Financial Controller & FP&A leader on the CEO track

↳The leap to ownership - from controlling others’ P&Ls to building and owning one end-to-end.

Dubai, UAE · cross-border trade & sourcing company bridging African markets with Middle East and global suppliers · full ownership of finance, strategy and operations

• Ownership - founded and lead the company end-to-end, carrying the full P&L, cash flow and capital allocation across multi-currency Africa-Middle East transactions, and coordinating external accountants, tax advisers and banks for clean documentation and compliance support.
• Finance function & reporting - built invoicing, collections, supplier-payment, expense and cash-flow tracking from start-up stage, with monthly management dashboards (gross margin, receivables, payables, cash position, supplier performance).
• Internal controls & SOPs - implemented procedures for supplier onboarding, quote validation, purchase documentation, order approval, delivery evidence and after-sales claims, with a clear audit trail across every transaction.
• FP&A, pricing & deal profitability - built pricing and deal-profitability models (supplier cost, logistics, duties, FX, payment terms, target margin) and scenario analysis on price, freight, FX and payment-delay risk.
• Procurement & working capital - ran supplier due diligence and quotation comparison, and managed customer advances, supplier payments and logistics follow-up to control cash-flow and execution risk across four product lines.

↳Stepping up to regional Financial Controller - multi-country MEA consolidation and partnering the CFO.

Dubai, UAE · reporting to the CFO Middle East & Africa · world #1 out-of-home media

• Consolidated, controlled and improved the monthly financial reporting of all Middle East & Africa subsidiaries, leading a timely and accurate month-end close.
• Challenged P&L Actuals vs Budget and Prior Year with local Finance Managers and delivered meaningful variance analysis on operating margins and cash flows.
• Built business plans and relevant cash-flow models for contract negotiations and investment decisions, with scenario modelling across key drivers and risks.
• Led the market feasibility study and business plan behind JCDecaux’s entry into Côte d’Ivoire and Gabon - the finance-led team that cleared the ground for geographic expansion, coordinating business development, legal, tax, HR and operations to build the market-entry roadmap end-to-end, from initial prospecting to a fully staffed legal entity reporting into us.
• Ensured IFRS standards, internal controls and Group policies were applied across subsidiaries; drove cost-containment and the 5-Year strategic plan.
• Coordinated the statutory external-audit cycle for the Egypt and Bahrain entities end-to-end - preparing the financial statements, documentation and audit evidence, addressing the auditors’ findings and posting agreed adjustments, securing CFO and CEO validation of the final audited accounts, and filing the financials and audit reports with the authorities.
• Ran the annual budgeting and monthly forecasting cycle for the region, delivering consolidated MEA results and presentations to top management.

↳From corporate controlling to unit-level P&L ownership through new restaurant openings.

Abu Dhabi, UAE · multi-brand restaurant group

• Led cost control and accounting through the pre- and post-opening of four restaurant concepts (Turmeric, Mikado Café, Mikado Bakery, Tossed).
• Owned recipe costing, COGS, food & beverage cost percentages and variance analysis; set menu pricing from forecasted cost ratios.
• Produced the restaurants’ P&L and balance sheet, bank reconciliations and full bookkeeping with three-way PO-Invoice-Delivery matching.
• Coordinated the statutory external-audit cycle - preparing the financial statements, documentation and audit evidence for the external auditors, addressing the auditors’ findings and posting agreed adjustments, securing CFO and CEO validation of the final audited accounts, and filing the financials and audit report with the authorities.

↳Relocating to Dubai - grounding the move to the UAE market in core hospitality accounting and controls.

Dubai, UAE · international hospitality group

• Managed AP/AR, journal entries and monthly close; ensured sub-ledgers reconciled to the general ledger.
• Helped streamline internal-control procedures across hotel operations and supported the Financial Controller through the monthly reporting cycle.
• Supported the statutory external-audit cycle - preparing financial statements, documentation and audit evidence for the external auditors, working through findings and agreed adjustments, circulating the final audited accounts for CFO and CEO validation, and filing the financials and audit report with the authorities.

↳Broadening into brand & commercial finance - controlling marketing P&L for Accor brands.

Paris, France · Strategy & Business Performance Department

• Controlled Accor brands’ marketing overheads of more than €20M per year and built the brands’ financial tools.
• Produced customer-segmentation reporting (revenue & room nights) and prepared annual budgets and forecasts for the Marketing Department.

↳A step-change in scale - controlling a €300M+ global technology budget.

Paris, France · Information Systems - Global Infrastructures & Services

• Controlled IT operational and capital expenditure of more than €300M per year for the global IS function.
• Built the IS Department’s annual budget and forecasts, controlled staff costs and validated supplier contracts under internal-control procedures.
• Ran month-end closing: fixed-asset depreciation, accruals and prepaid expenses.

↳Where it began - controlling, on-site audit and BI training across a network of resorts.

Paris, France · Finance Department

• Reported resort sales and profitability to Regional Managers; produced monthly dashboards and variance analysis.
• Audited resorts on-site (internal controls, records testing, audit reporting) and prepared resort budgets and forecasts.
• Supported the statutory external-audit cycle - preparing financials, documentation and audit evidence for the external auditors, working through findings and agreed adjustments, circulating the final audited accounts for management validation, and filing the financials and audit report with the authorities.
• Trained resort managers on management tools and the new SAP-BPC Business Intelligence solution.