Commercial Finance Manager

Kearney, ME Commercial Finance Manager

About the job

As a Commercial Finance Manager in Kearney’s Dubai office, you will lead the Commercial Finance team, providing oversight, coaching and direction across the full project and client lifecycle. Working closely with Leadership and key internal functions including HR, Staffing, Legal, Collections and the wider Finance team, you will help drive commercial performance while ensuring strong financial governance.

Reporting directly to the MEA Finance Director, you will lead a high-performing team responsible for supporting pipeline management, project mobilization, project financial management, reporting, revenue forecasting and working capital. This is an excellent opportunity for an ambitious finance professional looking to broaden their leadership experience within a fast-paced consulting environment.

Key responsibilities

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead, coach and develop a high-performing Commercial Finance team, creating a collaborative, stakeholder-focused culture.
• Provide oversight, support and direction across day-to-day operations, empowering the team to deliver while providing guidance and escalating key risks where required.
• Develop team capability through coaching, structured feedback, knowledge sharing and continuous upskilling.
• Foster a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, innovation and exceptional client service.

Commercial Business Partnering and Reporting

• Oversee and support the delivery of commercial finance business partnering to Partners and Practice Leaders, acting as an escalation point for key issues and complex commercial matters
• Build trusted relationships with senior stakeholders, providing commercial insight to support decision-making.
• Direct the production of financial reporting, dashboards and management information, ensuring accurate and insightful reporting on practice and regional performance, profitability, pipeline, working capital and revenue outlook.

Project Governance, Delivery and Working Capital

• Provide guidance and act as an escalation point for project mobilisation where governance requirements, client documentation or commercial arrangements present increased risk or policy exceptions.
• Provide oversight of project financial performance, including WIP, accounts receivable, cost-to-complete, profitability, reserves and write-offs, supporting the team in resolving issues and escalating material risks.
• Drive strong financial governance throughout the project lifecycle, ensuring timely identification and resolution of commercial risks.
• Oversee project reserve and write-up/write-off management, ensuring decisions reflect project risk, are aligned with forecast financial performance, and are compliant with IFRS.
• Partner with the Collections team and business stakeholders to improve cash collection performance and reduce DSO.

Revenue Planning and Forecasting

• Oversee the leads and proposals pipeline, ensuring high-quality and accurate data supports forecasting and business planning.
• Support the preparation of rolling revenue forecasts by combining pipeline data, commercial insight and knowledge of live opportunities.
• Challenge assumptions and provide meaningful commentary on forecast movements, sales plans, risks and opportunities.

Continuous Improvement & Technology

• Champion continuous improvement across the Commercial Finance function by simplifying processes, strengthening controls and embedding best practice.
• Lead the implementation and adoption of AI-enabled tools and automation to improve efficiency, reporting quality and decision-making while maintaining appropriate governance.
• Support the ongoing development of systems, dashboards and digital capabilities, fostering a culture that embraces innovation and technology.

Who you are

After nearly 100 years, we know this business is fundamentally about making connections - between facts, figures, insights, strategies, tools, technologies and above all, people. That’s why, we look for proactive, positive, and flexible individuals who are always unapologetically their unique selves.

We want to hear from you if you:

• Have a Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, or a related field. MUST have completed a recognized professional qualification (e.g., ACA, ACCA, CIMA,).
• Have minimum 5 years’ experience within a project-based consulting firm, Big 4 and / or professional services environment (Middle East experience is desirable).
• Have management experience in a sizeable global organization
• Have commercial finance, business partnering and financial analysis skills.
• Have understanding of project accounting, revenue recognition and IFRS.
• Have knowledge of SAP, and reporting tools such as Anaplan and Power BI (desirable)
• Have exposure to AI, automation or digital transformation initiatives (e.g. Power Automate, Alteryx, Copilot, Claude).
• Have strong communication and stakeholder management skills with the confidence to influence senior leaders.
• Have excellent organization skills with the ability to manage competing priorities.
• Are a team player with the confidence to work independently.
• Have high attention to detail with the ability to perform under pressure.

What we can offer you

Every day, our people work to be the difference for our clients, our communities, and our colleagues. Helping them to make an impact, they are sustained by a competitive remuneration package plus comprehensive benefits and perks, including but not limited to:

• Generous retirement/pension savings contributions
• Comprehensive medical insurance for employees and their families
• Structured and on-the-job learning and development opportunities
• Personalized opportunities to help you chart a unique career journey to pursue your own personal and professional goals

Learn more at Kearney.com/careers.

Apply now. Submit your cover letter, CV (doc or .pdf format only) via our website.

Equal employment opportunity and non-discrimination

Kearney prides itself on providing a culture where our employees belong and thrive equally, which means our people feel comfort, confidence, and joy as they do great things for our firm, our colleagues, and our clients. That’s why Kearney is committed to building a diverse workforce and inclusive environment. Kearney is an equal opportunity employer; we recruit, hire, train, promote, develop, and provide other conditions of employment without regard to a person’s gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, race or ethnicity, religion, age, national origin, disability, marital status, pregnancy status, veteran status, genetic information, or any other differences consistent with applicable laws. This includes providing reasonable accommodation for disabilities or religious beliefs and practices. We encourage everyone to apply, including those who may not feel historically represented in consulting.