Role Overview:

The Finance Director at Ad Scholars will lead the company's global financial strategy, governance, and compliance.

This role ensures strong financial controls across all international markets, drives profitability, optimizes tax exposure, maintains financial health, and supports the CEO in building a scalable MNC-level finance organization.

The position requires deep expertise in multinational financial operations, tax planning, treasury, FP&A, budgeting, forecasting, audits, and regulatory compliance across India, UAE, USA, Australia, APAC, and future markets.

Beyond financial stewardship, the role also includes people leadership, automation initiatives, and investor-readiness planning.

This is a high-impact role that directly shapes Ad Scholars' financial stability, growth, and long-term expansion strategy.

Key Responsibilities:

Financial Strategy & Planning:

- Build and execute a comprehensive global financial strategy aligned with business goals and expansion plans.

- Lead annual and quarterly budgeting cycles including revenue forecasting, expense planning, and profitability targets.

- Develop financial models for new markets, M&A discussions, partnerships, and business verticals.

- Advise the CEO and leadership team on financial risks, opportunities, and long-term capital strategy.

- Global Compliance, Governance & International Expansion.

- Ensure full compliance with financial regulations, statutory filings, and tax laws across all operating markets including India, UAE, USA, Australia, Philippines, and upcoming regions.

- Oversee GST, TDS (India), VAT (UAE), corporate tax filings, transfer pricing, audits, payroll laws, and cross-border financial regulations.

- Establish strong internal controls, approval workflows, documentation standards, and audit-ready processes across all global entities.

- Proactively identify compliance risks, regulatory changes, and potential penalties, ensuring preventive actions are taken well in advance.

- Lead end-to-end financial setup for new markets including company incorporation, bank account openings, local tax registrations, payroll setup, reporting frameworks, and compliance systems.

- Conduct in-depth research on financial laws, taxation rules, foreign remittance regulations, and statutory obligations for upcoming markets such as the Philippines, and future countries of expansion.

- Work closely with international legal teams, consultants, and banks to streamline new entity setups and maintain continuous statutory compliance.

- Ensure all international finance operations follow standardized governance guidelines aligned with Ad Scholars' global operational model.

Treasury, Cash Flow & Profitability Management:

- Maintain strong liquidity and ensure healthy cash flow across all entities.

- Monitor daily, weekly, and monthly cash positions with predictive modelling.

- Optimize costs, reduce leakages, and establish clear spending policies.

- Review vendor payments, contract terms, kickbacks risk, and T&E expenses to prevent fraud.

- Set and track gross profit margin targets, advising leadership on profitability improvements.

- Take complete ownership of receivables and ensure client payments arrive on time.

- Build strong relationships with client finance teams, follow up proactively, escalate to senior decision-makers when required, and travel internationally if needed to secure overdue payments.

- No delays or excuses-cash flow discipline must be enforced relentlessly.

Reporting, Analytics & Dashboards:

Present Monthly And Quarterly Financial Reports Including:

- P&L.

- Revenue analysis.

- Expenses.

- Forecast vs actual.

- Cash flow.

- Intercompany activity.

- Build automated, visual dashboards for leadership using AI tools, BI platforms, and financial systems.

- Translate financial data into simple, actionable insights for CEO and Directors.

Tax Optimization & Cross-Border Planning:

- Create efficient tax structures to reduce liabilities across countries.

- Manage cross-border payments, repatriation planning, and bank-to-bank transfers with minimal cost.

- Coordinate with tax advisors globally to structure international revenue flows.

- Build long-term tax planning for future funding rounds and eventual valuation assessments.

Technology, Systems & Automation:

- Introduce new finance tools, AI automation, and reporting software to improve efficiency.

- Optimize finance SOPs, workflows, and documentation across all global teams.

- Ensure accurate and clean data across Zoho Books, ERP tools, and dashboards.

- Train the team on best practices, modern tools, and digital systems.

