Accounting & Finance

The Middle East has one of the world's highest percentage of immigrants. The knock-on effect of this is that most businesses rely on Accounting & Finance expats, many of whom live in the region for a finite period of their careers to enjoy the many financial and lifestyle benefits. Despite a strong international market, many of our clients previously struggled to find committed finance candidates with the right skills and experience, which was an ideal opportunity for our experienced, industry-specialist team to leverage our global reach and attract our talent pool to this diverse region.

In today’s increasingly challenging environment, companies often have tighter budget constraints, meaning that HR, who may not fully appreciate the intricacies of Accounting & Finance skill sets, are often more involved in the recruitment process. In a saturated recruitment agency market, businesses often gravitate towards agencies with the lowest fees, which invariably either slows down the process or doesn’t end with the most appropriate or best hire.

As industry specialists, our “one-stop shop” model appeals to our clients, creating value by supporting them across each of the verticals in their business. We measure their satisfaction via NPS and have one of the highest industry standard scores in the Group. As a challenger brand, we are never complacent in our levels of service, focusing equally on quality and quantity for a better customer experience for our clients and candidates.

​Whether you’re recruiting for a handful of roles a year or a handful of roles a week, we are here to use our extensive network to find the best candidates for you. We can provide long term, permanent additions to your team or also support on any long-term contract support. We can adapt depending on your requirements.

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Key features:

• On-off flexibility to suit your needs

• Time to hire: 2 to 4 weeks, including search

• Dedicated resourcing of 1 or 2 recruiters in your specific disciplines

• Shortlists within 48 hours

• Pre-agreed timeline to hire

• We source and secure high calibre talent using innovative, customised search methods

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Why you’ll love it:

• Quick and easy access to quality candidates

• Reduced time to hire

• Less time spent reviewing CVs and interviewing

• Low risk - no need for financial investment. Our search-to-fill rate is one of the best in the market

• We can accommodate the differing needs of your business over time; whether you are reaching a project stage or need a full team restructure

• You can start your process as soon as you are ready to ensure a complete handover phase

• Long term support and advice

Key features:

• Time to hire: 2 to 4 weeks, including search

• Dedicated resourcing of 1 or 2 recruiters in your specific disciplines

• Shortlists within 48 hours

• Pre-agreed timeline to hire

• We source and secure high calibre talent using innovative, customised search methods

• Flexible pricing structure: we charge a flat fee based on the role seniority and location

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Why you’ll love it:

• Quick and easy access to quality candidates in emerging markets

• Reduced time to hire

• Less time spent reviewing CVs and interviewing

• Low risk - no need for financial investment. Our search-to-fill rate is one of the best in the market

• Better coverage of emerging markets, as we’re able to fill roles that other recruiters would turn down, due to low fees

​Key features:

• Ability to hire multiple candidates fast

• Reduce time to hire from search to hire within days. Full teams hired within weeks

• Interview process is managed by us onsite, quickly and effectively, allowing your management team to focus on their day job

• Catered lunch is included for all interviewers

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Why you’ll love it:

• Secure larger projects based on knowing you can scale quickly

• Better return on investment - you can get your project off the ground quicker and speed up the delivery, thus increase your bottom line

• Removes the need for hiring managers to review CVs and conduct phone interviews, reducing your “time to hire” by 66% on average, meaning your staff can spend more time doing what they are best at

• A dedicated point of contact in your office means you always have access to someone and real visibility over what’s happening at any given time

Key features:

• Using both our Regional Research Center of Excellence (COE) and experienced in-country Consultants, we will objectively map niche markets

• Fully bespoke from a location, skill set and seniority perspective

• Maps will give a visual of the current market conditions and where the talent sits from a regional perspective

• Provides insight on restrictions / NOCs / notice periods

• Proactive and organic for quick access and use

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Why you’ll love it:

• Increased awareness of your employer brand to help you stand out from the crowd

