Head of Finance MEA, Flexible Packaging

Enjoy a career, packaged with care, whilst helping protect food, people and the planet

We are a key global provider of sustainable packaging solutions. We’re on a mission to make all packaging recyclable, reusable, or compostable. Every day, we ensure the hygiene and safety of food and drink for people around the world. We are Huhtamaki.

You could be part of our vision. Because it’s our talented people that make it happen. Our people on the shop floor producing innovative, sustainable products. Our people in our offices delivering excellence for our customers every day. It’s every one of us working together.

We offer a place where you can feel safe, be supported, and make an impact so we can all focus on the future together.

Your opportunity

We are looking for a Head of Finance, MEA, to plan, organize, lead and control the Finance activities for the Region in order to support the delivery of the required growth, revenue, profit, working capital, cash flow and EBIT objectives. You will be the finance business partner for regional leadership and play an essential role in providing financial information, analysis and recommendations to make strategically consistent and financially sound decisions.

This role reports to VP MEA and to our Flexible Packaging Segment VP Finance.

Where you’ll be

This role is located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

What you'll be doing

• Develop and execute the financial strategy for the MEA region, ensuring alignment with overall business objectives.

• Take full responsibility for financial reporting and controlling across the MEA region, delivering timely, accurate, and insightful analysis in line with Segment and Group reporting requirements.

• Lead and coordinate strategic and budget planning processes, ensuring clear targets, KPIs, and objectives are established and aligned with business goals.

• Ensure accurate forecasting to support effective decision-making and long-term planning.

• Oversee capital expenditure planning and monitoring, including project costs, approvals, financing, cash flow, and return on investment. Regularly review existing investments to assess their continued viability.

• Drive working capital optimization by collaborating closely with country teams to improve inventory, receivables, payables, debt management, and capital project efficiency, ultimately maximizing cash flow and returns.

• Identify and manage foreign currency exposures to minimize risk and protect financial performance.

• Review and enhance financial processes and procedures, ensuring strong governance, data accuracy, compliance, and operational discipline.

• Provide financial analysis and support for divestments, restructuring, and expansion initiatives, including the development of robust financial models for strategic decision-making.

• Ensure effective implementation of business and productivity improvement initiatives by establishing follow-up and control mechanisms to track progress, savings, efficiency gains, and value creation.

• Support continuous process improvements and ERP transformation initiatives within Flexible Packaging MEA.

• Lead the Finance organization in MEA, delivering high-quality operational finance services and business controlling. Build a capable, well-structured team while fostering strong engagement and collaboration, and supporting regional business priorities.

What you’ll bring to the role

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or related field and / or a professional qualification (e.g., CPA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent).

• Strong experience in finance leadership on regional or multi country level or global context preferably in manufacturing or FMCG environment.

• Proven experience in managing and leading finance teams and functions with a strong business partnering ability.

• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.

• Resilience and willingness to win.

• Ability to assess, analyze and synthesize a great deal of information and simplify the complexities.

• Fluent in English, excellent communication skills with ability to establish credibility, respect and build strong working relationships.

• A leadership style aligned with Huhtamaki’s values: Care, Dare and Deliver.

What we offer in return

• Opportunity to make an impact : in this role you can truly bring value with your finance and business expertise to drive business performance, co-develop the business strategy and direction while providing leadership to finance teams with build up talent and capabilities.

• A meaningful job : At Huhtamaki, we believe in protecting food, people and the planet. Our innovative and transformative solutions touch the daily lives of people everywhere.

• Development opportunities : We care for each other – and want to see our talent thrive and develop.

• Responsible employer : Sustainability is embedded in everything we do. We believe diverse teams fuel innovation. We invest in fostering an environment where everyone is safe both psychologically and physically and where diversity and inclusion are promoted through day-to-day behaviors, reinforced by our policies and practices.

If this sounds like a good fit, then we’d love to hear from you!

Join us. Help protect food, people and the planet .