Group Chief Accountant

About the role

A multinational group operating in several countries, each with its own accounting, needs one chart of accounts, one system and one way of keeping its books so it can be run as one business. The Group Chief Accountant leads this change and then runs the group's accounting. The post is based in Beirut with regular travel to the group's other markets and reports to the owners.

Key responsibilities

• Design a single chart of accounts usable across all companies, by store, channel and product line, enabling clean consolidation.
• Unify accounting data, policies and monthly routines across the group, reconcile inter-company transactions and produce consolidated group accounts.
• Own the books of each entity: monthly close, bank and cash reconciliations, payables and receivables, stock accounting, VAT and tax filings and the relationship with auditors; bring open prior periods to a clean close.
• Lead the migration from the legacy system to Odoo: clean and restructure data, set opening balances, rebuild product, customer and supplier records, direct the implementation partner, test both systems in parallel, train the team and apply the same standard to existing Odoo setups.
• Produce a monthly management pack for the owners, support the yearly budget and monthly cash plan, and put in place controls such as approval limits, separation of duties and documented procedures.
• Build and lead the accounting staff across the group.

Required profile

• Degree in accounting or finance and a recognised professional qualification (CPA, ACCA, CMA or equivalent).
• At least 10 years of accounting experience, including 3+ years leading the accounting of a company or group.
• Multi-company, multi-currency accounting and consolidation experience.
• Has led at least one full ERP migration from data cleaning to go-live.
• Fluent English and Arabic.
• Strongly preferred: retail, fashion or stock-heavy business experience, experience designing a chart of accounts from scratch, and experience working directly with the owners of a family business.

Required skills

• Hands-on knowledge of Odoo Accounting or a comparable modern ERP, with the ability to master Odoo quickly.
• Working knowledge of tax and VAT across more than one country in the region.