FINANCIAL CONTROLLER & FP&A; LEAD | STUDENT HOUSING Confidential – Job Description JOB DESCRIPTION Financial Controller & FP&A; Lead Student Housing Business Location Bengaluru / Hybrid Experience 8–12 years Industry Student Housing / PropTech / Education / Real Estate Reporting To Head of Finance / CFO About the Role We are looking for a high-calibre Financial Controller & FP&A; Leader to build and lead the financial planning, reporting, controllership and business finance function for our growing Student Housing business. This is not a traditional accounting role. We are looking for someone who combines strong accounting and controllership fundamentals with exceptional commercial thinking, financial modelling, business understanding and management capabilities. The ideal candidate should be able to look at a business problem, understand the underlying drivers, build the financial view, challenge assumptions, and translate the numbers into clear actions for the management team. Prior experience in Student Housing, Co-living, Hospitality, PropTech, Real Estate, Property Management or a similar asset-heavy/occupancy-driven business is strongly preferred. 1. Financial Controllership Own the end-to-end financial controllership for the Student Housing business. Ensure timely and accurate monthly, quarterly and annual financial closures. Establish robust accounting policies, processes, controls and reconciliations. Ensure revenue, costs, receivables, payables, advances, deposits and other balance-sheet items are accurately accounted for. Drive strong balance-sheet hygiene and working-capital management. Establish appropriate internal controls and financial governance across the business. Coordinate with statutory, internal and external auditors. Identify financial risks, control gaps and process inefficiencies and implement corrective actions. Build a scalable finance infrastructure capable of supporting rapid business growth. 2. FP&A; and Business Planning Own the annual budgeting and forecasting process. Prepare monthly rolling forecasts and scenario-based financial models. Develop detailed P&L;, cash-flow and balance-sheet forecasts. Analyse actuals versus budget, forecast and prior periods. Provide management with clear explanations of variances and recommended actions. Build financial models for new properties, cities, partnerships and expansion opportunities. Support management in evaluating new business opportunities and investments. FINANCIAL CONTROLLER & FP&A; LEAD | STUDENT HOUSING Confidential – Job Description 3. Student Housing Business Analytics The candidate must understand the economics of an occupancy-driven business. Key metrics should include: Occupancy %, bed inventory, available beds, booked beds, revenue per occupied bed, revenue per available bed, average length of stay, student acquisition cost, property-level EBITDA, contribution margin, property operating costs, rent / lease cost per bed, utilities per occupied bed, property payback, city-level profitability, cancellation and refund rates, renewal rates and collection efficiency. The candidate will be expected to move beyond reporting these metrics and understand what is driving them and what management should do about them. 4. Property / Unit Economics Build and maintain property-level financial models. Evaluate the profitability of individual properties and locations. Analyse fixed versus variable costs. Determine break-even occupancy for each property.



