Accounting Manager (Real Estate, Property Managemen) – Arabic Speaker

About the RoleWe are seeking a highly experienced, hands-on, and improvement-driven Accounting Manager to lead, strengthen, and continuously develop the company’s accounting function across its various business operations and entities.The successful candidate will have overall responsibility for maintaining the accuracy, integrity, compliance, and timeliness of accounting and financial reporting, while also taking an active role in developing the department, improving accounting policies and procedures, strengthening internal controls, optimizing workflows, enhancing systems, and developing the accounting team.The role requires a strong accounting leader who can evaluate existing practices, identify gaps and inefficiencies, implement practical improvements, and establish a well-controlled, efficient, and scalable accounting function.Experience within real estate, property management, leasing, projects, commercial operations, and multi-entity environments will be highly valuable.Key ResponsibilitiesAccounting Operations & Financial ReportingLead and oversee the full accounting cycle, including Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, General Ledger, Payroll Accounting, Fixed Assets, Banking, Cash Management, and Intercompany Accounts.Ensure accurate and timely preparation of monthly, quarterly, and annual financial statements in accordance with IFRS and company requirements.Manage month-end and year-end closing processes, including accruals, provisions, reconciliations, cut-off procedures, and supporting schedules.Review general ledger accounts, balance sheet reconciliations, ageing reports, bank reconciliations, and financial schedules.Ensure transactions are properly recorded, classified, supported, approved, and allocated to the appropriate company, department, property, project, or cost center.Oversee intercompany and related-party transactions and reconciliations across group entities.Maintain a strong and consistent chart of accounts and accounting structure.Business, Real Estate & Operational AccountingOversee accounting requirements arising from the company’s various commercial, operational, property, leasing, project, and asset-related activities.Ensure accurate accounting for rental income, tenant balances, security deposits, service charges, operating expenses, projects, assets, and other business transactions, where applicable.Oversee project costing, cost allocation, revenue recognition, and profitability analysis.Ensure appropriate accounting treatment for capital expenditure and operating expenditure.Develop reporting by entity, business activity, department, property, project, and cost center, where required.Coordinate with operational departments to ensure financial transactions are accurately captured and properly supported.Accounting Policies, Procedures & Department DevelopmentConduct periodic reviews of existing accounting policies, SOPs, procedures, workflows, approval processes, and documentation practices.Identify control gaps, inefficient processes, duplicated activities, manual dependencies, unclear responsibilities, and areas requiring improvement.Develop, update, document, and implement accounting policies and SOPs in line with business requirements and applicable regulations.Establish clear roles, responsibilities, approval levels, review mechanisms, and segregation of duties.Standardize accounting processes and reporting practices across relevant companies and business activities.Develop practical controls and procedures that improve accuracy, efficiency, transparency, accountability, and traceability.Establish accounting calendars, closing schedules, reconciliation requirements, reporting deadlines, and control checkpoints.Ensure agreed corrective actions and process improvements are properly implemented and followed through.Internal Controls & GovernanceEstablish and continuously strengthen internal controls covering payments, collections, petty cash, banking, payroll, procurement-related transactions, fixed assets, journal entries, revenue, expenses, and financial reporting.Review financial processes to identify control weaknesses and recommend corrective measures.Maintain appropriate segregation of duties and authorization controls.Ensure supporting documents and financial records provide a clear and complete audit trail.Safeguard company assets and financial information through appropriate preventive and detective controls.Coordinate with Internal Audit while maintaining clear accountability between the accounting and assurance functions.Budgeting, Forecasting & Financial AnalysisLead and coordinate the annual budgeting and forecasting process.Prepare and monitor budgets by entity, department, property, project, or business activity as applicable.Perform budget-versus-actual and variance analysis, investigate significant deviations, and provide management with explanations and recommendations.Prepare and monitor cash flow forecasts and liquidity requirements.Conduct cost, profitability, margin, and performance analysis.Support management with financial analysis for new projects, investments, contracts, acquisitions, and other business decisions.Identify financial trends, risks, cost-saving opportunities, and areas for performance improvement.Systems, Automation & Process ImprovementEvaluate existing accounting systems and determine opportunities for automation, integration, and process improvement.Reduce unnecessary manual processes and dependency on spreadsheets wherever practical.Improve financial data flow between Accounting and other departments.Strengthen system access controls, approval workflows, and audit trails.Develop effective financial dashboards, management reports, and analytical tools.Participate in the evaluation and implementation of new accounting or ERP solutions when required.Continuously seek opportunities to improve the speed, accuracy, reliability, and efficiency of accounting operations.Compliance, Tax & AuditEnsure compliance with IFRS, UAE VAT, UAE Corporate Tax, applicable real estate regulations, and other relevant statutory requirements.Ensure accurate and timely preparation of information required for tax filings and regulatory submissions.Coordinate with external auditors, tax consultants, banks, regulatory authorities, and other external parties.Ensure financial records are complete, organized, properly retained, and audit-ready.Follow up on external and internal audit observations relevant to Accounting and ensure agreed corrective actions are implemented.Team Leadership & DevelopmentLead, supervise, mentor, and develop the accounting team.Assess the existing team structure, responsibilities, workload distribution, competencies, and performance.Identify gaps in staffing, skills, knowledge, or responsibilities and recommend appropriate solutions.Establish clear job responsibilities, reporting lines, performance expectations, and accountability for each team member.Improve distribution of responsibilities to avoid duplication, gaps, and excessive dependency on individual employees.Identify training needs and implement coaching, cross-training, and professional development plans.Develop the team’s technical accounting, analytical, system, and reporting capabilities.Establish relevant KPIs and performance standards for the accounting function.Promote a culture of accuracy, ownership, accountability, continuous improvement, teamwork, and timely delivery.Management Reporting & Business SupportPrepare and present comprehensive financial and management reports to senior management.Provide management with clear visibility over financial performance, cash flow, receivables, payables, costs, profitability, budgets, and financial risks.Translate financial data into meaningful business insights and recommendations.Work closely with Management, HR, Procurement, Engineering, Leasing, Property Management, Operations, and other departments.Act as a strong financial partner to management while maintaining appropriate accounting controls and professional independence.RequirementsBachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field.Professional qualification such as CPA, CMA, ACCA, CA, or equivalent is highly preferred.Minimum 10 years of progressive accounting experience, including significant managerial or supervisory experience.Strong experience managing a complete accounting function, preferably within a multi-entity or diversified business environment.Relevant experience in real estate, property management, leasing, projects, or asset-intensive businesses is highly preferred.Strong knowledge of IFRS, UAE VAT, UAE Corporate Tax, financial reporting, budgeting, internal controls, and audit requirements.Proven experience in developing and improving accounting policies, SOPs, workflows, internal controls, and reporting mechanisms.Demonstrated ability to review an existing accounting function, identify weaknesses, and successfully implement improvements.Proven ability to develop teams, improve work allocation, establish accountability, and raise departmental performance.Strong ERP/accounting systems experience and ability to contribute to automation and digital transformation initiatives.Advanced analytical, financial reporting, and Excel skills.Strong leadership, problem-solving, organizational, and stakeholder-management capabilities.Ability to challenge inefficient practices constructively and drive improvements through to implementation.High standards of professional integrity, confidentiality, accuracy, ownership, and attention to detail.Fluent in English & Arabic