Finance Transformation & Projects Manager

SOHO Group; Dubai; On-site; AED 450,000 - 750,000; Full time

Job summary

SOHO Group, overseeing ALO and AMIRI luxury brands, seeks a Finance Transformation & Projects Manager to partner with the CFO and drive regional finance initiatives across the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa.

You will lead new market setups, ERP implementations, insourcing, and compliance, coordinating with Legal, Tax, IT, and local teams to deliver on time and within budget. This role combines hands-on accounting with strategic program management in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, Economics, Engineering, or related field.
• ACCA, CPA, CMA, CIMA, MBA, PMP, or similar professional qualification is an advantage.
• 6–10 years of experience in Finance, Accounting, Finance Transformation, Consulting, Audit, or Finance Project Management.

Responsibilities

• Lead finance workstreams for new market entries and legal entity setups.
• Coordinate finance readiness for new countries, including tax, registrations, and banking.
• Drive finance transformation, automation, and ERP implementations.
• Manage audit coordination, statutory reporting, and compliance activities.
• Support CFO on strategic initiatives and provide governance across projects.

Skills

Finance transformation

Project management

Stakeholder management

Analytical thinking

Problem solving

Cross-country coordination

Attention to detail

Education

Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Admin., Economics, Engineering

ACCA, CPA, CMA, CIMA, MBA, PMP, or similar qualification

Tools

SAP

Oracle

Microsoft Dynamics

NetSuite

Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

SOHO drives the success of ALO and AMIRI two leading luxury lifestyle brands shaped by innovation, mindfulness, and a strong sense of global community. As we continue expanding across the region we're looking for a detail-oriented and proactive Finance Transformation & Projects Manager to support our dynamic operations.

Position Summary

We are seeking a hands-on and commercially minded Finance Transformation & Projects Manager to support the CFO and Finance Leadership Team in delivering key strategic and operational finance initiatives across SOHO Group's existing and new markets.

Reporting directly to the CFO, the role will lead and coordinate projects including new country and legal entity setups, finance process transformation, accounting insourcing, ERP and e-invoicing implementations, statutory compliance initiatives, and audit coordination.

The successful candidate will have a strong finance and accounting foundation combined with solid project management capabilities. They will work closely with Finance, Legal, Tax, IT, HR, Operations, local teams, and external advisors to take projects from planning through implementation.

This is a regional role covering the Middle East, Europe, and North Africa and requires someone comfortable managing multiple projects across different countries in a fast-paced and evolving environment.

Key Responsibilities

New Markets & Entity Setup

• Lead the finance workstream for new market entries, business expansions, and legal entity setups.
• Coordinate finance readiness for new countries, including:
• Legal entity and corporate registrations
• Tax and VAT registrations
• Banking setup and relationships
• Accounting and reporting frameworks
• ERP and finance system readiness
• Statutory and regulatory requirements
• Work closely with internal teams and external legal, tax, and accounting advisors to ensure new entities are operationally ready within agreed timelines.
• Manage post-setup and post-acquisition finance integration activities.

Finance Transformation & Systems

• Identify opportunities to improve finance processes, controls, efficiency, and scalability across the Group.
• Lead finance automation and digitalization initiatives.
• Coordinate ERP implementations, enhancements, and finance system roll-outs.
• Manage finance-related technology projects including:
• E-invoicing
• Electronic and statutory reporting
• Document management solutions
• Finance workflow and process automation
• Drive greater standardization of finance processes, policies, controls, and reporting practices across countries.
• Support the development of more efficient and scalable finance operating models.

Accounting, Controls & Compliance

• Lead projects to transition outsourced accounting activities to internal finance teams where appropriate.
• Develop and manage accounting transition and insourcing plans.
• Establish and document accounting processes, controls, responsibilities, and reporting requirements.
• Support the implementation and standardization of Group accounting policies.
• Coordinate annual statutory audits across Group entities.
• Manage audit timelines, deliverables, and communications with local teams and external auditors.
• Track audit findings and ensure agreed remediation actions are completed.
• Coordinate with Finance teams and external advisors to ensure statutory and finance-related compliance requirements are identified and delivered on time.

Project Management & CFO Initiatives

• Support the CFO on strategic finance initiatives, transformation programmes, and special projects.
• Develop clear project plans, timelines, budgets, responsibilities, risk registers, and governance structures.
• Manage multiple projects simultaneously and monitor delivery against agreed milestones.
• Coordinate internal stakeholders and external partners to ensure timely execution.
• Identify project risks, dependencies, and delays and propose practical mitigation actions.
• Provide clear and concise project updates to the CFO and senior management.
• Prepare executive presentations, dashboards, and decision-support materials.
• Maintain appropriate project documentation and governance records.

Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, Economics, Engineering, or a related field.
• ACCA, CPA, CMA, CIMA, MBA, PMP, or similar professional qualification is an advantage.

Experience

• 6 to 10 years of relevant experience in Finance, Accounting, Finance Transformation, Consulting, Audit, or Finance Project Management.
• Strong finance and accounting foundation, with a good understanding of month-end processes, financial reporting, internal controls, and audit requirements.
• Demonstrated experience managing finance transformation or cross-functional finance projects.
• Experience working across multiple countries, legal entities, or business units.
• Exposure to ERP implementations, finance system enhancements, or finance automation projects.
• Experience with new market or legal entity setup, accounting insourcing, shared services, or finance operating model transformation is highly desirable.
• Previous experience within retail, consumer goods, hospitality, or another multi-entity international organization is an advantage.
• Big Four or finance consulting experience is an advantage, particularly where combined with hands-on implementation experience.

Technical Skills

• Strong understanding of financial accounting and finance operations.
• Good knowledge of:
• Financial controls
• Tax and VAT environments
• Statutory compliance
• Audit processes
• Finance process design
• Experience working with ERP platforms such as SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite, or similar systems.
• Advanced Excel and PowerPoint skills.
• Comfortable working with project management, reporting, and collaboration tools.

Key Competencies

• Strong ownership and follow-through.
• Able to move comfortably between detailed execution and senior-level communication.
• Strong organizational and project management capabilities.
• Comfortable managing multiple country projects and competing priorities simultaneously.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Able to build processes and structures in developing or ambiguous environments.
• Strong stakeholder management and ability to coordinate cross-functional teams.
• Pragmatic, commercially minded, and solutions-oriented.
• Able to challenge existing processes constructively and identify better ways of working.
• Comfortable operating in a multicultural and international environment.