BU Controller/Finance Controller| Al Futtaim Retail | Dubai, UAE

Established in the 1930s as a trading business, Al-Futtaim Group today is one of the most diversified and progressive, privately held regional businesses headquartered in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Structured into five operating divisions; automotive, financial services, real estate, retail and healthcare; employing more than 35,000 employees across more than 20 countries in the Middle East, Asia and Africa, Al-Futtaim Group partners with over 200 of the world's most admired and innovative brands. Al-Futtaim Group’s entrepreneurship and relentless customer focus enables the organization to continue to grow and expand; responding to the changing needs of our customers within the societies in which we operate.

By upholding our values of respect, excellence, collaboration and integrity; Al-Futtaim Group continues to enrich the lives and aspirations of our customers each and every day

Overview of the role:

• Maintain a strong accounting & operational control environment to safeguard assets, improve accounting processes and manage business risks through financial compliance.
• Communicates financial concepts in a clear and persuasive manner that is easy to understand and drives desired behaviors.
• Ensure that the business activities are conducted in accordance with the Financial Control Models (FCM), and you also support the definition of local financial policies and ensure that the adherence to both local and global reporting standard are controlled.

What you will do:-

Description of Accountability:

Month End Controlling

• Perform a pre closing balance sheet review in conjunction with the FSSC team to identify any accounting anomalies to be cleared prior to the book closure
• Support in the monthly accrual process to ensure adequate accruals have been taken for the BU
• Ensure the balance sheet lines are correctly reflecting their balances to avoid an Net debit / credit balance misstatements or any negative Balances in Asset lines. Inform FSSC of any errors to correct
• Ensure the bank balance reconciliations provided by FSSC throughout the month are matching with the bank statements – advise on any rectification entries to be passed
• Ensure all leasing accounting entries have been passed and check all lease renewals / modifications have been carried out by FSSC team
• Support driving any clearing of Balance sheet reconciliations identified post previous month end closing
• Support document retention compliance process in all BU’s being managed

Balance Sheet reviews

• Complete random audits of workflow to ensure that all accounting transactions are appropriately authorized and executed
• Regular review of Balance Sheet schedules provided by FSSC and driving resolution of misstatements/unreconciled open items in GLs
• Ensure timely submission of Balance sheet substantiation to group finance
• Advise any reclassifications required to be passed by FSSC in next monthly closing system
• Support the review SAP to BPC reconciliation on a monthly basis and minimize the entries posted in BPC
• Support the review of any audit adjustment entries being passed to ensure opening balances are correctly stated

BU Controlling / Support to FSSC

• Help support the Central Division I2P lead on any AP related matter not getting resolved (GRIR Clearing / Open Vendor reconciliations / Missing invoices / Missing SOA)
• Drive policy compliant PO release strategy and establish DoA compliance for Non-PO invoices
• Drive review of Open POs, timely closure & deletion of POs or open line items
• Help in resolving unidentified & unallocated collections/credits in banks in conjunction with the FSSC O2C team by being the main point of contact between FSSC and Commercial team
• Help & resolve compliance issues escalated by FSSC

Internal Audit

• Ensure all Internal Audit reports are tracked, responded to and recommendations are implemented in conjunction with the Operational P&C Team

Automation / Process improvement

• Support the streamlining of finance process through automation where possible
• Support on Implementation of standard operating process and practice
• Support any escalations related to DoA/policy compliance
• Drive resolution of matters highlighted by Group Finance/FSSC
• Liaise with concern team and communicate closure of stores & company codes

Other Key Responsibilities

• To liaise with relevant managers and stakeholders to ensure full collaboration and understanding on critical topics.
• Contribute to the improvement of the solutions and business processes.
• Maintains and upgrades professional knowledge, management skills and domain expertise by using continuous learning & development tools.
• Contribution to business excellence initiatives
• Peer appreciation and feedback
• Continual development of team and product application skills
• Maintain an excellent rapport with the business.

Required Skills to be successful:

• Microsoft Office, particularly Excel
• PC skills
• Analysis and troubleshooting
• Strong technical account knowledge and audit experience needed
• Solid experience in International Financial Accounting Standards (IFRS).
• Understanding of internal controls
• Individual Accountability
• Communication & interpersonal skills
• Personal Integrity
• Strong analytical skills & problem solving skills
• Ability to follow-up on outstanding issues
• Ability to work effectively as part of a team
• Ability to manage time & work under pressure
• Readiness to persevere with difficult tasks
• Ability to be assertive without being aggressive
• Able to focus and drive tasks to completion

What equips you for the role:

• Bachelor Degree in finance (Qualified Accountant)
• 8-10 years’ experience in in similar role.
• Big Four Audit experience with 2 years industry experience will be highly regarded
• Controller experience of at least 3-4 years
• Knowledge of SAP BPC or SAP Business Warehouse will be highly regarded
• Extensive use of Excel
• Retail experience is a plus
• Taking Initiative
• Drive for Results
• Good communication skills (verbal and written)
• Strong/excellent attention to detail

About Al-Futtaim Retail

Al-Futtaim Retail has established itself as one of the leaders in Retail across the Middle East, Africa & Asia over the past 30 years. We have developed partnerships with some of the biggest and most respected Brands in the world including IKEA, ACE and Toys R Us in the Middle East and the Inditex Group of Brands (Zara, Mango, Bershka and P&B) across Asia. We are also one of the largest Global partners of Marks and Spencer’s in both regions with over 75 stores offering both fashion & food options.

Most recently we have been responsible for bringing brands to the Middle East for the first time with the exciting launches of Watsons and B&Q and we aim to continue to be agile and adaptive to our markets with new launches and further development. For this to be possible we aim to recruit the best talent from all backgrounds who will continue to challenge and develop our diverse workforce which includes over 100 nationalities across 12 countries. Join us today and make a difference.

For further information, and to apply, please visit our website via the “Apply” button below.