About Mobilia

Mobilia is a well-known Canadian retailer of modern furniture operating in eastern Canada.

Founded in Montreal by Hans Kau in 1966, Mobilia is a Quebec family business with nine branches in Quebec and Ontario. Mélanie Kau, daughter of the founder was president from 1988 to 2011 and oversaw a significant expansion of the company, quadrupling the sales volume. Today, she chairs the company’s Board of Directors composed of family members.

In 2014, Johannes Kau, son of the founder, became President of MOBILIA. He developed the company by focusing on the company’s technological interface with its customers. In 2015, the company inaugurated its transactional website, mobilia.ca offering more than 2,000 products that it sells to customers from British Columbia to New Brunswick.

Mobilia’s expertise in sourcing and importing quality home furnishings is evident in its value pricing and its unparalleled quality-price-style ratio, a component of the company’s reputation for over 57 years.

The company stands out due to its ability to anticipate its customers’ tastes to such an extent that it creates some of its exclusive designs from scratch by working with preferred factories. In addition, its buyers travel the world in search of refined products that will enrich Mobilia’s four “worlds.”

Culture, Mission, & Values

The company’s commitment to its loyal customers is to offer the very best the world of contemporary furniture has to offer. Three core values enable Mobilia to fulfill its mission: Evolve, Inspire, and Guide.

Mobilia builds relationships with its employees and encourages them to become leaders and experts. In the retail industry, this means bringing precision and great attention to each customer interaction,  thereby making the company the retailer of choice for those in search of contemporary furniture. To achieve its goals, Mobilia expects every employee and every team to demonstrate leadership in enhancing our customer relationships, The customer is truly at the center of all our decisions.

Brief Description

Reporting to the Chairman of the Board for the Mobilia Group, The Director of Finance and Administration is an essential member of the management team and as such supports the operational and strategic decisions of the executive team by providing analysis and commentary. 

He is directly responsible for the accounting department as well as overseeing all financial aspects including the cash flow management for all Mobilia companies. He is part and parcel of all decisions relating to the use of capital for investment or new projects. He is responsible for guaranteeing the proper working order of all accounting systems that act as support for our retail stores and oversees the strength of the processes underlying these systems to support the current volume as well as future growth.

Furthermore, he oversees the human resource manager and ensures that company policies and practices are respected, all the while proposing necessary changes if needed to maximize human capital. He also manages the MIS department and ensures that the hardware and software choices of the company support its operations adequately.

Main Tasks & Responsibilities

• Participates (as a member of the executive team) in the development of the company’s strategic direction and the elaboration of the company’s corporate objectives
• Develops the company’s annual budget based on inputs from the various departments and as per the directives of the executive team.
• Develops a deep understanding of the company’s operational imperatives to help guide executive decision-making.
• Prepares and presents monthly consolidated financial statements and variance analysis in a timely fashion and prepares quarterly recaps for presentation to the family board.
• Keeps tight control of the annual budget and ensures corrective action when variations occur.
• Develops and follows company KPIs, analyzes non-performance, and reports to his fellow directors, and, quarterly to the family board on any important elements.
• Contributes to the discussions and team meetings of the leadership team
• Keeps a watch over the company’s accounting practices and ensures the respect of these practices in the work of the department.
• Manages the company’s cash flow and ensures an appropriate hedging strategy for foreign currency using forward contracts
• Analyzes and or prepares forecasts on demand when accompanying the decision-making of the leadership team and/or the Chairman or President.
• Is the champion of effective use of capital that has as its objective the maximization of ROI
• Ensures that the processes and procedures that control the company’s activities concerning the accounting function, more specifically those relating to the approval of expenditures, are in writing, and respected throughout.
• Supervises HR policies and procedures that will enhance human capital and help the company perform
• Ensures that the technology choices the company makes enhance its operations and its ability to perform to its customer service standards.
• Ensures the respect of health and safety standards with the help of the HR manager.

Required Qualifications

Training

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, business administration, or finance
• Hold a recognized accounting designation (CPA)

Professional Experience

• At least 10 years of relevant experience
• Retail experience
• Experience in a family business or SME (asset)
• Experience in managing a multidisciplinary team
• Strong skills in preparing and analyzing variances in financial reports

Skills

• Bilingualism
• Excellent knowledge of Excel

Abilities

• Team leadership
• Excellent analytical skills
• Attentive to the needs of operational teams
• Ability to empower team members to achieve concrete results
• Ability to prioritize and show initiative
• Demonstrates curiosity and open-mindedness
• Understanding the importance of the role as an essential support role, and providing analysis that enhances the company’s decision-making process
• Demonstrates professional maturity and commitment

Why Join Mobilia

• Being part of the Mobilia family
• Stimulating challenges in a changing market where interest in interior design is on the rise
• Make your mark by contributing to the success and growth of a remarkable Quebec company

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Only the people selected for an interview will be contacted. We support the principle of employment equity.

TALINKO is a recruitment firm of middle and senior executives also offering support in the recruitment of members of the board of directors or advisory committee. We operate in different business sectors.

Please note that the masculine is used to lighten the text, without prejudice against the feminine form.