Finance and People Lead
PermanentJob Overview
ESAO is a full-service aircraft operator with extensive ISR flight capability backed up by a skilled in-house aviation engineering team. This powerful combination puts us at the forefront of our industry, both in the air and on the ground. It also ensures we can deploy and support quickly and efficiently, even in the world’s most challenging environments.
We are seeking a highly organised and commercially minded Finance & HR Executive to support the effective running of our Malta entity. This role is central to ensuring strong financial governance, accurate reporting, and compliant HR operations.
The successful candidate will work closely with the ESAO Managing Director, ESAO Head of Operations, the UK based Group Finance Controller, and the Group Head of People to deliver high quality local Finance and HR support aligned with group standards.
The ideal candidate will be proactive, analytical, and detailoriented, with strong communication skills and the ability to operate confidently within an international business environment.
We are seeking a highly organised and commercially minded Finance & HR Executive to support the effective running of our Malta entity. This role is central to ensuring strong financial governance, accurate reporting, and compliant HR operations.
The successful candidate will work closely with the ESAO Managing Director, ESAO Head of Operations, the UK based Group Finance Controller, and the Group Head of People to deliver high quality local Finance and HR support aligned with group standards.
The ideal candidate will be proactive, analytical, and detailoriented, with strong communication skills and the ability to operate confidently within an international business environment.
Key Duties & Responsibilities
Finance (Primary Focus)
You will play a key role in maintaining robust financial processes and supporting commercial decision making.
Responsibilities include:
You will play a key role in maintaining robust financial processes and supporting commercial decision making.
Responsibilities include:
- Support the processing of local supplier invoices, customer billing and preparing associated financial reports.
- Timely and accurate completion for Maltese and EU VAT processes.
- Supporting month end and year end close activities, including reconciliations, stock counts and internal control checks in collaboration with the Group Finance team.
- Acting as the primary point of contact for the local statutory audit and preparing required audit documentation.
- Managing Malta Enterprise grant data capture, reporting and submission.
- Supporting and administering local banking activities, including reconciliations and reporting.
- Ensuring compliance with the Group Delegated Authorities Matrix and internal control frameworks.
- Assisting with budgeting, forecasting, financial planning, and adhoc financial analysis.
- Providing commercial insight to support local operations, supplier negotiations, and cost management initiatives.
- Liaising with Insurance Brokers for ad-hoc queries through to annual policy renewals.
Human Resources
Working closely with the Group Head of People, you will support the delivery of compliant and effective HR processes:
Working closely with the Group Head of People, you will support the delivery of compliant and effective HR processes:
- Coordinating group HR administration and policy implementation.
- Managing local HR and welfare related tasks, including onboarding, documentation and employee queries.
- Liaising with Maltese authorities and agencies such as JobsPlus, Identity Malta, and payroll service providers.
Office & Administrative Support
While the role is primarily Finance and HR focused, you will also ensure the smooth running of the office environment:
While the role is primarily Finance and HR focused, you will also ensure the smooth running of the office environment:
- Coordinating with suppliers and service providers for office and staff administration.
- Overseeing general office up keep to maintain a safe and efficient working environment.
- Supporting the organization of internal events and business activities.
- Acting as a point of contact for visitors and occasional incoming calls (minimal focus).
Skills, Knowledge & Expertise
The ideal candidate will have a strong finance foundation and commercial awareness, with the ability to support business operations beyond core accounting
tasks.
tasks.
- A professional accounting qualification (e.g., University of Malta accountancy degree, ACCA, ACA).
- Associate/Member/Fellow of the Malta Institute of Accountants.
- Experience working in a commercial environment, ideally within a small to medium sized business.
- Experience with Malta Enterprise grant submissions.
- Strong proficiency in financial reporting systems, spreadsheets, and report writing.
- Experience managing or supporting statutory audits (audit background advantageous).
- Experience with SAGE Intacct or similar cloud based integrated finance systems.
- Familiarity with Google Workspace and business intelligence/data dashboards.
- Inhouse training in Malta or the UK can be provided for the right candidate.