Ridhira Group - Financial Controller

Description:
Financial Controller.
Cost Planning | Pre-Opening Finance | Project Controls | Hospitality Infrastructure.
CMA / ICWA (ICAI) Qualified | 15+ Years Experience | Hyderabad / Pan-India Travel.
ABOUT RIDHIRA GROUP:
Ridhira Group is India's foremost civilisational luxury and wellness conglomerate, headquartered in Hyderabad.
The group operates across five integrated verticals:
- Ode Spa 130+ outlets at peak; 34 active locations across Tier-1 airports, premium hotels, and luxury malls; 1.5 million-member CRM.
- Ridhira Retreats Heritage properties including Karohi Haveli (Udaipur), Casa de Mello (Goa), Gulab Bari / Kohinoor Palace (Ayodhya), and Bijolai Palace (Jodhpur).
- Ode Life AI-native longevity subscription platform powered by Veda AI.
- Ode Rx Ayurvedic supplement line with 8 SKUs at industry-leading gross margins.
- Ridhira Zen Resort-residential wellness communities.
With a pipeline of 150+ heritage properties across India, active PPP projects in across india, and a capital markets strategy targeting a BSE listing, Ridhira is at an inflection point scaling from a strong operating base to a civilisational experience platform.
THE MANDATE:
Ridhira is deploying significant capital simultaneously across heritage hotel conversions, resort-residential communities, wellness spa expansions, and Ayurvedic IP infrastructure.
We need a disciplined cost architect not merely a bookkeeper who can build the financial nervous system of this expansion: rigorous pre-opening budgets, real-time project cost control, management accounting systems that survive growth, and the institutional-grade financial discipline that investors and listing regulators demand.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:
Pre-Opening Cost Planning & Budget Governance:
- Develop detailed Pre-Opening Budgets (POB) for each new property Heritage Hotel Conversions, Spa Outlets, Wellness Retreats, and Resort-Residential communities segmented by FF&E, OS&E, Civil/MEP, IT, Soft Costs, Pre-Opening Payroll, and Working Capital Reserve.
- Build and own the Pre-Opening Cost Model (POCM) using Activity-Based Costing methodology; integrate with project Gantt timelines.
- Establish and enforce cost baselines per room key / per sq. ft. benchmarks aligned with luxury hospitality industry standards (CBRE, JLL, HVS benchmarks).
- Prepare property-level feasibility reports: IRR, NPV, DSCR, and payback analysis integrating construction cost, fitout, and stabilised operating income projections.
- Design Cost-to-Complete (CTC) trackers with Earned Value Management (EVM) methodology.
- Manage capital budgets for the full Ridhira Retreats pipeline: Bijolai Palace (Jodhpur), Gulab Bari PPP (Ayodhya), Kohinoor Palace (Ayodhya), Karohi Haveli (Udaipur), Casa de Mello (Goa), and future acquisitions.
Project Cost Control & Variance Analysis:
- Deploy monthly Cost Performance Index (CPI) and Schedule Performance Index (SPI) reporting across all active projects.
- Maintain a centralised Project Cost Ledger with WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) coding aligned to project management software (MS Project / Primavera P6).
- Conduct monthly site-wise cost audits; issue Cost Control Memos (CCM) to Project Managers and General Managers.
- Manage change order (Variation Order) evaluation, approval workflow, and financial impact assessment.
- Track and report contingency utilisation versus budget; recommend reallocation or escalation to CFO.

Management Accounting & MIS:
- Own the Monthly Management Accounts (P&L, Balance Sheet, Cash Flow) for each operating entity within the group Ode Spa, Ridhira Retreats, Ode Life Sciences, and new SPVs.
- Design and implement USALI (Uniform System of Accounts for Lodging 11th Edition).
- Implement standard costing for Ode Rx supplement SKUs: BOM (Bill of Materials) costing, yield variance analysis, packaging cost benchmarking.
Books of Accounts & Statutory Compliance:
- Maintain accurate, audit-ready books of accounts across all group entities in Tally ERP 9 / TallyPrime or SAP B1 - including general ledger, accounts payable, accounts receivable, fixed asset register, and inter-company accounts.
- Oversee Ind AS-compliant financial statement preparation: revenue recognition (Ind AS 115), lease accounting (Ind AS 116), and property, plant & equipment (Ind AS 16).
- Co-ordinate with statutory auditors, internal auditors, and cost auditors; manage audit timelines and deliverables.
- Prepare and file Cost Audit Report (Form CRA-3) under Companies (Cost Records and Audit) Rules, 2014 particularly relevant for the Ode Rx nutraceutical vertical.
communication channels for vendor management.
