EF Education First
Location: Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan

Reports to: Finance Director of Finance Operations

Role Purpose As a Finance Manager, you will ensure robust financial governance, compliance, and strategic financial management in a multi-entity environment. This role is designed for ambitious finance professionals with approximately 6 years of post-qualification Big 4 experience, ready to step into a leadership role that blends technical excellence, process improvement, and business partnering.

Key Responsibilities

Financial Governance & Compliance

• Lead and sign off on monthly closes, ensuring accuracy and compliance.
• Oversee statutory reporting, regulatory filings, and internal/external audits, acting as the primary liaison with auditors and regulatory bodies.
• Oversee contract governance, ensuring all legal and commercial approvals are secured prior to execution and that local contracts follow control policies.
• Collaborate with Legal and Tax teams on all compliance matters, including board duties, AGMs, and governmental reporting.
• Ensure compliance with labor law, consumer law, sanctions, and transfer pricing.
• Ensure timely and compliant statutory and tax filings, and manage tax audits as required.
• Owning the legal entity compliance for multiple entities by assessing dividends and adequacy of equity and cash reserves.
• Be a main contact for business operations questions around operating licenses, accreditation or local employment regulations.
• Be familiar with corporate tax topics around purchase, creation and mergers/demergers or liquidation.
• Ensure no breaches with bank covenants and that shareholder agreements and AOAs are followed.
• Own and manage Power of Attorney and approval matrices for the market, ensuring logs are maintained and renewals are tracked.
• Identify and escalate material issues, and potential future tax topics/concerns to the appropriate forum.

Business Partnering & Commercial Support

• Partner with head of FP&A to coordinate on business operations processes such as procurement, customer refunds and budget tracking.
• Drive the annual budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning processes for local entities and for certain operational cost centers.
• Collaborate with Payroll Operations and HR, demonstrating sound judgment and resourcefulness in navigating high-level employment considerations and ensuring overall compliance with local requirements.

Digital Transformation and Modernizing Compliance

• Keep apprised of market developments including sanctions, legislative changes, regulatory environment and cross-border compliance matters.
• Stay abreast of technical accounting topics that impact the external audit and ensure progress on resolving internal audit items.
• Support change management initiatives, ensuring successful adoption of new processes and systems.
• Leverage technology and best practices to enhance efficiency and control.

Candidate Profile Essential Qualifications & Experience

• ACA, ACCA, or CIMA qualified (or equivalent).
• Minimum 6 years' post-qualification experience in a Big 4 audit, assurance, or advisory environment, ideally with exposure to multinational clients or complex regulatory environments.
• Demonstrable experience in financial reporting, compliance, and process improvement.
• Strong understanding of IFRS/GAAP and local regulatory frameworks.

Key Skills & Attributes

• Proven ability to manage multiple priorities and deliver to tight deadlines.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• High integrity, attention to detail, and a proactive approach to risk management and compliance.
• Experience with ERP systems is highly desirable.
• Demonstrated leadership and team development capabilities.
• Fluent in English, both written and spoken.
• Proficiency in other European languages is highly desirable.

Why Join Us?

• This position is based in Tokyo and is intended for candidates seeking a long-term opportunity. We are looking for individuals who are able to commit to a minimum of five years in this role.
• Opportunity to shape and strengthen the finance function in a dynamic, international environment.
• High visibility role with direct impact on business performance and compliance.
• Supportive culture focused on professional growth, innovation, and continuous improvement.

Note: This role description is not exhaustive. Responsibilities and reporting lines may evolve to meet the changing needs of the organization.

About EF Education First
At EF we believe that the world is better when people try to understand one another. Since 1965, we have helped millions of people see new places, experience new cultures, and learn new things about the world and about themselves. Our culturally immersive education programs—focused on language, travel, cultural exchange, and academics—turn dreams into international opportunities.

When you join EF, you join a multicultural and diverse community working across more than hundreds of schools and offices in 50 countries, all with one shared mission of opening the world through education. Whoever you are, whatever you are passionate about—we welcome you and want you to bring that to work every day. EF is proud to be an equal opportunity employer, and we are committed to inclusion and belonging across race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, caste, parental status, identity, experience and everything else that makes you unique.

Founded in Sweden in 1965, EF has schools and offices around the world, including hubs in Boston, London, São Paulo, Tokyo, Zürich, and more. Learn more