Job Purpose

The Chief Financial Officer is responsible for the overall financial strategy, performance, governance, and sustainability of the company's hotel portfolio. The CFO provides strategic financial leadership across hotel operations, real estate assets, investments, development, and corporate functions, ensuring optimal profitability, cash flow, capital allocation, and asset value.

The CFO partners with the CEO, executive management, hotel General Managers, asset management, investment, development, and commercial teams to drive revenue growth, operational efficiency, profitability, and long-term shareholder value.

Key Responsibilities

1. Financial Strategy & Leadership

• Develop and execute the company's financial strategy in alignment with its hospitality and investment objectives.

• Lead the financial management of the hotel portfolio and corporate operations.

• Provide strategic financial advice to the CEO, Board, and shareholders.

• Establish financial targets, performance measures, and accountability across the organization.

• Evaluate the financial impact of strategic, operational, investment, and expansion decisions.

2. Hotel Portfolio Financial Performance

• Oversee the financial performance of all hotels and hospitality assets.

• Monitor key hotel performance indicators including Occupancy, ADR, RevPAR, GOP, GOPPAR, EBITDA, NOI, cash flow, and departmental profitability.

• Work closely with Hotel GMs and commercial teams to improve profitability and operating margins.

• Identify underperforming properties and develop financial and operational improvement plans.

• Benchmark hotel performance against budgets, historical performance, and market/competitive data.

3. Budgeting, Forecasting & Business Planning

• Lead the annual hotel budgeting and business planning process.

• Establish financial forecasting and rolling forecast methodologies.

• Review hotel operating budgets, payroll, departmental costs, CAPEX, and revenue assumptions.

• Challenge business assumptions and ensure realistic financial targets.

• Provide accurate and timely financial forecasts to the Board and Executive Management.

4. Financial Reporting & Control

• Ensure accurate, timely, and transparent financial reporting across the hotel portfolio.

• Establish strong financial controls, policies, procedures, and reporting standards.

• Oversee monthly, quarterly, and annual financial reporting.

• Ensure compliance with applicable accounting standards and regulatory requirements.

• Lead relationships with external auditors and ensure timely completion of audits.

5. Hospitality Accounting & Performance Management

• Ensure appropriate accounting practices for hotel operations, rooms, food & beverage, banquets, spa, events, and other revenue-generating departments.

• Oversee hotel departmental profitability and cost structures.

• Ensure appropriate treatment and reporting of management fees, franchise fees, incentives, and operator-related costs.

• Monitor working capital, cash conversion, receivables, payables, and inventory.

• Establish effective financial controls at property level.

6. Cash Flow & Treasury Management

• Develop and manage the company's cash flow and liquidity strategy.

• Optimize cash balances across the hotel portfolio.

• Oversee banking relationships, treasury operations, guarantees, and financing arrangements.

• Manage working capital and ensure sufficient liquidity for operations and investment requirements.

• Establish appropriate cash management controls across properties.

7. Capital Structure, Financing & Banking

• Develop financing strategies for hotel acquisitions, development, refurbishment, and expansion.

• Lead relationships with banks, lenders, investment institutions, and financial advisors.

• Evaluate debt and equity financing alternatives.

• Negotiate financing terms and monitor compliance with financial covenants.

• Optimize the company's capital structure and cost of capital.

8. Hotel Investment & Asset Management

• Provide financial leadership for hotel acquisitions, disposals, development, renovation, and repositioning projects.

• Evaluate investment opportunities using appropriate valuation and financial modelling techniques.

• Review feasibility studies, business cases, investment proposals, and development budgets.

• Assess IRR, NPV, ROI, EBITDA, cash-on-cash returns, and asset value.

• Support the Asset Management function in maximizing hotel asset performance and value.

9. CAPEX & Development

• Oversee financial governance of hotel development and refurbishment projects.

• Review and approve CAPEX budgets and business cases.

• Monitor project expenditure, commitments, contingencies, and cash flow.

• Ensure projects remain within approved budgets and financial parameters.

• Evaluate the financial return of major renovation, expansion, and repositioning initiatives.

10. Owner, Operator & Franchise Relationships

In hospitality, this is a particularly important CFO responsibility.

• Manage financial relationships with hotel owners, operators, management companies, and franchisors.

• Review hotel management agreements, franchise agreements, incentive structures, and financial obligations.

• Monitor operator performance against contractual and financial expectations.

• Ensure transparency and consistency of financial reporting between owners and operators.

• Participate in negotiations concerning management fees, incentives, budgets, performance tests, and contractual matters.

11. Risk Management, Governance & Compliance

• Establish a strong financial governance and internal control framework.

