Assistant Finance Manager

Job Description

Assistant Finance Manager | Money-Media

The Tone:
This is a full-time role at Money-Media (Financial Times), located in Tokyo. The Financial Times is a globally recognized news organization providing quality information and services worldwide. This role is crucial for ensuring accurate financial reporting, strong controls, and full compliance for FT Japan, while supporting other Asia entities, contributing to the FT’s mission of delivering impartial journalism and fostering a collaborative culture.

The TL;DR
• Role: Full Time
• Type: Contract (initially 1-year fixed term, intention to convert to permanent)
• Location: Hybrid – Tokyo
• Team: Reports to regional Accounting Services and Finance teams across APAC and the UK, acting as a key finance business partner.
• Mission: Lead day-to-day finance operations for FT Japan, ensuring accurate reporting, strong controls, and compliance, while supporting other Asia entities.
• Tech Stack: Oracle, Microsoft Excel, other ERP systems, other financial reporting systems.

What You’ll Actually Do
• Financial Reporting: Lead month-end, quarter-end, and year-end close processes to ensure accurate and timely financial reporting, including preparing and reviewing balance sheet reconciliations and performing variance analysis.
• Statutory & Tax Compliance: Coordinate statutory reporting requirements, annual external audits, and prepare and review corporate tax, consumption tax, and other statutory filings, ensuring full compliance.
• Accounting Services Collaboration: Act as the primary Finance contact for the regional Accounting Services team, partnering to ensure accurate and timely month-end activities and resolve accounting issues.
• Treasury & Banking Management: Manage banking administration, payment processing, and cash management activities, ensuring timely and accurate execution of all payments and maintaining appropriate controls.
• Projects & Continuous Improvement: Lead or participate in finance transformation initiatives and regional projects, supporting new system implementations and driving process improvements to increase efficiency and strengthen controls.

The Must-Haves
• Background: Bachelor’s degree in accounting, Finance or a related discipline. This is a Manager-level role with core domain knowledge in accounting, financial reporting, and financial control.
• Experience: Minimum of five years’ experience in accounting, financial reporting, or financial control, including experience managing statutory reporting, external audits, and tax compliance.
• Skills: Strong knowledge of accounting principles, IFRS, Japanese statutory accounting and tax requirements, journal entry preparation and review, reconciliation, financial analysis, Oracle or other financial reporting systems, and advanced Microsoft Excel skills.
• Bonus: CPA or equivalent professional qualification. Experience in a multinational organisation. Experience working with shared service centres or outsourced accounting functions. Proven experience in driving process improvements and strengthening financial controls. Business-level proficiency in both Japanese and English.