Job Description
Job Title : Director of Finance
Work Location : Hilton Istanbul Bomonti Hotel & Conference Center
Contract Location : Hilton Istanbul Bomonti Hotel & Conference Center
Department : Operations Finance
Reporting To : Hotel General Manager, with dotted line to Country Finance Leader
Director of Finance plays a critical role in overseeing and enhancing the financial performance of the hotel (assigned portfolio of hotels if applicable). This position serves as a key business partner to the General Manager(s),senior hotel management teams and business stakeholders contributing to strategic decision-making and ensuring alignment with business objectives.
This role demands a strategic mindset, robust financial expertise, and deep knowledge of the hotel industry to maximize value creation, drive operational efficiency and effectiveness, and ensure sustainable profitability and ownership returns. The Director of Finance is also responsible for spearheading the financial strategy of the hotel, aligning it with company objectives, optimizing overall business performance, and fostering growth by providing financial analysis and insights to non-finance teams, enabling them to make informed commercial decisions.
Works in close collaboration with the Türkiye Finance CoE team and operates as a unified team to achieve the above objectives.
Responsibilities
Primary Responsibilities:
Financial Strategy
- Work with key stakeholders to develop medium- and long-term strategies for achieving sustainable and maximized business returns.
- Collaborate with hotel management teams to develop annual operating and capital budgets, setting key financial objectives.
- Oversee balance-of-the-year forecasting, effectively managing risks and opportunities to optimize business returns.
Performance Monitoring
- Track and analyse key performance indicators (KPIs), including efficiency, profitability, guest experience, and other non-financial metrics, to achieve a strong balanced scorecard.
- Utilize variance analysis to identify commercial reasons for variances and implement corrective action plans to address negative trends.
Benchmarking
- Partner with the Country Finance Leader to benchmark the hotel’s (portfolio's) performance against internal and external competitors, identifying opportunities for improvement.
- Evaluate financial performance using tools like Hotstats to assess competitiveness and create a strategic advantage.
Compliance And Contract Oversight
- Work closely with hotel management and the Turkiye Finance Center of Excellence team to ensure that the hotel maintains a strong culture of compliance and operates within Hilton policies and procedures.
- Ensure compliance with hotel management or lease agreements, addressing any risks with senior leadership.
- Manage vendor and operator contracts in alignment with Hilton’s global policies, negotiating terms to maximize value in collaboration with Legal, Supply Management, and Engineering teams.
- Ensure full tax compliance: Oversee all local tax matters, including income and payroll taxes, ensuring accurate calculation, deduction, and timely remittance, in coordination with owners where appropriate.
- Maintain strong governance and documentation: Ensure full cooperation with external auditors and proper maintenance and regular updating of all leases and contracts impacting the hotel’s financial position.
- Adhere to legal and regulatory requirements: Ensure full compliance with all applicable laws, financial regulations, permits, and licensing requirements in the country of operation.
- Comply with all Hilton Finance Policies & Procedures and embed the culture to the hotel finance and non-finance teams.
- Lead and maintain strong control environment for the controls that falls within the remit of on site hotel finance team(s).
Reporting And Presentations
- Prepare detailed financial reports and presentations for ownership and leadership, with robust variance analysis and commentary.
- Facilitate monthly profit and loss (P&L) reviews and forecast meetings with department heads, developing actionable plans to enhance performance.
Stakeholder Collaboration
- Act as a trusted business partner to General Managers and senior hotel management, aligning operational priorities with strategic goals.
- Collaborate with National Procurement, Information Technology, Turkiye Finance Centre of Excellence, Commercial, Human Resources and relevant corporate teams to ensure seamless delivery of financial objectives.
Capital Expenditure And ROI Initiatives
- Lead the development of capital budgets, maintaining compliance with brand standards.
- Initiate and support return-on-investment projects, providing analytical insights to calculate payback periods and net present values (NPVs).
- Maintain capital expenditure tracker to ensure that spends are kept within control.