Investor Readiness & Funding Preparation:

- Support the CEO in preparing the finance engine for future funding rounds, not immediate but planned for three to four years ahead, by building a long-term vision and roadmap.

- Create investor-ready MIS reports, financial projections and valuation models that will mature over time and position the company well when funding becomes relevant.

- Build governance frameworks required for future due diligence, ensuring the organization develops the right discipline from now onward.

- Structure the company as a future-ready multi-country financial organization with systems and processes that evolve in line with long-term funding goals.

Team Leadership & Cross-Functional Collaboration:

- Lead and mentor the existing finance team and identify top-tier talent for future hiring.

- Build the finance function around strong processes and systems so operations run smoothly and consistently, regardless of individual team changes.

- Build a culture of accuracy, integrity, ownership, and proactive behavior.

- Define KPIs for the finance manager and guide development of KPIs for executives.

- Ensure visibility of team output, task tracking, and performance governance.

- Work closely with sales, operations, HR, and global delivery teams to support business growth.

- Establish strict quality assurance and error-prevention mechanisms to eliminate financial mistakes.

- Reduce manual work through automation and system-driven workflows, ensuring all payments, entries, and reconciliations are accurate and validated.

- Finance operations must run with zero tolerance for errors, given the high financial risk of even a small oversight.

- Build a rigorous bill-management and reconciliation system.

- All expenses, reimbursements, and purchases must follow a structured submission, approval, and documentation process.

- Missing bills must not be tolerated where bills are not submitted, salary deductions or strict financial controls should be enforced to instill accountability and discipline across the organization.

Skills & Experience Required:

Technical Expertise:

- Strong background in multinational finance operations, budgeting, FP&A, and financial governance.

- Advanced knowledge of taxes in India, UAE, and international markets.

- Experience with audits, transfer pricing, and international compliance.

- Expertise in financial modelling, forecasting, cash flow management, and profitability planning.

- Familiarity with tools such as Zoho Books, ERP systems, BI reporting tools, and AI-driven finance automation platforms.

Leadership & Strategic Skills:

- Proven experience leading finance functions for high-growth global companies.

- Ability to build scalable finance processes aligned with MNC standards.

- High integrity, strong decision-making, and ability to manage financial risks.

- Excellent communication and ability to simplify finance for cross-functional teams.

- Capability to foresee financial challenges and solve them proactively.

Success Metrics (KPIs):

Financial Strategy & Innovation.

Accurate forecasting and budgeting.

Introduction of modern tools and dashboards.

Predictive planning for taxes, liquidity, and expenses.

Profitability & Liquidity.

Improved gross margin ratios.

Strong cash flow and optimal working capital.

Controlled expenses with minimal leakages or fraud risks.

Global Compliance.

Zero penalties or compliance breaches.

Timely completion of filings, audits, and entity requirements.

Smooth setup and maintenance of international entities.

Revenue Enablement.

Improved financial clarity for sales teams.

Faster invoicing cycles and reduced payment delays.

Optimized tax structures for better net profitability.

Team Management.

High-performance, motivated, loyal finance team.

KPIs defined and monitored for all finance team members.

Strong execution discipline and accountability.

Reporting Structure.

Reports to: CEO.

Collaborates With.

Global Sales.

Inside Sales & Delivery Teams.

HR & Legal.

International Tax Advisors.

Operations & Strategy Teams.

Corporate Consultants (Global).

Manages.

Finance Manager.

Finance Executives.

External CA Firms.

Tax Consultants.

International Compliance Partners.

Summary:

The Finance Director at Ad Scholars is responsible for building a world-class multinational finance engine.

The role combines financial leadership, strong compliance oversight, investor readiness, advanced analytics, and multi-country strategy.

The Director will ensure the company's financial stability, optimize profitability, support global expansion plans, and build an MNC-standard financial organization capable of supporting Ad Scholars' long-term growth vision.