Job Summary

About the Company 

•    We are a high-growth e-commerce and digital marketplace venture backed by SC Ventures and other leading UAE-based institutional investors. The company combines the agility, innovation, and entrepreneurial culture of a startup with the governance, credibility, and financial strength of established strategic shareholders. As we scale our operations, we are seeking an experienced and commercially minded Senior Finance Manager to establish and lead a robust finance function capable of supporting sustainable growth, operational excellence, and sound financial governance.         

Role Summary

•    The Senior Finance Manager will be responsible for building, leading, and scaling the finance function from the ground up. This is a hands-on leadership role requiring a strong combination of strategic financial management, operational finance expertise, commercial acumen, and startup execution capability. The successful candidate will oversee budgeting and forecasting, financial planning and analysis, accounting operations, financial controls, treasury management, product and unit economics, reporting, compliance, tax matters, and stakeholder management. The role will work closely with the CEO, leadership team, shareholders, external auditors, outsourced finance providers, banking partners, regulators, and other key stakeholders to support growth, profitability, and long-term value creation.  

Finance Function Setup & Leadership

•    Establish and build the finance function, policies, procedures, and operating model.
•    Design and implement scalable finance processes suitable for a rapidly growing digital business.
•    Develop finance governance frameworks, approval matrices, and delegation of authority structures.
•    Lead and mentor future finance team members as the business grows.
•    Act as the primary finance business partner to the CEO and leadership team.
•    Create a culture of accountability, financial discipline, and operational excellence.

Financial Planning, Budgeting & Forecasting

•    Lead the annual budgeting process and long-range financial planning exercises.
•    Develop rolling forecasts and regularly update management on financial performance.
•    Prepare detailed financial models supporting strategic initiatives and business growth plans.
•    Monitor actual performance against budgets and forecasts.
•    Analyze variances and recommend corrective actions.
•    Support management decision-making through financial scenario analysis and sensitivity modelling.
•    Participate in strategic planning discussions and business case development.

Financial Control & Governance

•    Design and implement a strong financial control framework.
•    Establish internal controls covering revenue, expenses, procurement, treasury, settlements, and
•    reporting.
•    Develop standard operating procedures across finance processes.
•    Ensure financial policies are documented, monitored, and adhered to.
•    Implement appropriate segregation of duties and approval workflows.
•    Establish reconciliation procedures for all major balance sheet and income statement accounts.
•    Support risk management and fraud prevention initiatives.

Accounting & Financial Reporting

•    Lead all accounting operations and financial reporting activities.
•    Oversee month-end, quarter-end, and year-end closing processes.
•    Ensure compliance with IFRS and applicable UAE accounting standards.
•    Manage chart of accounts design and reporting structures.
•    Review journal entries, reconciliations, accruals, provisions, and adjustments.
•    Coordinate statutory audits and financial statement preparation.
•    Ensure complete audit trails and documentation standards are maintained.

Product Economics & Commercial Finance

•    Design and maintain detailed unit economics models.
•    Evaluate profitability across products, services, customers, channels, and sellers.
•    Analyze pricing strategies and margin optimization opportunities.
•    Support commercial negotiations through financial evaluation.
•    Develop profitability models for new product offerings and strategic initiatives.
•    Provide recommendations to improve margins and commercial performance.

E-Commerce & Marketplace Financial Management

•    Develop financial processes supporting marketplace operations.
•    Oversee seller settlement and commission calculations.
•    Ensure accurate revenue recognition practices.
•    Analyze transaction volumes and platform economics.
•    Monitor customer and seller profitability.
•    Establish controls around payment flows and marketplace settlement processes.
•    Support growth initiatives through financial analysis.

Treasury & Cash Management

•    Manage company cash flow and liquidity.
•    Monitor working capital requirements.
•    Optimize cash utilization and investment opportunities.
•    Manage relationships with banking partners.
•    Forecast short-term and long-term funding requirements.
•    Support capital raising and shareholder funding initiatives where required.