Evaluate lease versus revenue-share arrangements. Assess the financial impact of pricing changes, discounts and promotions. Build sensitivity analyses around occupancy, pricing, rent, operating costs and student acquisition. Identify underperforming properties and develop turnaround plans. Support negotiations with landlords, property partners and vendors through financial analysis. 5. Management Reporting Develop a high-quality management reporting framework covering business P&L;, city-wise performance, property-wise performance, occupancy and revenue trends, budget vs actual, forecast vs actual, cash flow, working capital, collections, customer economics, property contribution and key business KPIs. Reports should not merely present numbers. They should answer: What happened? Why did it happen? What will happen next? What should management do about it? 6. Business Partnering Partner closely with the CEO, business heads, operations, sales, property acquisition and other functional leaders. Challenge business assumptions constructively. Bring financial discipline into commercial decisions. Participate in pricing, expansion, property acquisition and partnership decisions. Help business teams understand the financial consequences of their decisions. Develop strong relationships with operational leaders while maintaining financial independence and discipline. 7. Cash Flow & Working Capital Own cash-flow forecasting and liquidity planning. Improve collections and reduce receivable ageing. Monitor vendor payments, landlord payments, deposits and advances. Identify working-capital leakages. FINANCIAL CONTROLLER & FP&A; LEAD | STUDENT HOUSING Confidential – Job Description Develop short-term and long-term cash-flow models. Ensure adequate liquidity for expansion plans. Work with business teams to improve cash conversion. 8. Process Improvement & Automation Build scalable finance processes that can support rapid growth. Identify repetitive/manual processes and automate them. Improve MIS, dashboards and financial reporting systems. Partner with technology/product teams to improve financial data architecture. Establish a strong single source of truth for financial and operational data. Continuously challenge existing processes and ask: “Can this be simpler, faster and better?” 9. Team Leadership Build and manage a high-performing finance team. Set transparent objectives and KPIs for the team. Develop strong accounting, FP&A; and business-finance capabilities within the team. Create a culture of ownership, accountability and continuous improvement. Review team output and ensure high standards of accuracy and timeliness. Mentor team members and develop future finance leaders. What We Are Looking For Essential 8–12 years of relevant finance experience. Strong experience in financial controllership and FP&A.; Excellent understanding of P&L;, balance sheet and cash flow. Strong financial modelling and forecasting skills. Experience managing monthly/annual closing and management reporting. Strong understanding of business drivers and unit economics.



Experience partnering with senior management. Proven team-management experience. Strong Excel / financial modelling capabilities. Ability to work with large datasets and translate them into actionable insights. Strong Preference Experience in Student Housing, Co-living, Hospitality, Real Estate, Property Management, PropTech, asset-light / asset-heavy accommodation businesses, rental / leasing businesses, or education businesses with accommodation operations. The Most Important Attribute: Thinking Ability We are looking for someone who is commercially intelligent, not just technically strong. Why is occupancy declining? Is the problem pricing, demand, sales conversion or property availability? FINANCIAL CONTROLLER & FP&A; LEAD | STUDENT HOUSING Confidential – Job Description Which properties are actually generating value? What occupancy level is required to break even? What happens to EBITDA if rent increases by 10%? How much can we discount without destroying contribution margin? Which city should we expand into next? Why has revenue increased but cash flow deteriorated? Where is money leaking from the business? Which KPI should management actually focus on? The candidate should be comfortable challenging assumptions, identifying the real problem and proposing solutions, rather than simply reporting what happened. Leadership & Management Capabilities Strong ownership and accountability. Ability to manage and develop teams. Excellent stakeholder-management skills. Ability to influence business leaders without relying solely on authority. Strong communication and presentation skills. Ability to operate in a fast-paced and rapidly changing environment. High attention to detail without losing sight of the bigger picture. Ability to prioritise and make decisions with incomplete information. Bias towards action and problem solving. Ability to build processes rather than continuously firefight. Ideal Candidate Profile We are looking for someone who can operate at three levels simultaneously: Level 1 – Numbers Can ensure that the books, controls, reporting and financial statements are accurate. Level 2 – Business Understands occupancy, pricing, property economics, customer acquisition, collections and profitability. Level 3 – Strategy Can help management decide where to invest, where to cut costs, which properties to pursue, which markets to enter and how to scale profitably. The right person should eventually be capable of functioning as the finance leader for the Student Housing business, rather than remaining limited to a reporting/controller role. Key Success Metrics Timely and accurate monthly financial closure. Accuracy of budgets and rolling forecasts. Improvement in property-level profitability. Improvement in cash conversion and working capital. Improved visibility into business and property economics. FINANCIAL CONTROLLER & FP&A; LEAD | STUDENT HOUSING Confidential – Job Description Reduction in financial leakages and control weaknesses. Automation and simplification of finance processes. Quality and timeliness of management MIS. Successful scaling of the finance function with business growth. Quality of financial insights and recommendations provided to management. What Success Looks Like We are not looking for someone who can tell us what happened. We are looking for someone who can tell us why it happened, what is likely to happen next, and what we should do about it.

📌 Financial Controller & FP&A Lead (Bengaluru)
🏢 Miles Education
📍 Bengaluru