• Identify and mitigate financial, operational, investment, liquidity, and market risks.

• Ensure compliance with accounting standards, tax regulations, financial regulations, and company policies.

• Work closely with the Chief Governance, Risk & Compliance Officer and Internal Audit.

• Ensure effective fraud prevention, financial controls, and risk monitoring.

12. Tax & Regulatory Management

• Oversee corporate and hotel-related tax planning and compliance.

• Ensure appropriate management of VAT, withholding tax, corporate tax, transfer pricing, and other applicable hospitality-related tax matters.

• Manage relationships with tax authorities and external tax advisors.

• Identify opportunities for legitimate tax efficiency while maintaining full compliance.

13. Technology & Financial Transformation

• Lead the development of modern financial systems and hospitality technology.

• Ensure effective integration between ERP, hotel PMS, POS, revenue-management, procurement, payroll, and business-intelligence systems.

• Promote automation and digitalization of finance processes.

• Establish effective financial and hotel performance dashboards.

• Improve the quality and speed of management information and decision support.

14. Team & Organizational Leadership

• Lead and develop the corporate Finance function and hotel finance teams.

• Ensure strong collaboration between Finance, Operations, Revenue Management, Sales, Procurement, HR, Development, and Asset Management.

15. Board & Executive Reporting

• Prepare and present financial and performance reports to the Board of Directors, CEO, shareholders, and investment committees.

• Provide insight into hotel portfolio performance, financial risks, cash flow, investment opportunities, and capital requirements.

• Translate complex financial information into clear business recommendations.

• Support strategic decision-making through accurate financial analysis and scenario modelling.

Overall Accountability

The Hotel Group CFO should ultimately be accountable for ensuring that the company's hotel portfolio is financially healthy, profitable, cash-generative, properly controlled, and capable of generating sustainable long-term asset value.

The strongest CFO profile for a hotel group is therefore not simply an accounting executive. It is a commercially oriented financial leader who understands hotel operations, hospitality KPIs, real estate economics, investment, asset management, financing, and the owner–operator relationship.

Requirements

1. Education & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, Business Administration, or a related field.

• Master’s degree / MBA in Finance, Business Administration, or related discipline is preferred.

• Professional qualification such as CPA, ACCA, CMA, CA, or equivalent is highly preferred.

• Relevant certifications in financial management, investment, or hospitality finance are an advantage.

2. Professional Experience

• 15+ years of progressive experience in Finance, Accounting, or Corporate Finance.

• At least 5–8 years in a senior financial leadership position, preferably as CFO, Finance Director, Group Financial Controller, or equivalent.

• Strong hotel/hospitality industry experience, preferably within a hotel group or hospitality investment company.

• Proven experience managing multi-property hotel portfolios is highly desirable.

• Strong experience in financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, P&L management, cash flow, and financial reporting.

• Demonstrated experience in hotel investment, acquisitions, development, CAPEX, financing, and asset management is strongly preferred.

• Experience dealing with hotel operators, franchisors, owners, banks, investors, and auditors.

3. Required Technical Knowledge

• Strong understanding of hotel financial management and hospitality accounting.

• Excellent knowledge of hotel KPIs such as Occupancy, ADR, RevPAR, GOP, GOPPAR, EBITDA, and NOI.

• Strong financial modelling, valuation, investment analysis, and business-case development skills.

• Strong knowledge of IFRS / applicable accounting standards, taxation, internal controls, and corporate governance.

• Excellent understanding of cash management, treasury, debt financing, and capital structure.

• Strong knowledge of CAPEX and hotel development financial management.

4. Leadership & Management

• Proven ability to lead a large finance organization across multiple properties.

• Strong strategic, commercial, and financial leadership.

• Excellent analytical and decision-making capabilities.

• Ability to challenge business assumptions and drive profitability and cost optimization.

• Strong stakeholder management and negotiation skills.

• Experience working with Boards, shareholders, investors, and executive management.

5. Technology & Systems

• Strong knowledge of ERP systems such as SAP, Oracle, or Microsoft Dynamics.

• Experience with hotel systems such as Opera/PMS, POS, procurement and revenue-management systems.

• Strong knowledge of Power BI / financial analytics and management dashboards.

• Advanced Microsoft Excel and financial modelling capabilities.

6. Language

• Excellent command of English, both written and spoken.

• Arabic language proficiency is preferred, particularly for a Saudi-based hospitality group.

7. Key Personal Competencies

• Strategic and commercially minded

• High integrity and professional ethics

• Strong business acumen

• Results-oriented

• Excellent communication and presentation skills

• Strong negotiation and influencing ability

• Analytical and data-driven

• Decisive and able to operate under pressure

• Strong leadership and team-development capability