ABOUT DEPARTER - THE KNOW-WHO PEOPLE
Departer is a leading German Executive Search firm with over 20 years of experience in global leadership recruitment. We specialize in placing executives in medium-sized enterprises and private equity portfolio firms across DACH, MEAI, ASIA, and ANZ regions. With a deep understanding of the DACH economy, we facilitate successful placements within global management teams across corporate headquarters and entities abroad.
Our German client is a global market leader and producer of complex industrial machinery. Over the last years, the company has successfully developed its MEA headquarters in Dubai and its MEA Growth Strategy. Currently, more than 18.000 employees work in entities worldwide. As the Head of Finance and Tax, you will strategically lead financial control and tax compliance across the Middle East and Africa region. The focus of the role is to ensure accurate financial reporting, optimize tax strategies, and maintain compliance with diverse regulatory environments across multiple jurisdictions. The ideal candidate will bring strong leadership, regional expertise, and a proactive approach to financial governance.
Your duties and responsibilities will include:
- Oversee financial operations across MEA entities, ensuring IFRS and local GAAP compliance
- Coordinate month-end, quarter-end, and year-end closing processes
- Provide financial insights and strategic recommendations to senior leadership
- Ensure implementation and adherence to group IFRS guidelines
- Monitor and support subsidiaries with receivables and overdue balances escalation
- Lead financial integration in ERP system implementation, ensuring alignment with global standards
- Act as a strategic liaison among the group, regional management, and subsidiaries
- Collaborate closely with Treasury for financial operations and decision-making
- Standardize financial reporting across the MEA region to ensure a "one reporting" approach
- Ensure compliance with local tax laws (e.g., VAT, corporate tax) and manage tax audits
- Advise on cross-border transactions, transfer pricing, and tax legislation changes
- Lead and develop finance and tax teams, collaborating with regional, legal, and operational teams.
To be successful in this role, you should have the following skills and experiences:
- Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field is required, a postgraduate qualification in Finance will be considered an advantage
- Registered with a recognized accounting body will be preferred
- Solid working understanding of IFRS and IAS
- Proficient in MS office and SAP applications
- Sound decision making skills based on accurate and timely analyses
- Results oriented and metrics driven
- Exceptional time management and able to solve problems
- Strong interpersonal communication and leadership skills
- Ability to lead by example and demonstrate a strong sense of integrity, ethics and dependability
- Ability to collaborate with upper management to organize, plan and achieve company financial goals
- Willingness to travel extensively in the MEA region and globally if required