Train Finance Manager

**Company Description** About Orient Express**

Artisan of Travel since 1883, Orient Express is a legendary brand, deeply rooted in history and admired by generations past, present, and future. As a symbol of ultra-luxury hospitality, the brand is currently undergoing an ambitious phase of rebirth and expansion accelerated since 2024 as a Joint Venture between ACCOR and LVMH.

ORIENT EXPRESS embodies the refined and nomadic spirit of travel. Its exceptional assets portfolio includes experiences such as The Orient Express — its iconic carriages reinvented as a modern-day tribute to French luxury, including our collaboration with ARSENALE Group to launch ‘La Dolce Vita’, a train celebrating the elegance of Italian art de vivre, and a collection of luxury hotels opened in Rome - La Minerva - and soon in Venice - Palazzo Donà Giovannelli, and with Sailing Yachts - the O.E Corinthian, the world’s largest sailing ship.

While redefining the future of luxury hospitality, Orient Express places particular emphasis on the employee experience, development, and engagement.

Within the Orient Express Finance team, and reporting to the CFO, the Train Finance Manager will serve as a strategic business partner, providing critical financial oversight and operational support to the New Orient Express Train and to the Orient Express Management team.

**ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES**

The Train Finance Manager is responsible for all financial aspects related to the Construction and the preparation of the Operations of the New Orient Express (NOE), working hand-in-hand with the Train Project team and the Train Operations team. As such, the Train Finance Manager will be in charge of updating, tracking and monitoring the Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) and Business Plans of the NOE, with the objective of improving accuracy of forecasts and reporting, increasing transparency throughout the organization, preparing and providing relevant financial information to the different stakeholders (management, operational teams ), in order to support the NOE project and the Management team.

**Business partner and Finance leader for the New Orient Express**
- Driving the review and update of NOE Business Plans.
- Preparing NOE related financial information and financial presentations for Orient Express Management.
- NOE Finance gatekeeper: accountable for all financial elements related to the NOE, and taking the necessary steps to anticipate, to alert and to propose actions so as to limit and to mitigate risks of budget overruns.
- Follow-up and analysis budget and financials of NOE projects, liaising with all departments (Commercial, Marketing, Legal, HR ).

**Project Cost Management**
- Working closely with the Project Management team to review and to update the project CAPEX, at each stage (from design to delivery) tracking and monitoring investments, contributing to the preparation of the required workflows (from authorisations to payment).
- Liaising with Finance and Accounting departments to provide relevant and timely information on the CAPEX plans and actuals (from commitment to cash forecast): control of validation & of accounting allocation, facilitating reconciliations, following up on advance reimbursements and underlying guarantees for advances.
- Updating and monitoring the project risk mapping

**Operations Finance Design & Implementation**
- Key Contributor to the design, modelling and implementation of the NOE Operations from a financial perspective (accounting, tax, treasury, controlling, audit), in close connection with all related parties (Operations, Customer Service, IT ).
- Establishing processes, monitoring tools and ways of working to enable a sound, compliant and financially sustainable Operating Model.
- Working closely with the wider team to ensure a functional understanding of departmental financial reporting and other metrics including hospitality KPIs and P&Ls.

**Qualifications**
- Master’s degree in Finance, Accounting, Business, or a related field.
- Minimum 7 years’ experience in Financial Planning / Finance Controlling in a multinational company, with good knowledge of accounting principles and of internal control processes.
- Prior experience in the hospitality, train or cruise industry as a plus.
- Fluency in English & French.
- Proficiency with Excel modelling, utilisation of BI and reporting tools, skilled on MS Office.

**KEY COMPETENCIES**
- Strong analytical skills - expert at collecting and organising data, logically interpreting it and making robust conclusions
- Ability to manage complexity, but with the rationality to simplify
- Effective communication and presentation skills, with the confidence to challenge others
- An inclusive leader who seeks and values diverse perspectives and opinions
- Excellent time & project management skills, with the ability to prioritise, plan and deliver quality results to tight deadlines.
- Ability to establish and maintain strong productive working relationships with e