Chief Financial Officer

About Transforma 

Transforma Travel Group is a leading youth travel company. Transforma’s family of brands create culturally enriching, off-the-beaten-track, and educational adventures for travellers and students alike. Across both our brands, our mission is the same: to expand minds through transformative travel experiences.   

• The Dragon Trip is a leading tour provider for affordable adventure tours across the Americas & Asia. The company focuses on showing the real side of the countries we visit, through engaging backpacking trips that aim to broaden cultural understanding amongst the next generation of global citizens. 

• The Learning Adventure is a leading educational tour provider for school and university students, operating educational trips across the globe. The company focuses on offering bespoke itineraries that deliver prescribed learning outcomes and unique, engaging activities to inspire the next generation of global citizens. 

About the role  

We’re seeking a Chief Financial Officer to lead the financial strategy of the organisation, align financial decisions with long-term business goals, drive sustainable growth and share company-wide strategic direction.  

You will be responsible for... 

• Strategic leadership: Collaborate with C-suite and senior leadership to shape and execute the company’s strategic plan and make bold yet data-driven strategic decisions that drive sustainable growth and remain true to our mission and values 

• Financial planning & analysis: Oversee the development of long-term plans, annual budgets, KPIs, and rolling forecasts; deliver scenario modelling and risk assessments to inform decisions; ensure we have the core financial information at our disposal and have the relevant data to hand. 

• Financial strategy: Optimise the company’s capital structure; align financial strategies with business objectives; evaluate growth opportunities; support pricing, product investment, and market prioritisation decisions with financial data  

• Treasury & FX: Utilising currency hedging to ensure we are able to service all our working capital requirements across all the individual entities 

• Develop our finance systems for growth – Shape the company’s direction during a critical phase of consolidation and growth, ensuring we strengthen our foundations, optimise operations, and position ourselves for long-term success.  

• Audit and accounts preparation: Multi entity consolidation with multiple entities and non-aligning year ends. Prepare the financial board pack every quarter and ensure we’re prepared for our UK audit. 

• Risk management & governance: Ensure compliance with financial regulations across multiple jurisdictions, reporting standards, and internal controls; manage operational, financial, and strategic risks. (including TOMS VAT and ATOL reporting) 

• Leadership of finance team: Lead high-performing finance team that runs finance for all offices globally from the Vietnam office 

• Stakeholder engagement: Serve as key liaison with the Board, investors, analysts and external advisors; communicate financial performance and strategy effectively to internal and external stakeholders 

This role reports to the CEO of Transforma Travel Group and will work closely with the finance team, the management team and our central services team (people & culture, legal & compliance, and tech). The CFO will be part of the executive leadership team.  

About you 

You will thrive in this position, you will likely be ...  

• A strategic thinker, able to zoom into the numbers and zoom out to connect them to the big picture  
• A creative problem-solver who is motivated, rather than discouraged, by challenges and obstacles 
• A strong team lead who enjoys coaching and motivating a high performing team 
• A strong communicator, able to work with and inspire teams across departments and geographies, and to convey complex data to a variety of audiences  
• A person with high integrity and interpersonal aptitudes  

And bring...  

• At least 8 years working in finance and accounting, including experience in senior managerial roles  
• Experience in the travel sector (preferred), start ups or other agile, fast-paced organisations operating internationally 
• A degree and additional qualifications in accounting 
• A passion for travel or international education (like all of our team!). 

If you don't exactly meet all the experience criteria but your competencies align with the description, then we still want to hear from you! 

What you can expect from us  

• Autonomy: Freedom to execute on your ideas and plan your own schedule. 
• Support: You will report directly to the CEO, who is based in Lisbon. We’ll invest time in you to allow you to succeed. It is important to us that our team members develop professionally during their time with us. 
• Opportunity: We are a rapidly growing company in our space and work hard to recruit internally. We expect to move from a medium- to large-sized entity within 5 years.  
• Fun, growing team: Our global offices are growing – be part of the action and grow alongside us. 

To apply for the role, please click the link above.

We look forward to receiving your application! 

Transforma Travel Group is an equal opportunity employer and welcome and celebrate diversity and uniqueness in all forms.