Finance Director, Southeast Asia

YOUR ROLE

• Serve as a strategic finance leader and trusted business partner to the SEA leadership team, driving financial performance, governance, planning, and operational excellence across multiple countries.
• Provide end-to-end financial leadership, ensuring strong controls, accurate reporting, forecasting, and commercial decision support to drive sustainable growth, profitability, and cash flow optimization.
• Operate effectively in a complex matrix environment, partnering closely with country finance teams, business leaders, and shared service centers to balance strategic priorities with operational execution and strengthen financial discipline.

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO

1. Strategic Finance & Business Partnering

• Act as a trusted finance business partner to the SEA leadership team to drive business performance and strategic decision-making.
• Provide financial insights, scenario analysis, and recommendations to support growth initiatives, investments, pricing strategies, and commercial decisions.
• Support the development and execution of regional financial strategies aligned with business objectives.

2. Financial Planning & Performance Management

• Lead the annual budgeting, forecasting, and long-range planning processes across SEA countries.
• Monitor financial performance, identify risks and opportunities, and drive corrective actions to achieve business targets.
• Deliver accurate monthly business reviews (MBRs), management reporting, and executive presentations.

3. Financial Governance & Controls

• Ensure compliance with internal controls, accounting policies, IFRS/local statutory requirements, and regulatory obligations across the region.
• Oversee financial reporting accuracy, audit readiness, tax compliance, and risk management.
• Partner with shared service centers and country finance teams to maintain strong financial discipline and governance.

4. Operational Finance & Cash Management

• Drive working capital optimization, cash flow management, and cost control initiatives.
• Monitor profitability, productivity, and KPI performance across business units and countries.
• Identify opportunities for operational efficiencies, process standardization, and automation.

5. Leadership& Stakeholder Management

• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing regional finance organization.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with Operations, Commercial, HR, Procurement, and other support functions to drive business performance.
• Influence senior stakeholders and present financial insights to executive leadership.

6. Direct Country Oversight

• In addition to Sub-region responsibilities, the SEA Finance Director directly leads the Finance function for Singapore and Brunei, requiring hands-on management and close operational involvement

7. Transformation Leadership

• Actively contribute to and lead regional finance transformation initiatives, including organizational simplification, process redesign, system harmonization, and offshoring programs. Play a key role in supporting post-acquisition integration and convergence efforts to drive efficiency, standardization, and value creation across the sub-region.

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR

• Degree in Accounting, Finance, or related discipline professional qualification (CPA,ACCA, CIMA or equivalent) preferred.
• 12 to 15 years of progressive finance experience, with significant leadership exposure in Southeast Asia or multi-country environment.
• 3 to 5 years experience in the freight forwarding industry
• Strong background in FP&A, business controlling, commercial finance, and financial governance.
• Experience within logistics, supply chain, freight forwarding, transportation, or a fast-paced multinational environment preferred.
• Strong financial modelling, forecasting, and analytical capabilities.
• Demonstrated experience leading geographically dispersed teams in a matrix organization.
• Strong stakeholder management, communication, and influencing skills
• Experience with ERP and reporting systems (e.g., JDE, SAP, OneStream, Power BI, Qlik or equivalent) preferred.
• System and transformation exposure