Country Manager, Philippines

Dedicated HR Services; Manila, Cebu City; On-site; PHP 7,000,000 - 15,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Dedicated HR Services is seeking a Country Manager for the Philippines to lead the new country entity, with P&L ownership from day one and close cooperation with US leadership. This role will build, operate and scale Tax, Finance and Accounting and other shared services, while balancing growth, cost discipline and risk.

The successful candidate will drive governance, strategy, talent development and cross-functional partnerships across HR, IT, Finance and Operations to deliver high-impact

Qualifications

• 15+ years in professional services, shared services or global delivery.
• Experience as Country Head or Operations Head preferred.
• Strong background in tax, accounting, finance or business services with full P&L ownership.
• Proven ability to build and scale large teams (100+).
• Experience working with US or global stakeholders and executive communication.

Responsibilities

• Own leadership and strategy for the country entity.
• Manage full P&L including revenue planning, budgeting and cost control.
• Oversee service delivery across tax, finance and accounting and other services.
• Lead talent, organisation building and leadership development.
• Ensure compliance with Philippine labour law and regulatory requirements.
• Collaborate with HR, IT, Finance and global stakeholders.

Job description

Confidential client: a US-headquartered professional services firm offering tax, finance and accounting, and business management services, setting up its Philippines entity.

Position snapshot

• Title: Country Manager, Philippines
• Location: Cebu or Manila, Philippines (to be finalised)
• Industry: professional services and global shared services (tax, finance and accounting, business management)
• Reports to: global / US leadership
• Scope: the full country entity, with P&L ownership from day one

The role

You will have end-to-end responsibility for the Philippines entity: building, operating and scaling it while delivering high-quality tax, finance and accounting, business management and other shared services. The role needs a strong operator and business leader who balances growth, cost discipline, risk and people leadership, working closely with US leadership and global teams.

Key responsibilities

1. Country leadership and strategy

• Own leadership, governance and strategy for the country entity.
• Define and run the country operating model in line with global objectives.
• Be the single-point owner of Philippines operations for US leadership.
• Build and reinforce the firm's culture, ethics and values locally.

2. Full P&L ownership

• Own revenue (work) planning, budgeting, forecasting and cost control.
• Drive profitability, productivity, utilisation and margin.
• Set up financial discipline, reporting cadence and performance dashboards.
• Make data-driven decisions on hiring, investment and expansion.

3. Service delivery and operations

• Oversee delivery across tax, finance and accounting, business management and future service lines.
• Ensure quality, timeliness, compliance and SLA adherence.
• Set and track KPIs, SLAs, utilisation, quality scores and client satisfaction.
• Lead continuous improvement, standardisation and automation.

4. Talent and organisation building

• Build, lead and mentor a strong local leadership team.
• Partner with HR on workforce planning, hiring, performance management and compensation.
• Drive learning, upskilling, succession planning and leadership development.
• Own engagement, retention and culture outcomes.

5. Finance, compliance and risk

• Ensure compliance with Philippine labour law, tax regulation and statutory requirements.
• Coordinate audits, internal controls and governance with global Finance and Legal.
• Identify and mitigate operational, regulatory and geopolitical risk.
• Ensure strong business continuity and data security.

6. Cross-functional and stakeholder management

• Work closely with HR, IT, Finance, Facilities, Admin and Security.
• Ensure scalable IT infrastructure and a secure operating environment.
• Build trusted relationships with US partners, service line leaders and senior stakeholders.
• Represent the firm with vendors, advisors and regulators as needed.

What you bring

• 15+ years in professional services, shared services or global delivery.
• Prior experience as Country Head, Country Manager, Center Head or Operations Head (strongly preferred).
• A strong background in tax, accounting, finance or business services, with full P&L ownership and financial accountability.
• Proven ability to build and scale large teams, preferably 100+ people.
• Experience working closely with US or global stakeholders, with clear executive communication and an operational excellence and scale mindset.

All applications are handled in confidence by a Dedicated HR Services partner. The client is named to shortlisted candidates only.