About The Role
One People Team (OPT) is an HR advisory and leadership development company that partners closely with founders and leadership teams across Southeast Asia to help them build high-performing teams, strengthen people practices, and support business growth.
As part of our fractional HR advisory work, we are currently supporting one of our key clients in hiring a Senior Financial Controller to join its leadership team and strengthen the finance function as the business continues to scale.
Our client is a fast-growing retail and refurbishment platform for pre-owned smartphones and electronics, backed by global investors and expanding its store network and regional presence. As the business grows, strong financial leadership, reporting discipline, internal controls, and commercial visibility are critical to support better decision-making and sustainable growth.
The Senior Financial Controller will be responsible for leading the company’s finance operations, financial reporting, internal controls, financial planning, and controllership function.
This role will work closely with the CEO and leadership team to provide clear financial visibility, improve decision-making, strengthen controls, and support the company’s growth plans. The role requires someone who is commercially sharp, highly structured, and comfortable operating in a fast-growing retail and inventory-heavy business.
The Senior Financial Controller will also be responsible for building and managing the finance team, improving reporting discipline, and ensuring the finance function is scalable as the company expands its store network and regional presence.
Why This Role Matters
As the company continues to scale, the business needs strong financial leadership to ensure growth is supported by accurate reporting, disciplined controls, reliable forecasting, and clear commercial insights.
This role is critical in helping the leadership team understand business performance, manage risks, improve profitability, and make better decisions across retail operations, inventory, expansion, and investments.
A strong Senior Financial Controller will help the company balance speed with control, ensuring the business can grow quickly while maintaining financial discipline, compliance, and operational accountability.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead and oversee the finance function, including accounting operations, financial reporting, month-end closing, budgeting, forecasting, and financial controls.
- Prepare, review, and analyse financial statements, management reports, cash flow updates, and business performance reports.
- Strengthen financial reporting processes to ensure accuracy, timeliness, and consistency.
- Lead financial planning and analysis, including budgeting, forecasting, variance analysis, financial modelling, and scenario planning.
- Provide commercial insights to support business decisions, retail expansion, pricing, inventory planning, cost control, and profitability improvement.
- Oversee finance operations across retail, trading, distribution, inventory, and multi-outlet business activities.
- Ensure proper controls over cash flow, payments, receivables, inventory-related finance processes, outlet reconciliations, and expense management.
- Build, manage, and mentor the finance team, including setting clear roles, reporting lines, accountability, and performance expectations.
- Develop a finance culture built on accuracy, ownership, commercial awareness, and high integrity.
- Coordinate audits, tax matters, statutory reporting, compliance requirements, and external advisor relationships.
- Ensure compliance with relevant accounting standards, finance regulations, tax requirements, and company policies.
- Improve internal controls, approval processes, reporting cadence, and finance governance as the company scales.
- Partner closely with the CEO and leadership team on business planning, investment decisions, growth strategy, and operational priorities.
- Support system, process, and automation improvements to make finance operations more scalable and efficient.
- Identify financial risks, control gaps, cost issues, and improvement opportunities, and recommend practical solutions.
- Provide regular financial updates, insights, and recommendations to senior leadership and investors where required.
Key Requirements
- Degree in Accounting, Finance, or a related field.
- Professional qualification such as ACCA, CPA, ICAEW, CIMA, or equivalent is preferred.
- Minimum 7 to 10 years of relevant experience in finance, accounting, controllership, or financial leadership roles.
- Strong experience in retail, trading, distribution, inventory-heavy, or multi-outlet businesses.
- Proven track record in financial reporting, audit coordination, internal controls, and finance governance.
- Strong FP&A capability, including budgeting, forecasting, variance analysis, and financial modelling.
- Experience working in high-growth, scaling, startup, or entrepreneurial environments is preferred.
- Strong commercial mindset with the ability to connect finance numbers with business decisions.
- High integrity and strong sense of accountability when handling financial information.
- Structured thinker with strong attention to detail and the ability to improve processes.
- Comfortable balancing financial control with business agility.
- Proactive, solutions-oriented, and able to operate independently.
- Strong leadership skills with experience managing, mentoring, or building finance teams.
- Good stakeholder management skills, with the ability to work closely with CEOs, founders, investors, and cross-functional leaders.
- Comfortable working in a fast-paced environment with evolving business needs.
Expected Outcomes From This Role
- Financial reporting is accurate, timely, and reliable for management decision-making.
- Month-end closing, reporting cadence, and finance governance are strengthened.
- The leadership team has clear visibility of business performance, cash flow, profitability, risks, and opportunities.
- Budgeting, forecasting, financial modelling, and scenario planning are more structured and actionable.
- Internal controls, approval processes, and compliance standards are improved as the business scales.
- Retail, inventory, outlet, and cost-related finance processes are better controlled and reconciled.
- The finance team is structured, well-managed, and clear on ownership and accountability.
- Audits, tax, statutory reporting, and external finance matters are coordinated effectively.
- Finance becomes a stronger business partner to the CEO, leadership team, and operational teams.
- The company is better equipped to scale with financial discipline, commercial visibility, and investor-ready reporting.