Chief Financial Officer (CFO)

Monroe Consulting Group; Malaysia; On-site; MYR 800,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Job summary

Monroe Consulting Group, partnering with a leading Industrial organisation in Selangor, Malaysia, seeks a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to lead financial strategy, governance and performance across multiple pillars. The role partners with the CEO and leadership to drive long-term value creation.

The CFO will drive FP&A, budgeting, cash management, risk, and capital allocation, while building a high-performing Finance team and advancing a Finance transformation through SAP and automation.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree in Accounting, Finance or related discipline.
• Professional accounting qualification such as ACCA, CPA, CIMA, ICAEW or equivalent.
• Membership with the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) where applicable.
• 12 to 15+ years of progressive Finance experience including senior leadership.
• Experience across FP&A, treasury, governance and business partnering.

Responsibilities

• Lead the overall financial strategy, governance and performance management.
• Partner with CEO/Board on performance, investments and major financial decisions.
• Oversee FP&A across Ground Handling, Inflight Catering, Cargo and Engineering.
• Own budgeting, rolling forecasts and long-range financial planning.
• Develop KPIs for revenue, profitability, cash flow and working capital.
• Ensure accurate management, statutory and Group reporting.
• Oversee treasury, taxation, credit management and working capital.
• Build and lead a high-performing Finance team.

Skills

Stakeholder management

Strategic leadership

Data-driven decision making

Executive communication

Education

Bachelor's Degree in Accounting/Finance

ACCA/CPA/CIMA/ICAEW or equivalent

MIA membership (Malaysia)

Tools

SAP

ERP systems

Finance automation

Job description

Monroe Consulting Group, an Executive Recruitment firm, is partnering with a leading organisation within the Industrial sector to hire a Chief Financial Officer (CFO). This leadership opportunity is based in Selangor, Malaysia.

Position Overview

The Chief Financial Officer will lead the organisation's financial strategy, governance and performance management while serving as a strategic partner to the Chief Executive Officer and leadership team. They will drive sustainable growth, profitability, operational efficiency and long-term value creation across multiple business pillars through data-driven financial leadership.

Key Responsibilities

1. Own It:

• Lead the overall financial strategy of the organisation, aligned with business priorities and Group financial policies.
• Act as the strategic financial partner to the CEO, Board and leadership team on business performance, growth opportunities, investments and key financial decisions.
• Lead FP&A across Ground Handling, Inflight Catering, Cargo and Engineering, providing a forward-looking view of performance, risks and opportunities.
• Own the annual budget, rolling forecasts, long-range financial plans and scenario modelling across all four business pillars.
• Establish clear financial and operational KPIs covering revenue, profitability, margins, volume, productivity, cash flow, working capital and returns.
• Provide clear performance visibility by business pillar, customer, airline, station, contract and service line.
• Lead monthly business performance reviews, identifying variances against budget and forecast, underlying business drivers and required corrective actions.
• Develop scenarios across revenue, volume, manpower, cost, capex and cash flow to support forward-looking business decisions.
• Lead financial evaluation and business cases for new customer contracts, partnerships, business opportunities, investments and major capital expenditure.
• Drive rigorous assessment of pricing, contract profitability, cost-to-serve, manpower productivity, asset utilisation and return on investment.
• Identify under performing businesses, customers or contracts and work with business leaders to implement improvement and turnaround plans.
• Ensure accurate and timely management, statutory and Group financial reporting.
• Oversee treasury, cash flow, taxation, credit management and working capital optimisation.
• Proactively identify financial and commercial risks and ensure appropriate mitigation plans are implemented.

Build Trust:

• Uphold the highest standards of financial integrity, transparency, governance and accountability.
• Provide the CEO, Board and Group Finance with accurate, timely and meaningful financial insights to support decision-making.
• Ensure strong financial controls, policies and governance are embedded across all four business pillars.
• Ensure compliance with applicable accounting standards, taxation, statutory requirements and Group policies.
• Provide early visibility of emerging financial risks, performance gaps and control issues, supported by clear recommendations and actions.
• Maintain strong relationships with auditors, banks, tax advisers, regulators and relevant external stakeholders.
• Build financial discipline and accountability across the business, ensuring leaders understand and own their financial performance.

