Director of Finance & Business Support

Raffles Seychelles is looking for a Director of Finance & Business Support (Luxury & Lifestyle).

A senior leadership role overseeing Finance, Accounting, and Purchasing, acting as a strategic business partner to the General Manager and Executive Committee, while ensuring strong governance, controls, and owner/corporate reporting.

Reporting line

• Reports to: General Manager
• Dotted line: VP Finance & Business Support – MEAI
• Works closely with: Regional Director of Finance & Business Support

Role scope

• Lead and supervise the hotel’s Finance, Accounting, and Purchasing teams.
• Provide strategic insight to drive operating performance and owner returns while protecting KPIs and compliance requirements.
• Maintain key external relationships (legal counsel, banks, auditors, tax consultants, insurers) to protect the hotel’s assets and interests.

Key responsibilities

1) Business partnering & performance

• Build a strong business-partnering culture with the GM and department heads.
• Review departmental performance, forecasts, budgets, and variances; challenge assumptions and recommend corrective actions.
• Support revenue and profit optimization (Rooms, F&B, other revenues), including participation in weekly revenue meetings.
• Drive cost discipline and promote GOP Theoretical Flow Through across departments.
• Strengthen owner relationship and support owner requests within the Hotel Management Agreement (HMA).

2) Financial planning, reporting & analysis

• Lead annual budget, rolling forecast, and capital budget processes (procedures, guidelines, timelines).
• Deliver accurate, timely management and statutory reporting for hotel leadership, corporate, and owners.
• Produce benchmarking and operational performance analysis; implement best practices to improve productivity and cost efficiency.
• Own capital process governance: fixed asset tracking, sub-ledgers, and depreciation discipline.
• Maintain consistent reporting standards (chart of accounts, payroll/expense dictionaries, accounting definitions).

3) Compliance, risk & controls

• Ensure compliance with company policies, uniform chart of accounts, and contractual requirements (including HMA).
• Maintain required licenses/permits affecting financial matters (as applicable).
• Safeguard records: contracts, leases, critical dates list, and legal documentation.
• Lead operational risk assessments, maintain a risk register, and track mitigation actions; ensure incident reporting per protocol.
• Enforce segregation of duties, documented controls, audit readiness, and strong cash/credit/collections governance.

4) People & talent management

• Optimize staffing, recruit per guidelines, deliver onboarding and training.
• Coach, develop, appraise, and retain a high-performing finance team; succession planning and high-potential development.
• Maintain departmental SOPs and a positive, professional working environment.

Qualifications (summary)

• Bachelor’s or Master’s in Finance/Business/Accounting (or equivalent experience); CPA/MBA preferred.
• 10+ years progressive experience across accounting/finance/business analysis/capital projects, with 5–7 years leading teams or complex projects.
• Strong financial planning, forecasting, and analytical capability; able to influence senior stakeholders.
• Strong systems/financial software background for reporting, analysis, and presentation.
• Strong knowledge of finance, budgeting, accounting processes, capital projects standards, and GAAP-related practices (as applicable).

Source: Accor careers