Corporate Finance Executive Director

Job description / Role

Job purpose

Responsible for company financial planning, corporate budgeting, cash management/strategic treasury activities including project finance and debt raising, and loan administration. The subfunction ensures:

• Alignment of the company’s long-term strategy with the long-term financial forecasts.
• The achievement of adequate shareholder returns as per the project returns policy.
• Identifying the financial health of the organization by utilizing various financial forecasts including the assessment of risks by utilizing scenario analysis.
• Estimating the capital required along with the sources and timing of the required capital.
• Allocating capital to the various projects based on the company’s strategy and objectives.

Job responsibilities

• Financial planning
• Corporate budgeting
• Cash management and strategic treasury activities
• Loan and debt administration

Project financial model

• Build and/or review detailed financial models for the company’s different projects and sub-projects, investment opportunities, and partnerships.
• Calculate the project return metrics and key performance indicators in accordance with the Project Return Policy.
• Review all financial models received from the development department to ensure accuracy and completeness, achievement of minimum return hurdles as per the Project Returns Policy, and provide feedback and recommendations to improve project returns.
• Authorize and approve project launches (memo and internal approvals).
• Review and approve the priced inventory for new launches, cancelled units, or regular time-related repricing. This applies to inventory planned for sale or lease.
• Review and approve the Project Technical Budget in line with the most recent approved feasibility.
• Approve construction and supplier contracts in line with the latest approved Project Technical Budget.
• Determine and approve client payment terms in line with the most recent approved feasibility.
• Approve operators or special project anchors revenue share deals and/or partnership initiatives in accordance with the latest approved financial model.
• Update the project-specific financial models on a biannual basis.

Group financial model

• Prepare and update the group consolidated financial model on an annual basis to be in line with the annual approved corporate budget and long-term corporate strategy. Include financial forecasts for the clubs and serve as the basis for developing the company’s five-year funding strategy, displaying the excess cash available for expansions, investments, or business development initiatives.
• Consult with the Group Financial Controller and Accounting Directors to ensure accuracy and completeness for the forward-looking financial statements forecasted in the group financial model in terms of the latest applied accounting standards, internal practices, and tax-related matters.
• Check adherence to financial covenants on a periodic basis and take corrective actions if needed.

Project/company funding

• Based on the project financial model and/or the group financial model, assess funding needs and determine the optimum funding structure for the project or company.
• Obtain offers from banks and/or financial institutions, assess the received offers, negotiate terms, and strive to achieve the best deal for the company in terms of structure and pricing.
• Prepare Board of Directors memo/presentation to present the received offers and provide recommendations on the best funding option.
• Negotiate and execute all financing documents in line with Board of Directors approval to reach successful drawdown.
• Manage all debt-related reporting requirements in conjunction with the loan administration subfunction to ensure that the bank or financial institution receives all required data, whether by virtue of the executed financing arrangements (standard reporting requirements) or on an ad hoc basis, in a timely manner and in line with the standard formatting of the group.
• In line with the development of new financing instruments and the general interest rate environment and funding market, recommend restructuring or refinancing of existing facilities if such change is beneficial to the company.
• Assist the cash management and strategic treasury subfunction to ensure adherence to project account principles and correct overhead allocation across different project accounts.

Strategic and special projects

• Assist, provide financial guidance, and/or prepare assessment reports and financial models regarding any special assignments that require forward-looking financial data such as company valuation, consultant initiatives, etc.
• Develop memos, presentations, and documents that require financial analysis for special topics or assignments.
• Assist the M&A department in the assessment of new investment opportunities.
• Assist the Development department in successful closure of land partnership agreements:
• Draft and negotiate the financial areas related to land partnership agreements (revenue share agreements).
• Attend various negotiations with landlords to reach successful closure of any partnership agreements.
• Assist the CFO in the overall implementation of the financial module within the ERP system, breaking down implementation stages and playing an active role in each stage: planning, design, development, testing, and deployment.
• Assist the CFO and EDPC in drafting the Finance Department workflow, work policies, and procedures manual.
• Assist the CFO in the proposed merger of group companies, including preparation of transaction timelines, forecasting merger scenarios, calculating added benefits, and communicating with various advisors.

Annual corporate budget submission and updates

• Lead the annual corporate budget submission process.
• Update the annual corporate budget in case of extreme deviation or if requested by the Board of Directors.

Actual versus budget and financial reports

• Prepare actual versus budget reports on a monthly and quarterly basis with variance analysis and commentary.
• Communicate actual versus budget figures to department heads.
• Hold actual versus budget meetings with department heads to understand reasons for deviation and request updated budgets in the event of high deviation.
• Recommend corrective actions to the Managing Director in the event of high deviation and update budgets accordingly.
• Prepare the daily payment log to monitor actual spending and adherence to project accounts requirements.
• Prepare biweekly cash flow summaries including balance, cash-in, and cash-out to support managerial decision making.
• Prepare the weekly treasury overview report to represent cash position and notes receivables for each company and/or bank account.
• Prepare monthly actual figures with manual classification according to proper budget concept allocation to track performance against budget.
• Approve purchase requests and purchase orders to monitor spending against budget and alert management of unusual expenditures.
• Prepare monthly delivery reports for management showing actual revenues recognized versus forecasted to track remaining targets.

Special projects and approvals

• Prepare, develop, and present various short-term related financial reports to the Managing Director and Board of Directors such as financial scenarios, profitability assessment reports, and liquidity reports.
• Improve and enhance existing policies and procedures related to the corporate budget and ensure proper dissemination and adherence.
• Maintain good relationships with banks and financial institutions and strive to diversify existing bank relationships by increasing the number of banks the company has accounts with.
• Determine cash amounts required to cover short-term commitments.
• Determine excess cash amounts and required investment tenors available for risk-free investments.
• Invest available cash in high-yielding risk-free instruments and strive to maximize interest income generated for the group.
• Source required foreign currency and open lines of credit or letters of guarantee.
• Negotiate the best foreign exchange rates, fees, and other costs associated with issuing financial instruments.
• Develop the optimum escrow account structure in line with existing contracts and operational requirements.
• Lead negotiation and execution of all escrow account agreements.
• Develop and maintain an electronic and hard copy document management system (including historical documents) based on established procedures or standards for all paperwork flow of the corporate finance function.
• Maintain and hold Corporate Finance department stamps related to the documents log.
• Implement and maintain document control processes and procedures for all loan facilities.
• Draft bank letters and electronic correspondences in Arabic language.
• Send different types of emails and correspondences to credit institutions based on standard formats and track periodic reporting requirements.
• Ensure document management is set according to established procedures or standards (document numbering, formats, issuance, review, dispatch, recording, and archiving).
• Create, maintain, and update a contact list for all key accounts in banks and other financial institutions.
• Perform general document control activities such as photocopying, scanning, and analysis of documents with standards regarding numbering and all other aspects related to document quality.
• Maintain confidentiality around sensitive information.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, finance, or related field.
• Chartered Financial Analyst or similar certification.

Work experience

• Master’s degree or MBA and ten years plus of experience in a senior-level position.

Specific skills, knowledge, and behavior required for the job

• Strong financial management skills.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Detail oriented with high analytical skills.
• High leadership skills.