Regional Finance Director

**Description**

**Purpose of Role**

Reporting to the Regional Managing Director (RMD), with a dotted line to the Divisional CFO, the individual will be responsible for business partnering with the RMD and have full responsibility for all aspects of reporting (management accounts, budgeting, KPIs, consolidation, cash, tax and statutory reporting) for Malaysia.

**ISP Principles**

**Begin with our children and students. **Our children and students are at the heart of what we do. Simply, their success is our success. Wellbeing and safety are both essential for learners and learning. Therefore, we are consistent in identifying potential safeguarding and Health & Safety issues and acting and following up on all concerns appropriately.

**Treat everyone with care and respect. **We look after one another, embrace similarities and differences and promote the well-being of self and others.

**Are financially responsible. **We make financial choices carefully based on the needs of the children, students and our schools.***

**Learn continuously. **Getting better is what drives us. We positively engage with personal and professional development and school improvement.

**ISP Regional Finance Director Key Responsibilities**

**Commercial business partnering with the Regional MD**
- Setting budgets, forecasts and targets for the region
- Monitor performance such that budgets and targets are achieved
- Identifying opportunities for growing enrolments
- Ensuring schools costs are controlled within agreed budgets
- Drive understanding and accountability of financial performance across region

**Integration**
- Working closely with the ISP group finance team in London to ensure that acquired schools are integrated into ISP processes and ISP reporting in a timely manner
- Implementing ISP’s accounting policies and other group policies

**Management Reporting**
- Consolidate and review the regional monthly results and reporting on variances against budget and prior year for all schools in the region
- Reporting on KPIs with commentary, making clear link to the key drivers, impacting the P&L performance versus budget assumptions
- Did we need to add in importance of LTM (last 12 months) and proforma reporting for new acquisitions
- Lead on the financial aspects of integration post-acquisition of new schools

**Cash Flow**
- Responsible for ensuring that local cash management is optimised
- Cash pooling is in place where possible
- Working with the ISP Head of Treasury & Tax to ensure that cash flows are forecast accurately, and that surplus cash is repatriated to the UK

**Statutory Reporting**
- First point of contact with Group and local auditors for the region
- Ensure that the Statutory Reporting of all legal entities in these counties is completed on time
- Regular balance sheet reconciliations / Appropriate internal controls
- Maintain a reconciliation between statutory and management reporting

**Tax**
- Work with schools to develop strategies, policies and plans to ensure that the schools are fully tax compliant
- Ensure the policy, procedures and practices relating to taxation comply fully with all legal and regulatory requirements and codes of practice /conduct
- Liaising with external tax advisors as appropriate
- Maintain a good technical knowledge of relevant tax policies and processes

**Systems**
- Responsible for helping to implement the ISP core accounting platform, Netsuite, and supporting the implementation of other key ISP core systems such as Engage (MIS), Cezanne (HR) and 360 (Health & Safety)
- Support the Group Financial Systems Administrator, where necessary, to maintain fit-for-purpose Management Reporting Systems, for the region.
- Provide feedback, suggestions and input from the region, to help develop the systems and facilitate efficient and consistent finance processes and reporting across the region.


**Team Leadership**
- A key representative for ISP in the region
- Provide leadership across the region together with the Regional Managing Director and the Regional SMT team members, including Heads of Schools and functional heads.
- Provide leadership to all finance personnel in the region
- Member of ISP’s Group Finance Legal and Technology Leadership team

**Skills, Qualifications and Experience**
- Qualified accountant, ideally big 4 qualified with significant experience of operating at a senior level in a commercial environment, ideally in a senior financial role reporting into an overseas Head Office structure
- Fluent in English
- Has worked in the region and understands the regions culture and its impact on doing business in an international group
- Comfortable in setting policy and direction and influencing others in the achievement of objectives, also in areas other than own expertise area
- Demonstrable success in previous roles requiring commercial, business and strategic understanding
- Strong understanding of tax and statutory accounting issues in the region
- Knowledge of IFR