate data supports forecasting and business planning.
• Support the preparation of rolling revenue forecasts by combining pipeline data, commercial insight and knowledge of live opportunities.
• Challenge assumptions and provide meaningful commentary on forecast movements, sales plans, risks and opportunities.
• Champion continuous improvement across the Commercial Finance function by simplifying processes, strengthening controls and embedding best practice.
• Lead the implementation and adoption of AI-enabled tools and automation to improve efficiency, reporting quality and decision-making while maintaining appropriate governance.
• Support the ongoing development of systems, dashboards and digital capabilities, fostering a culture that embraces innovation and technology.

Requirements to apply:

• You must have a Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting or a related field.
• It is essential that you have completed a professional qualification e.g. ACA, ACCA, CIMA.
• 5+ years of experience within a project-based consulting firm, Big 4 or Professional Services environment.
• Strong team management experience is a must.
• Understanding of project accounting, revenue recognition and IFRS is essential.
• You will have commercial finance, business partnering and financial analysis skills.
• Knowledge of SAP plus reporting tools like Anaplan and Power Bi.

The organisation is offering a competitive salary and benefits package.Please apply directly on the advert if you meet the criteria above.
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#1027443 - Matilda Ager