• Benchmark your reward strategy and team structure against the most effective in the market

• Successfully headhunt direct competition to your business

• Your experience will be interactive - we’ll empower you and engage candidates towards your brand

• Arms you with the information you need to make a business case to senior decision makers about gaps in your team

• Proactive and strategic approach to talent acquisition helps you structure your budgets more effectively

​Key features:

• Pre-defined timelines and start date for the candidate agreed as the search is started

• Using innovative, customised search methods, we source and secure the market’s best talent

• Dedicated recruitment team on each specific search

• Thorough market map to present market data and insights along with a weekly update and longlist

• For each new role, you will be assigned to of our experienced Consultants as your primary point of contact

• Flexible billing structure

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Why you’ll love it:

• You gain preferred access to the best candidate pool of active and passive candidates

• Ability to rapidly ramp up and scale down resource

• Your experience will be interactive, as we’ll empower you and engage candidates towards your brand

• Remain anonymous whilst you go out to market

• Easier to plan around a pre-agreed start date

• Guaranteed to secure the hire

• More insights into the market conditions through market maps

• Staggered payment plan

• Work to tighter deadlines due to the increased resources that can be committed to the search

The challenge:

Our client, an international cosmetics company, had an urgent need for additional temporary headcount in their Finance team to assist in their annual budget process. Their HR department had little insight and experience with recruiting finance professionals and were not making progress due to most candidates needing to give three months’ notice in KSA, which didn’t align with the fast, two-week turnaround required.

Our solution:

We always have a live pool of available accountants and finance specialists we can contact immediately. Within 24 hours, we were able to brief all available candidates who had the relevant qualifications and experience on the role and prepare a short list. As this pool of talent is already pre-screened, qualified and known to us directly, we were able to deliver at speed.

The outcome:

• Within two weeks, we placed four FP&A Managers who were all 2-4 years PQE qualified accountants from well-known multinationals with budgeting and forecasting experience

• The team was in place before the budget cycle and an accurate budget and forecast report was produced on time, to the client’s satisfaction

• The client found the process to be fast and efficient and that the talent had exceeded expectations, so much so that many of the candidates were offered permanent roles

The challenge:

Our client, a German multinational, urgently needed to appoint a Head of Finance in Egypt within a very short timeframe. After suffering communication difficulties with candidates and local recruitment agencies in Egypt, they appointed us to be a single, trusted point of contact.

Our solution:

Our regional expertise meant that we not only knew their competitors very well but were also able to leverage our referral network from the Middle East to access a pool of top FMCG Egyptian talent. Considering all the senior Finance professionals in all MNC’s within FMCG too, we had the market mapped within 48 hours. Our flexible pricing structure meant that we were able to complete the project for a flat fee based on role seniority and location.

The outcome:

• We presented five CV’s within the first 48 hours that all went to interview as they were from competitors

• Interviews were arranged within a week; the process was fast, and the candidate was placed within a month

• The hiring manager was very happy with the experience and the candidate we placed has since provided a testimonial

The challenge:

Our client, a multinational beauty company, wanted to establish their Legal Entity in Dubai. They were looking for a trusted recruitment partner to support and hire a new Finance team of 12, with roles across multiple business units, from CFO through to FP&A and AP. Candidates ideally had to be the best in their fields, with FMCG experience and local market expertise.

Our solution:

A team of two specialists moved onto the project full-time to manage the whole recruitment process and began by mapping out the UAE market to ensure we uncovered the best talent the region had to offer. We ran a high-profile advertising campaign in partnership with the brand, at the same time engaging passive candidates through our network of referrals and by targeting their key competitors. We met the hiring manager regularly throughout the process for feedback and to accelerate the mandate.

The outcome:

• The full Finance team was sourced and placed within just 12 weeks

• We saved the client over 100,000 AED

• Argyll Scott is now the client’s exclusive recruitment partner for all their Finance needs and also provides support across their Sales & Marketing, HR and Supply Chain functions