If there’s a key lesson Muhammad Hassan FCCA has learned in the last decade it is adaptability. His career has so far taken him to no fewer than eight countries on three continents, in locations as diverse as Pakistan (his home country), Saudi Arabia, Rwanda, Dubai, Seychelles, Ethiopia, Nigeria and now Qatar.
‘My speciality is pre-opening hotels, setting up successful finance departments equipped with strong internal controls and making sure that they deliver solid returns to the owners. This means I have to be able to adapt quickly to different environments, cultures and traditions, as well as new teams and ways of working,’ says the multi-property director of finance at Marriott International, who now oversees nearly 1,500 rooms across a portfolio of luxury and premium brands including Marriott Marquis, JW Marriott, Le Méridien and Marriott Executive Apartments.
‘Qatar successfully hosted the 2022 World Cup and our hotels had incredible business’
Filling a vacuum
Arriving in Qatar in 2023, he found that Marriott’s hotels were experiencing a shortage of staff, especially in finance. ‘Qatar successfully hosted the 2022 World Cup and our hotels had incredible business,’ but afterwards morale was low as there were many changes in the team and leadership. I had to pull everyone together, put the right processes and policies in place, and review the financials to optimise returns to the owners. It was challenging, like a pre-opening, but I think we’re 95% back on track,’ he says.
‘In previous roles, I was always in charge of finance for single hotels; now I oversee four, which isn’t an opportunity that comes along too often,’ Hassan says. ‘I make sure the hotels meet both their top-line – revenue – and bottom-line – net operating profit – targets. I ensure the right internal controls and compliance are in place. I do the budgeting for all four hotels and, crucially, I ensure that the owner-operator relationships remain strong and transparent by acting as a bridge between Marriott International as the operator and the owner, Al Rayyan Tourism Investment.’
Growing up in Pakistan, Hassan found his way into an accounting career due to his knack for maths – something his five-year-old son has inherited. ‘He can tell you what 24 into five is; I was the same,’ he says, with obvious pride.
Burning the midnight oil and surviving on only a few hours’ sleep a night, he completed all the ACCA exams in two years, doing four papers per semester. ‘I was young, I was passionate; sleep didn’t really matter,’ he recalls.
‘I told the finance director I’d not even been in a hotel before’
CV
2023
Multi-property director of finance, Marriott Marquis, JW Marriott Marquis, Le Meridien and Marriott Executive apartments, Qatar
2021
Director of finance, Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas, Seychelles, then Marriott Hotels, Nigeria
2019
Director of finance, Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts, Seychelles
2013
Various accounting and finance roles with Marriott International in Saudi Arabia, Rwanda and UAE
2011
Assistant manager finance, Millat Tractors, Pakistan
Carrying this momentum, Hassan was determined to do his practical experience requirement in a large company. ‘I got two interviews: one with Nestlé, the other with Millat Tractors, the biggest tractor manufacturer in Pakistan. I chose Millat, as the finance department was not as big as Nestlé’s, and I knew that working in this environment I would be able to gain a wide experience of all sections as it would be easier to move around,’ he explains.
‘I joined as an accounting trainee in 2011 and within seven months was promoted direct to assistant finance manager, bypassing several rungs on the ladder, which was not common,’ he says. ‘I credit the ACCA qualification with this fast progression.’
Spurred on, Hassan set a goal of quickly reaching finance director, controller or CFO. ‘I was driven by passion and wanting to prove that as I’d done ACCA, I could really make it,’ he says.
International outlook
Keen to work overseas, in 2013 Hassan applied for an income auditor role with Marriott International in Saudi Arabia. After a successful phone interview, he was flown over to the kingdom from Lahore in Pakistan, where he started his career, for the second-round interview.
‘The finance director handed me a one-page gross revenue report on my first day at work and asked me if I’d seen a report like this before,’ he says. ‘I told him I’d not even been in a hotel before, but that I am a qualified ACCA.’ Hassan went through the report line by line, leaving the FD suitably impressed.
‘On my first day, the FD told me I would be a finance leader within five years. In four years and eight months I became a financial controller. Marriott has really invested in me, and that FD remains a mentor to this day.’
‘We review our food and beverage structure and outlets’
ROI focus
Perhaps as important in a highly competitive market is that the business stands out, something Hassan believes Marriott is achieving in Qatar via large return on investment-focused projects, such as introducing new concepts and venues.
‘We opened Tulum [restaurant] in Marriott Marquis soon after I arrived, which required a lot of ROI analysis, and it’s already showing returns,’ he says. ‘We also review our food and beverage structure and outlets to determine whether they’d be better run by a third party – by leasing them out, for example. It’s decisions like these that give us an edge in Qatar, which has top brand hotels on every corner.’
‘I make sure my teams are well supported and given every chance to succeed’
Hassan’s experience of setting up new hotels in challenging environments has been key. In Rwanda, for example, opening Marriott’s first sub-Saharan venue required putting in place the entire finance function and training a local team with no experience of the sector.
Marriott International
Founded by J Willard and Alice Marriott in 1927, the Marriott group includes more than 30 leading brands, from The Ritz-Carlton, St. Regis and Sheraton to Le Méridien, Renaissance Hotels, Courtyard and the MGM Collection. A total of 8,900 properties are located in 141 countries and territories. In 2023 81,300 rooms were added globally, helping the group to achieve 4.7% year-on-year growth.
The assignment was a huge success. ