Director of Finance

Job Description

Job Description

Who we are:

We love what we do and what we do is important! We believe that everyone should leave feeling better – this means not just our guests and owners, but also our teammates. Everyone should go home feeling better because they learned something new, or had fun working that day. Therefore, we hire unique individuals who work together to create amazing experiences for our guests. We recognize that every member of the team contributes to the success of the whole organization. No-one is more important than anyone else, and unless we are in it together, we can’t create that special experience for our guest.

Your mission:

Should you choose to accept it…

The Director of Finance is responsible for providing consistent leadership in the financial area of the hotel by supplying management with guidance and training. He/she is also responsible for focusing on the profitability of the business, maintaining accurate and timely financial reporting, ensuring acceptable levels on internal control, ensuring compliance with all federal, state, and local regulations, and safeguarding owners/investors assets.

The ideal candidate will be a team builder and coach, a cultural ambassador and adept at shifting between financial strategy and tactics. They will also naturally thrive in agile environments and have an innate passion for finding patterns that emerge from analytics. Most of all, we want you to have FUN since you play a huge role in creating that memorable guest experience towards your teammates, customers (external and internal), vendors, etc.!

The Nitty-Gritty:

What exactly you will be doing…

In helping you understand your role in working for a world class organization, the following is a list of your essential job responsibilities. Please keep in mind that this list is not all inclusive and that you may be asked to perform other job tasks by your supervisors/managers not listed below in the constant quest to provide “out of this world” customer service experience for our guests:

Strategic

• Communication is a key ingredient to success in this position!
• Work collaboratively with the General Manager, Corporate Director of Finance and other Operational Leaders to determine opportunities to fine tune processes that will drive both short-term and long-term profitability for the hotel.
• Analyze financial variances and operational trends as a result of this evaluation and ensure that financial statements are accurate and timely in conjunction with Virgin Hotels standards and procedures.
• Continually assess purchasing opportunities across the hotel to optimize spend.
• Build and maintain professional relationship with and act as a strategic business partner to hotel ownership and/or Asset Manager.

Tactical

• Compile, maintain and review financial reports for the property on a daily, weekly, monthly and annual basis, including but not limited to daily labor and revenue reporting, checkbooks, monthly financial operating statements, cash flow reports, monthly and weekly forecasts, balance sheet reconciliations and capital budget expenditures.
• Support, train and coach on-site accounting teams to ensure accurate and timely preparation of financial statements, accounts reconciliations, forecast and budgets in compliance with HMA obligations.
• Alert the Corporate Director of Finance and/or VP, Finance Operations, as deemed necessary on significant variances from budget, forecast and internal control standards.
• Partner with the General Manager and Property Leadership Team to ensure forecasting processes are optimized and that the property is achieving forecasting accuracy targets and optimal flow through.
• Proactively compile and understand cash flow forecasts to ensure compliance with debt and lease requirements, sales & use tax payments, real estate tax and other obligations as well as monitor working capital positions on a daily basis.
• Ensure hotels’ compliance on all regulatory licenses and permits, leases, contracts, legal agreements, and the proper execution of all operational taxes. Provide assistance to management in enforcing compliance on all these items.
• Lead/participate in on-boarding and training for new managers at the hotel.
• Develop and monitor internal controls to safeguard hotel assets as measured by internal and external audits. Maintain adequate internal control over revenues, expenses, assets and liabilities of the hotel and ensure accounts are maintained according to GAAP and Uniform System of Accounts.
• Develop expertise with and continually monitor the functionality of all relevant Virgin Hotel systems including but not limited to, Aptech Financial Systems, Birchstreet, Blackline, ADP, Avero, and property HMS & POS systems.

People/Talent

• Work with General Manager and People Director to monitor existing talent and implement succession planning within the hotel accounting team as applicable to help sustain our future pipeline.
• Be a consistent cultural ambassador for the company and lead by example, bringing your best self to work, every day!

Core Competencies

• Ability to influence all levels of the organization with your presence and business acumen.
• Strong knowledge and ability reading, analyzing, and understanding financial statements, loan documents, lease agreements and contracts.
• Prior oversight of accounting teams.
• Ability to manage internal teammates at all levels of the organization.
• Proactive, independent, forward-thinking, trustworthy, and hands-on finance executive.
• A dynamic team player who is a quick study and can think creatively and effectively challenging existing practices.
• Strong written and oral communication skills.
• Strong organizational and project management skills.
• Approach all encounters with guests and teammates in an attentive, friendly, courteous and service-oriented manner.
• Maintain regular attendance in compliance with Virgin Hotels standards, as required by scheduling which will vary according to the needs of the hotel.
• Maintain high standards of personal appearance and grooming, which includes wearing the proper uniform and nametag when working – in other words – be good-looking!
• Comply at all times with Virgin Hotels’ standards and regulations to encourage safe and efficient hotel operations.
• Be nice to each other and maintain a warm and friendly demeanor at all times.
• Teammates must, at all times, be attentive, friendly, helpful, and courteous to all guests, managers, and fellow teammates.
• Maximize efforts towards productivity, identify problem areas and assist in finding and implementing their solutions.
• Effectively manage and communicate cash flow related issues. This includes the accurate and timely preparation of cash flow statements, management of receivables, payables, cash balances, control mechanisms and timely deposits of all funds.
• Monitor hotel revenues and expenses and ensure the accurate recording in accordance with Virgin Hotels’ established guidelines. Investigate and critique variances to budget or to prior year and offer practical improvement methodologies to management.
• Monitor the capital planning process by assisting management with the calculation of return on capital improvements, gathering support and monitoring the bid process, and ensuring proper upkeep of the property by evaluating scope of work and specifications.
• Ensure hotels’ compliance on all regulatory licenses and permits, leases, contracts, legal agreements, and the proper execution of all operational taxes. Provide assistance to management in enforcing compliance on all these items.
• Analyze financial data and operations in order to assist and advise management in maintaining the hotels’ financial objectives.
• Hire, train, supervise and develop staff, including coaching, counseling and discipline.
• Maintain compliance with Virgin Hotels’ standards and regulations to ensure safe and efficient operation of the hotel.
• Ensure the proper utilization, maintenance and periodic upgrades of all EDP equipment.
• Directs or prepares all financial reports in accordance with Virgin Hotels’ requirements meeting various due dates and deadlines.
• Conduct and/or attend and contribute to periodic meetings to maintain favorable working relationship among team members and promote maximum morale, productivity and efficiency (Executive Committee, Sales & Service, Credit, etc.)
• Monitor hotels’ compliance in meeting required report deadlines and due dates and react accordingly.

What qualities are we looking for?

You got skills? If you are able to perform the following, then you have come to the right place…

• There will be days where long hours are required.
• Sedentary work, exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects.
• Must be able to convey information and ideas clearly.
• Must be able to evaluate and select among alternative courses of action quickly and accurately.
• Must routinely meet deadlines.
• Must be able to multi task.
• Must be effective in handling problems in the workplace, including anticipating, preventing, identifying and solving problems as necessary.
• Must have the ability to assimilate complex information, data, etc., from disparate sources and consider, adjust or modify to meet the constraints of the particular need.
• Must be effective at listening to, understanding, and clarifying the concerns and issues raised by co-workers and guests.
• Must be able to work with and understand financial information and data, and basic arithmetic functions.
• Must be able to prioritize departmental functions in order to meet due dates and deadlines.

Background must-have:

• Current, legal and unrestricted ability to work in the United States
• A minimum of 6 years of related progressive experience in hotel Accounting or related field is required
• An Accounting/Finance degree and a minimum of 6 years of related progressive experience.