Commercial Finance Manager (Marketing + G&A)

Job Description

<p><strong>Company Profile:</strong></p><p><br></p><p>Property Finder is the leading digital real estate platform in the Middle East and North Africa region. A UAE-born startup, Property Finder expanded its operations to Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt over the years. Recently, it acquired a significant stake in Zingat in Turkey. The company is one of the largest technology start-ups in the region and on a journey to becoming a Unicorn. We are aspiring to create a lighthouse technology company which will have a lasting impact in the entire tech ecosystem in our geography.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Position Summary:</strong></p><p><br></p><ul><li>The Commercial Finance Manager will work as Finance Business Partner to the Marketing and Other G&amp;A departments (Legal, Admin, Finance, Procurement &amp; Strategy) and will be responsible for providing financial analysis, controlling costs, forecasting and challenging/influencing department heads in taking prudent commercial decisions.</li><li>They will also lead the monthly P&amp;L reviews with department heads and drive various revenue/cost optimization projects.</li><li>This role would be instrumental in working with the CMO and Marketing team to develop a framework to optimize spend between Brand, Performance and B2B marketing across Mature and Growth markets and help deliver the best Return on Investment (RoI) at Group level.</li></ul><p><br></p><p><strong>Key Responsibilities:</strong></p><p><br></p><p><strong>Marketing Department</strong></p><p><br></p><ul><li>Partner with the CMO and Marketing senior leadership to develop a framework to optimize spend across Brand, Performance and B2B marketing across both Mature and Growth markets and help deliver the best RoI at Group level.</li><li>Setup a Monthly Marketing Review drumbeat with senior leadership to help review the performance of key marketing campaigns, track marketing spend and RoI by channel, and track monthly trends for metrics like Cost per Lead (CPL) and Marketing spend as a % Revenue</li><li>Setup an RoI measurement framework for digital marketing campaigns</li><li>Setup a framework for measurement of metrics like Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV).</li><li>Review marketing accruals and ensure accurate booking every month close</li><li>Help evaluate new campaign proposals or investment plans in growth markets with defined business outcomes and spend guardrails</li><li>Responsible for preparing the bottoms-up Marketing Spend forecast for the group as part of the annual planning and half yearly re-forecast cycles</li></ul><p><br></p><p><strong>Other G&amp;A Departments</strong></p><p><br></p><ul><li>Conduct Monthly department P&amp;L reviews with the Dept. Owners and highlight key variances against budget</li><li>Challenge/influence department heads in taking financially prudent business decisions and controlling discretionary costs</li><li>Responsible for preparing the bottoms-up Spend forecast for the department as part of the annual planning and half yearly re-forecast cycles</li></ul><p><br></p><p><strong>Desired Qualifications:</strong></p><p><br></p><ul><li>Bachelor’s degree in accounting, Finance, or a related field.</li><li>A master’s degree or professional accounting qualification (e.g., CPA, ACCA) is highly desirable but not mandatory.</li><li>~5 years of Finance experience in a technology or high growth company.</li><li>Prior experience of working as a Finance partner for the Marketing function with focus on Digital and Performance would be highly desirable</li></ul><p><br></p><p><strong>Desired Skills:</strong></p><p><br></p><ul><li>Expert financial modeling and excel skills</li><li>Prior experience of working as a Finance business partner for a Marketing team with a strong practical understanding of the tradeoffs between Brand and Performance mktg spends would be highly desirable</li><li>Strong Analytical skills coupled with understanding of Digital Marketing KPIs such as Traffic, Sessions, Leads, Conversion, CAC/CLTV etc.</li><li>Experience with handling FP&amp;A activities such as Planning, Forecasting, and Management Reporting</li><li>Good grasp of Finance fundamentals such as income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow modeling</li><li>Experience with ERP tools like Netsuite</li></ul><p><br></p><p><strong>Behavioral Competencies:</strong></p><p><br></p><ul><li>Sound communication and presentation skills across grade levels and different functions across the organization.</li><li>Sound analytical skills – focus on critical drivers and be able to present and explain to a non-technical audience.</li><li>Confident self-starter with delivery focus and strong work ethic</li></ul>