2. One Team:

• Act as the strategic Finance business partner to the leaders of Ground Handling, Inflight Catering, Cargo and Engineering.
• Embed FP&A and commercial finance capabilities across the business, ensuring Finance works alongside Operations and Commercial teams to understand the drivers behind business performance.
• Partner with Operations to improve productivity, manpower economics, cost efficiency, asset utilisation and station performance.
• Partner with Commercial teams on pricing, contract economics, customer profitability, tenders and new business opportunities.
• Challenge business assumptions and provide data-driven recommendations on volume, pricing, manpower, productivity, cost and margins.
• Support the CEO and leadership team in evaluating strategic initiatives, partnerships, investments and expansion opportunities.
• Optimise resource and capital allocation across the four business pillars based on strategic priorities and expected returns.
• Work closely with Group Finance to ensure alignment on financial governance, reporting and Group priorities.
• Build and develop a high-performing Finance team with strong technical, FP&A, analytical and commercial capabilities.
• Move Finance beyond reporting towards business partnering, insight, challenge and value creation.

3. Move Fast:

• Provide timely and actionable financial insights to enable faster and better-informed decisions.
• Develop agile rolling forecasts, scenario planning and financial modelling to respond quickly to changing business and market conditions.
• Continuously assess actual performance against budget and forecast and identify emerging risks and opportunities early.
• Work with business leaders to implement corrective actions where performance is below expectations.
• Simplify Finance processes, management reporting and approval workflows without compromising governance or controls.
• Enable rapid assessment of commercial and investment opportunities through robust financial modelling and business cases.
• Ensure Finance remains responsive to the operational requirements of all four business pillars.

4. Drive Innovation:

• Lead the transformation and digitalisation of the Finance function.
• Maximise the use of SAP, analytic and automation to strengthen financial controls, forecasting, reporting and decision-making.
• Develop integrated FP&A dashboards combining financial and operational KPIs to provide a holistic view of business performance.
• Improve forecasting capability and accuracy through better data, analytic and scenario modelling.
• Drive automation and simplification of transactional activities, allowing Finance to focus increasingly on analysis, insights and business partnering.
• Strengthen data-driven financial modelling to support pricing, resource planning, capacity decisions, capex and profitability management.
• Progressively move Finance from historical reporting towards predictive and forward-looking business insights.
• Continuously benchmark Finance practices against leading aviation, logistics and service organisations.

5. Delight Customers:

• Partner with Commercial and Operations teams to ensure customer propositions are competitive, financially viable and sustainable.
• Provide financial modelling and insights to support customer proposals, pricing strategies, tenders and contract negotiations.
• Ensure major customer and airline contracts have clear visibility of revenue, cost-to-serve, margins, risks and expected returns.
• Track actual contract performance against the original business case and identify opportunities for margin improvement.
• Balance customer requirements with the organisation's commercial and financial objectives.
• Support the development of win-win commercial solutions that deliver customer value while generating sustainable returns.

Key Requirements

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's Degree in Accounting, Finance or a related discipline.
• Professional accounting qualification such as ACCA, CPA, CIMA, ICAEW or equivalent.
• Membership with the Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA), where applicable.
• Preferably 12 to 15+ years of progressive Finance experience, including significant senior finance leadership experience.
• Strong experience across FP&A, financial management, accounting and reporting, commercial finance, treasury, governance, risk and business partnering.
• Experience within aviation, ground handling, logistics, transportation, engineering, catering, services or another operationally complex business would be highly advantageous.
• Strong FP&A capability with demonstrated experience in budgeting, forecasting, scenario modelling, variance analysis and long-range financial planning.
• Demonstrated ability to partner with CEOs and senior leadership teams on strategy, performance, investments and transformation.

Technical / Functional Expertise

• Strong commercial acumen with the ability to connect financial and operational performance and translate data into clear business insights and actions.
• Strong understanding of contract profitability, pricing, cost-to-serve, working capital, capex and investment evaluation.
• Experience with SAP, ERP, finance transformation, automation and data-driven management reporting would be advantageous.
• Proven ability to build and lead high-performing Finance teams with strong business-partnering capabilities.
• Expertise in financial strategy, FP&A, accounting and reporting, treasury management, governance, risk management, financial controls and finance transformation.

Soft Skills & Leadership Competencies

• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills, with the credibility to engage senior management, Board members and external stakeholders.
• High integrity, sound judgement and a strong governance mindset.
• Able to operate effectively in a fast-paced, operational and transformation environment.
• Strategic, forward-thinking and commercially driven leadership approach.
• Strong analytical, decision-making and business partnering capabilities.