Finance Director

Job Description : FINANCE DIRECTOR DUBAI a leading player in the consumer goods industry, is looking for an accomplished Finance Director to lead the financial strategy and operations for their sales and last-mile distribution function. The Finance Director will work as a key partner to the sales and distribution teams, providing strategic financial leadership to optimize distribution, drive profitability, and ensure financial integrity across all channels. This role demands a leader with deep experience in commercial finance, specifically within the consumer goods sector, with a strong focus on last-mile logistics and customer order fulfillment. The incumbent will also take on broader responsibilities in financial reporting, compliance, and operational finance, ensuring the business meets its financial objectives. Commercial Finance Leadership: Partner closely with the sales and distribution teams to drive financial performance and strategic decision-making for last-mile logistics, customer order management, and distribution network optimization. Lead margin analysis by SKU, customer, and channel, ensuring robust financial reporting that supports data-driven decisions on pricing, promotions, and sales strategies. Collaborate with the sales team to review the financial impact of trade promotions, volume discounts, and customer agreements, ensuring alignment with profitability goals. Oversee financial analysis and reporting for key sales and distribution metrics, identifying trends and opportunities to improve cost efficiency and financial performance. Develop and manage financial models to support sales growth strategies, route optimization, and distribution warehouse efficiency, ensuring optimal financial returns from operations. Sales and Last-Mile Distribution Optimization: Lead financial oversight of last-mile distribution operations, focusing on route optimization, delivery cost efficiency, and distribution center management. Work with supply chain and logistics teams to ensure financial discipline and operational excellence in the distribution network, from distribution centers to customers. Provide strategic insight into capital investments and resource allocation for distribution infrastructure to ensure alignment with business objectives and cost efficiency targets. Monitor and optimize the financial performance of various distribution channels, supporting initiatives to improve customer satisfaction while controlling distribution costs. Credit and Working Capital Management: Implement and maintain strict credit control policies, ensuring effective management of credit terms and improving collection efficiency in collaboration with the sales team. Ensure timely and accurate reporting of credit risks, collections performance, and customer order management, actively addressing any risks to working capital. Drive initiatives to rationalize credit terms and streamline the customer order fulfillment process, improving cash flow and working capital metrics. Financial Planning, Reporting, and Compliance: Lead the annual budgeting, quarterly forecasting, and long-term financial planning processes for sales and distribution, ensuring financial goals align with overall business objectives. Oversee the preparation of monthly and quarterly financial reports, including variance analysis, and provide insights into key performance indicators (KPIs) across sales and distribution channels. Ensure compliance with financial controls, company policies, and regulatory requirements, particularly in areas related to distribution costs, inventory management, and customer contracts. Support external and internal audits, ensuring the integrity of financial records and adherence to statutory requirements. Broader Finance Director Responsibilities: Provide leadership across the finance function, ensuring alignment of financial strategies with overall business objectives. Support the CFO in driving strategic initiatives, including scenario-based financial planning, cost management, and performance optimization across the organization. Act as a key member of the leadership team, providing financial insights to senior management and contributing to decision-making on corporate strategies, capital investments, and operational improvements. Oversee risk management and compliance across sales and distribution, ensuring proper controls are in place to mitigate financial and operational risks. Stakeholder Management: Serve as a trusted financial advisor to the sales and distribution leadership, influencing key business decisions and ensuring alignment with financial objectives. Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including supply chain, logistics, and operations, to drive performance improvements and optimize business processes. Present financial insights and recommendations to senior management, supporting structured business reviews and strategic discussions around sales, distribution, and financial performance. Education: Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, or related field; MBA or CPA/CA certification is a must have. Experience: 18+ years of experience in finance roles, with significant exposure to commercial finance, sales, and distribution in the consumer goods/FMCG sector. Skills: Proven experience in partnering with sales and distribution teams, with a strong understanding of last-mile logistics, customer order management, and route-to-market strategies. Deep expertise in financial modeling, budgeting, forecasting, and margin analysis, with a track record of improving profitability in consumer goods operations. Strong leadership and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence cross-functional teams and senior management. Experience in managing credit terms, collection processes, and working capital metrics, particularly in a fast-paced, high-volume business environment. Familiarity with ERP systems, advanced Excel skills, and experience with BI tools for financial reporting and analysis. Analytical Thinking: Ability to analyze complex financial data and provide actionable insights to support operational and strategic decisions. Business Acumen: Deep understanding of sales, distribution, and logistics processes in consumer goods, with a focus on translating operational activities into financial outcomes. Leadership: Strong leadership and influencing skills, capable of driving financial discipline and operational excellence across sales and distribution teams. Strategic Problem Solving: Proactive approach to identifying financial and operational challenges, with a focus on continuous improvement and business optimization.

---

Back