JOB DESCRIPTION

Hilton is one of the largest and fastest growing hospitality companies in the world, with over 7,300 properties with 1.1 million rooms in 124 countries and territories. In the 100 years since our founding, we have defined the hospitality industry and established a portfolio of 22 world-class brands, including our flagship Hilton Hotels & Resorts brand, which is the most recognized hotel brand in the world. We have more than 170 million members in our award–winning customer loyalty program, Hilton Honors.

Position Statement:

The MEA Finance Centre of Excellence is responsible for providing best in class transactional accounting services for Hilton hotels across Middle East & Africa.  The Director of the COE is responsible for delivering a world class service which can demonstrate a competitive advantage over alternative accounting solutions.  This includes development and execution of strategy, leadership of the COE team, driving COE performance and managing relationships with key stakeholders.

The COE currently supports 41 hotels across 8 countries.  As one of the fastest growing markets within Hilton, the expectation is that this will grow to over 50 hotels by the end of 2025.

Position Summary: 

• Development and execution of a long term strategy for the MEA
•  Leadership of the COE Finance team (over  100 TMs by end 2024)
• Active management of customer relationships with the hotel finance teams and General Managers supported by the COE
• Pro-active engagement with customer issues and advocacy of win-win solutions
• Continuous improvement of COE processes and performance and delivery against KPIs
• Collaboration with global Hilton Finance Shared Services leadership and alignment where appropriate
• Management of the COE budget
•  On-boarding of new hotels into the COE

Direct Reports:

The following roles report to the COE Director of Finance:

• 4 COE Finance Manager
• COE Coordinator

Qualification 

The success in this role will demonstrate itself through the following attributes and skills:

• Ability to lead a culture-led, collaborative environment
• A proven track record of development and delivery of a business strategy
• Demonstrated competence to manage multiple priorities and follow through on tasks to completion
• Work attitude that exhibits flexibility, drive, good judgment, dependability and ambition
• Proactive stakeholder management through excellent written and interpersonal skills
• Exceptionally self-motivated and directed
• Self-starter who takes ownership of work objectives and proactively finds solutions
• Curiosity, with the desire to seek continuous improvement

Required Qualifications

Education: BS/BA/Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent work experience

Progressive overall experience, including:

•  Leadership within a Finance Shared Service environment
• Team management- able to manage a wider team and demonstrate strong leadership skills
• Project management
•  Professional accounting qualification (ACA, ACCA, CIMA, CA, or equivalent)
•  Languages Required: English
• Proficient in MS Office Suite and SharePoint with the ability to quickly learn new programs when required

Preferred Qualifications

• Finance experience in the hotel industry, including USALI accounting requirements
• Knowledge of the Hilton Finance systems in MEA (Navision, SUN, Oasys, OnQ, MICROS, Birchstreet, Docuware)