Tax, Compliance & Regulatory Matters

•    Ensure compliance with UAE corporate tax and VAT regulations.
•    Manage tax filings and reporting requirements.
•    Coordinate with external tax advisors and auditors.
•    Monitor regulatory developments impacting the business.
•    Develop compliance frameworks and reporting controls.

Systems, Technology & Automation

•    Lead implementation and optimization of ERP and financial systems.
•    Design scalable accounting and reporting structures.
•    Improve automation across finance processes.
•    Develop management dashboards and KPI reporting tools.
•    Ensure data integrity and reporting accuracy.

Investor & Board Reporting

•    Support shareholder and board reporting requirements.
•    Prepare financial presentations and business performance assessments.
•    Participate in board meetings and investor discussions.
•    Support due diligence activities and fundraising initiatives.
•    Produce financial and operational KPIs for stakeholders.

Motivations

•    A senior, hands-on finance leadership role for an institutionally backed startup, combining strategic decision support with the practical responsibility of building a scalable finance function.
•    Establish a scalable finance operating model.
•    Deliver a robust budgeting and forecasting process.
•    Implement finance policies and internal controls.
•    Establish accurate monthly reporting processes.
•    Build product profitability and unit economics reporting.
•    Improve cash flow visibility and working capital management.
•    Support management with actionable commercial insights.
•    Implement systems and automation initiatives that improve efficiency and control.

Skills and Competencies

•    Financial Risk Management
•    Financial Reporting
•    Financial and Accounting Systems
•    Liquidity Management
•    Entrepreneurial Mindset
•    Strong Communication Skills
•    Strategic Thinking
•    High Integrity

 
Qualifications

Key Experiences

Essential Experience

• 10+ years of progressive finance experience.
• Minimum five years in a leadership role.
• Experience building or transforming finance functions.
• Strong budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning experience.
• Experience implementing financial controls and governance frameworks.
• Proven experience in IFRS-based reporting.

Preferred Experience

• E-commerce or marketplace business experience.
• Fintech or digital platform experience.
• Startup or high-growth environment experience.
• Experience working with institutional investors or venture-backed companies.

Certifications / Qualifications 

• CA.
• CPA.
• ACCA.
• CMA.
• CFA, which would be advantageous.

Languages    

•    English is mandatory and Arabic will be ideal

About Standard Chartered

We're an international bank, nimble enough to act, big enough for impact. For more than 170 years, we've worked to make a positive difference for our clients, communities, and each other. We question the status quo, love a challenge and enjoy finding new opportunities to grow and do better than before. If you're looking for a career with purpose and you want to work for a bank making a difference, we want to hear from you. You can count on us to celebrate your unique talents and we can't wait to see the talents you can bring us.

Our purpose, to drive commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity, together with our brand promise, to be here for good are achieved by how we each live our valued behaviours. When you work with us, you'll see how we value difference and advocate inclusion.

Together we:

• Do the right thing and are assertive, challenge one another, and live with integrity, while putting the client at the heart of what we do
• Never settle, continuously striving to improve and innovate, keeping things simple and learning from doing well, and not so well
• Are better together, we can be ourselves, be inclusive, see more good in others, and work collectively to build for the long term

What we offer

In line with our Fair Pay Charter, we offer a competitive salary and benefits to support your mental, physical, financial and social wellbeing.

• Core bank funding for retirement savings, medical and life insurance, with flexible and voluntary benefits available in some locations.
• Time-off including annual leave, parental/maternity (20 weeks), sabbatical (12 months maximum) and volunteering leave (3 days), along with minimum global standards for annual and public holiday, which is combined to 30 days minimum.
• Flexible working options based around home and office locations, with flexible working patterns.
• Proactive wellbeing support through Unmind, a market-leading digital wellbeing platform, development courses for resilience and other human skills, global Employee Assistance Programme, sick leave, mental health first-aiders and all sorts of self-help toolkits
• A continuous learning culture to support your growth, with opportunities to reskill and upskill and access to physical, virtual and digital learning.
• Being part of an inclusive and values driven organisation, one that embraces and celebrates our unique diversity, across our teams, business functions and geographies - everyone feels respected and can realise their full potential.