Financial Modelling And Insights
- Develop and implement advanced financial analysis tools, including value chain analysis, opportunity assessment, and cash flow forecasting, to support strategic decision-making.
- Educate non-finance teams on utilizing commercial finance tools for operational benefits.
Cash Flow Management
- Regularly update cash flow forecasts to ensure adequate working capital for hotel operations.
- Support discussions with asset managers and owners regarding working capital requirements.
Leadership & People Development
- Communicate with the team, delegate tasks, plan ahead ensuring adequate resources, and maintain smooth day-to-day departmental operations including shift handovers and briefings.
- Understand hotel objectives and departmental impact, cascade clear goals, foster cross-department collaboration, represent team needs, and keep the team consistently informed.
- Build and develop a high-performing team: Ensure effective recruitment, onboarding, training, and performance management, while driving continuous development, financial awareness, and succession planning within the department.
- Provide training in finance for non-finance teams, enhancing financial literacy and enabling informed decision-making across departments.
- Guiding and coaching operational Heads of Department (HODs), with training led by the Director of Finance and supported by the General Manager and Director of Operations, to develop HODs into autonomous business managers through structured mentorship.
Project Management
- Participate in key hotel and regional projects aimed at revenue generation and cost optimization, driving hotel profitability.
Additional Support
- Review month-end P&L results produced by the Finance Centre of Excellence, ensuring financial accuracy before finalization.
- Assist Finance Centre of Excellence and lead on-site finance teams during audits and with bad debt provisions.
- Oversee timely resolution of guest complaints and queries, ensuring root causes are addressed and lessons learned are embedded into controls and processes.
- Monitor compliance with brand standards, link performance outcomes to financial KPIs, and drive corrective action plans to close gaps and sustain improvements.
[OPTIONAL FOR NEW OPENING HOTELS ONLY]
Pre-opening Activities
- Develop pre-opening budgets, including operating and capital expenditure plans by working closely with Finance and Brand openings team.
- Establish financial forecasts to ensure adequate funding for pre-opening activities.
- Oversee the setup of financial systems, including accounting software and reporting tools.
- Work closely with Turkiye Finance Center of Excellence team to establish internal controls and financial policies to ensure smooth operations post-opening.
- Review and approve pre-opening expenses and contracts.
- Provide regular updates on pre-opening financial performance and risks.
- Define training requirements and coordinate it with other relevant finance teams.
- Manage and ensure timely completion for all critical finance pre-opening tasks for successful opening of the hotel.
- Business partner with Hotel General Manager to ensure that informed commercial decisions are made during the business ramp-up phase including manning ramp-up.
- Build zero-based multi-year projection to ensure that commitments as per management/lease or other third party agreements are met.
Qualifications
Who are we looking for?
We seek a dynamic finance professional with at least five years of progressive experience in Accounting and Finance and a degree in Accounting, Finance, or Tourism Administration. Advanced qualifications such as CPA, ACA, ACCA, CIMA, or MBA are highly desirable.
Key Attributes And Skills
- Unconventional thinking and a willingness to challenge the status quo with innovative solutions.
- Comprehensive knowledge of the hotel industry, coupled with expertise in financial modelling, reporting systems, and performance tracking tools.
- Strong strategic thinking, problem-solving, and negotiation skills.
- Proficiency in stakeholder engagement and effective communication.
- Experience leveraging models, tools, and big data to drive results.
- Hands-on, result-oriented, and capable of delivering impactful outcomes.
Preferred Mindsets
- Passion for finance or the hospitality sector.
- Intellectual curiosity and professional objectivity.
- Empathy and a collaborative attitude towards colleagues.
- Enthusiasm for technology and openness to new challenges.
About Hilton Turkiye Finance Operating Model: The Hilton Turkiye Finance Operating Model employs a two-tier structure consisting of:
- Turkiye Finance Centre of Excellence – Focused on transaction processing, accounting processes and workflows in each tower.
- Operations Finance – Centered on strategic, high-value activities to drive business performance.
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