Group Director of Finance - London, UK

About Aethos

Extraordinary places, passionate people, and shared learning experiences: this is Aethos. We believe that traveling and hospitality should leave a lasting positive impact on the mind, body, and soul. That’s the reason why we choose our locations very carefully and work together with people who want to be part of a community instead of just ‘having a job’. Everyone who works at Aethos can make a personal impact on the community and company - great ideas can come from anywhere. We are a young and dynamic hospitality company that understands the value of time with friends and loved ones. We make a conscious choice towards sustainability and well-being, and the luxury of time and space. We stand for freedom from the stresses and anxieties of modern life. We want to be the first choice for anyone who seeks respite and refuge from the boring, the stressful, and the unsustainable. That‘s why we define hospitality differently: while all of our decisions should be made with the community and needs of our guests in mind, we always strive to create a community that we want to be part of and that improves the world around us. We invite you to be part of our story.

The Role

The Group Director of Finance (Group DOF) is the senior financial leader for Aethos, responsible for ensuring financial stability, transparency, and scalability across the group. This role oversees corporate finance at HQ, directly manages the Finance & Accounting Manager, and provides functional leadership to all Hotel Directors of Finance (indirect reporting line via General Managers).

The Group DOF sets the financial framework, standards, and governance across corporate and hotel operations, ensuring consistent processes, robust controls, and high-quality reporting. This role partners closely with the executive leadership team to support growth, investment decisions, and long-term value creation.

Who This Role Suits

This role is suited to a finance leader who thrives in environments with complexity and ambiguity, and who enjoys creating structure, clarity, and scalable solutions as the business evolves. The Group DOF will bring strong change management experience and the ability to guide, develop, and align teams through periods of growth and transformation. As a trusted strategic partner to the CEO and executive team, this individual will actively shape key business decisions, combining commercial insight with financial rigor. The role requires genuine curiosity about the wider business, a willingness to engage deeply with operational teams, and a hands‑on approach to understanding, supporting, and estimating the financial resources required to deliver Aethos’ long‑term vision. This is a role for someone comfortable balancing high‑level strategic leadership with detailed, hands‑on involvement when needed.

Key Responsibilities Include:

• Group Finance Leadership & Governance
  • Own and continuously develop the group‑wide finance strategy, ensuring financial stability while enabling growth and flexibility.
  • Act as the financial steward of the business, ensuring strong governance, risk management, and internal controls across all entities and hotels.
  • Serve as a strategic partner to the executive team on financial performance, capital allocation, and business planning.
• Corporate Finance Oversight
  • Oversee the Finance & Accounting Manager, ensuring corporate finance and accounting operations are accurate, timely, and well‑controlled.
  • Review and challenge corporate management accounts, cash flow forecasts, liquidity planning, and consolidated reporting.
  • Ensure the corporate centre provides high‑quality financial insight and support to hotel operations and leadership.
• Hotel Finance Oversight (Indirect)
  • Provide functional leadership to all Hotel Directors of Finance, setting clear expectations, standards, and ways of working.
  • Define and enforce hotel‑level financial processes, including accounting policies, reporting calendars, forecasting methodologies, and budgeting frameworks.
  • Review hotel financial performance, forecasts, and budgets, ensuring consistency, accuracy, and alignment with group objectives.
  • Act as a key escalation point for complex financial, control, or compliance matters at hotel level.
• Standardisation & Systems
  • Design and implement group‑wide financial policies, procedures, and reporting standards across corporate and hotel entities.
  • Drive standardisation of systems, chart of accounts, reporting formats, and KPIs across the group.
  • Continuously improve finance processes to increase efficiency, transparency, and decision‑support capability as the group scales.
• Budgeting, Forecasting & Performance Management
  • Lead the annual group budgeting process and oversee hotel and corporate budgets.
  • Oversee rolling forecasts, long‑term financial planning, and scenario analysis at both hotel and group level.
  • Monitor performance against budget and forecast, providing clear variance analysis and actionable insights to leadership.
• Treasury, Cash Flow & Capital Structure
  • Oversee group‑wide cash flow management, liquidity planning, and banking relationships.
  • Maintain oversight of intercompany funding, loans, and capital movements across entities.
  • Support fundraising, refinancing, and investor‑related activities where required.
• Audit, Compliance & Risk
  • Oversee statutory reporting and audit processes across all corporate entities and, where relevant, hotel structures.
  • Ensure compliance with local regulations, tax requirements, and governance standards across jurisdictions.
  • Maintain a robust internal control environment and proactively manage financial and operational risk.
• Stakeholder Management
  • Act as a senior finance point of contact for external auditors, advisors, banks, and investors.
  • Partner closely with General Managers, Hotel DOFs, and department heads to embed financial discipline and commercial thinking across the business.
• Other
  • Support ad‑hoc strategic projects, new hotel openings, acquisitions, and structural changes across the group.
  • Contribute to building a strong finance culture that balances control, collaboration, and commercial mindset.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, or related field; CPA / ACCA / CIMA strongly preferred.
• 10+ years of senior finance experience, ideally within hospitality, real estate, or multi‑site / multi‑entity environments.
• Proven experience leading group finance functions and overseeing both corporate and operational (hotel/site‑level) finance teams.
• Strong technical accounting knowledge combined with strategic, commercial insight.
• Demonstrated ability to design scalable finance processes and governance frameworks.
• Experience working across multiple jurisdictions and with external advisors and auditors.
• Excellent leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.

Why Join Us

• A dynamic and collaborative team
• Opportunities for professional growth
• Exposure to a fast‑paced international multi‑property business
• Hybrid work