Senior Accounting & Tax Lead

Senior Accounting & Tax Lead

Accounting & Tax
Dubai, UAE

Take ownership of accounting operations across six Gulf markets, drive tax compliance in an evolving regulatory landscape, and shape how a high‑growth affiliate manages its financial controls and reporting.

As Senior Accounting & Tax Lead, you’ll be the operational anchor of accounting and tax for Novo Nordisk’s Gulf cluster – spanning UAE, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and Yemen. You’ll run the period‑end close, own balance sheet integrity, execute UAE tax obligations, and lead the operational side of statutory audits. This is a hands‑on role where technical depth meets stakeholder collaboration, set against a backdrop of active commercial growth in obesity and diabetes therapy areas.

Day‑to‑day, you will:

• Lead timely period‑end close and reporting in partnership with Global Shared Services.
• Own balance sheet reconciliation and resolve aging or unreconciled items across all material accounts.
• Drive Corporate Tax, VAT and transfer pricing compliance, working with the Tax Centre of Excellence, Group Tax and external advisors.
• Lead the operational side of statutory audits – managing PBC schedules, evidence documentation and query closure.
• Oversee AP/AR accounting processes, ensuring data accuracy and alignment with group reporting timelines.
• Act as the affiliate’s principal day‑to‑day contact for Global Shared Services teams (R2R, P2P, O2C, T&E, Fixed Assets & Leasing).
• Partner with cross‑functional teams including Legal, Procurement, Supply Chain, FP&A and Marketing on accounting‑relevant decisions.

As part of International Operations, you will join our largest operational unit. Covering 194 countries and 95% of the world’s population, more than 18,000 of us work passionately to serve 35 million patients each day. With a promise to outperform the competition, we continue to be the growth driver for Novo Nordisk, and to improve health at scale across the globe.

Within International Operations, you’ll join the Accounting & Tax department supporting the Gulf affiliate’s accounting operations. This is a joint operating model between the affiliate finance team in Dubai and the Group’s offshore shared service center. The UAE regulatory environment has evolved significantly since 2023 – with UAE Corporate Tax, transfer pricing and e‑invoicing Regulations all maturing rapidly. This combination creates meaningful technical and operational scope for the right person.

You’ll report to the Accounting & Tax Manager and work closely with stakeholders across the region and globally.

We’re looking for someone with strong technical fundamentals and the ability to manage multiple stakeholders across different geographies and functions. To succeed in this role, you should have:

• Minimum 2 years of external audit experience (Big 4 preferred), plus 3‑5 years of progressive finance experience in a multinational environment (pharmaceuticals, FMCG or regulated industries preferred).
• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Economics, or related field; master’s degree or professional certification (ACCA, CMA, or CPA) is preferred.
• Strong working knowledge of IFRS and group reporting standards, with practical experience applying them in period‑end close and audit situations.
• Solid experience with ERP systems (SAP preferred) and advanced Excel skills; proactive use of AI and productivity tools to lift output quality.
• Exposure to UAE tax framework (Corporate Tax, VAT, transfer pricing) and offshore shared service models (GBS) is advantageous.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills; fluent English (Arabic is an asset).
• Ownership instinct – you bring problems forward with proposed solutions, maintain operational discipline, and deliver work that rarely requires rework.

We commit to an inclusive recruitment process and equality of opportunity for all our job applicants.