IDEAL CANDIDATE PROFILE:
Qualification - Non-Negotiable:
- CMA (Cost & Management Accountant) / ICWA - Full membership of The Institute of Cost Accountants of India (ICAI - CMA).
- This is mandatory.
- Applications without this qualification will not be processed.
- Additional CA qualification (ICAI) is a strong positive; it is not a substitute for CMA.
- PMP (Project Management Professional) certification or equivalent is highly valued.
- USALI certification or formal hospitality finance training (e.g., Cornell SHA / eCornell) is a strong differentiator.
Experience - The Non-Negotiables:
- 15-22 years of total experience in cost and management accounting.
- Minimum 8 years of direct hospitality or real estate project cost experience: Hotels, Resorts, Service Apartments, Heritage Properties, or large-format Integrated Townships.
- Demonstrable experience in Pre-Opening of minimum 35 hotels / resorts as the lead finance or cost accountant not merely as a team member.
- Experience managing Books of Accounts for multi-entity groups with consolidated turnovers.
- Exposure to listed or BSE SME / NSE Emerge listed companies is highly desirable.
- Experience at institutional-quality organisations: ITC Hotels, Taj (IHCL), Marriott India, Oberoi, Lemon Tree, Mahindra Holidays, Piramal Realty, DLF Hospitality, Brigade Hospitality, or equivalent.
Technical Competencies:
- Deep knowledge of Cost Audit regulations under Companies Act 2013 and Cost Records Rules 2014.
- Project costing tools: Primavera P6, MS Project, or equivalent.
- Advanced Excel: financial modelling, pivot tables, Power Query; Python basics a plus.
- Tally ERP 9 / TallyPrime proficiency; SAP B1 or SAP FI/CO module experience strongly preferred.
- Familiarity with hospitality PMS systems: Oracle OPERA, IDS NEXT, eZee Absolute and their integration with financial systems.
- GST, TDS, Ind AS, Income Tax Act working knowledge sufficient to lead compliance with advisors.
- Understanding of RERA compliance for resort-residential projects.
Our Core Values The Cultural Filter:
We look for candidates who embody these principles:
- Dhruvat (Steadfastness): Unwavering commitment to accuracy, deadlines, and financial integrity.
Financial numbers are sacred no rounding off inconvenient truths.
- Viveka (Discernment): Ability to challenge assumptions made by architects, contractors, and operators with evidence-based analysis.
- Seva (Service Leadership): Finance as a service to the business enabling better decisions, not creating bureaucratic friction.
A business partner, not a gatekeeper.
- Saundarya (Excellence): We build beautiful properties.
Our financial systems should be equally well-crafted structured, elegant, and institutionally rigorous.
- Sakalpa (Purpose): A belief that India's civilisational heritage has immense commercial and cultural value, and pride in being part of a mission to bring it to the world stage.
The Person We Are Looking For:
- Has worked in organisations with genuine financial discipline not startups with chaotic books, but companies where the MIS was taken seriously and the CFO demanded accountability.
- Has been through at least one complete hotel pre-opening cycle from ground-breaking to first guest night and can narrate the financial learnings from that journey.
- Comfortable working in a high-ambition, fast-evolving environment without losing rigour.
- Has the intellectual confidence to push back on the MD/CFO when numbers don't add up, while maintaining the relationship to do so constructively.
- Approaches cost control not as restriction but as design every rupee saved funds the next property, the next experience, the next hire.
- Is a builder, not just an operator wants to create systems, templates, and processes that outlast their tenure.
WHAT YOU WILL BUILD AT RIDHIRA:
- The Financial Operating System (FOS) for a multi-property heritage hospitality group scaling toward a BSE listing.
- A Pre-Opening Finance Playbook that becomes the gold standard for every future Ridhira property launch.
- The Cost Intelligence Layer of the Ridhira technology platform AI-assisted cost analytics feeding real-time dashboards.
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS - YEAR 1:
- Pre-opening budget variance: within 5% of approved POB for all active projects.
- Monthly MIS delivery: by 7th working day of subsequent month, zero exceptions.
- Books closure (monthly): within 5 working days of month-end.
- GST ITC reconciliation: 100% match, zero notices outstanding.
- Cost Audit filing (CRA-3): on-time, zero qualifications.
- Cash flow forecast accuracy (13-week): 8% variance on outflows.
- Finance ERP implementation: go-live within 6 months of joining.
- Cost Centre structure rollout: complete across all 5 verticals within 90 days.