Financial Controller

About the role

The Independent Food Company is seeking a Financial Controller to lead its Finance Centre of Excellence (CoE) for back‑end accounting across a growing portfolio of hospitality concepts. This senior position will own the integrity, control and compliance of all financial reporting and build a standardized platform that can scale across brands and geographies.

Key responsibilities

• Own the month‑end close process, sign off entity financial statements and ensure a 5‑working‑day close cycle.
• Implement maker‑checker controls on journals, balance‑sheet reconciliations, vendor master data and payment releases.
• Lead a historical audit cleanup, supervising an external secondment team to resolve past findings and restate positions.
• Direct oversight of UAE VAT, corporate tax, UK tax, transfer pricing documentation and regulatory filings.
• Govern master data, establishing a single source of truth for chart of accounts, vendor and customer masters, cost centres and project/WBS structures.
• Maintain policy and SOP libraries, ensuring version control and periodic review for all transaction classes.
• Act as primary contact for external auditors, managing audit timelines and addressing management letter points.
• Develop and coach senior accountants, fill critical vacancies and build a succession pipeline.

Required profile

• Proven experience leading finance transformation or a finance centre of excellence.
• Strong track record in month‑end close, financial reporting and control implementation.
• Deep knowledge of UAE VAT, corporate tax and UK tax compliance.
• Experience with transfer pricing documentation and regulatory filings.
• Ability to manage external audit relationships and drive continuous improvement.

Required skills

• Month‑end close and financial statement sign‑off
• UAE VAT and corporate tax compliance
• UK corporate tax and VAT compliance
• Transfer pricing documentation
• Revenue recognition and AR ageing management
• Balance‑sheet reconciliations and journal entry controls
• Master data governance (chart of accounts, vendor/customer masters)
• External audit coordination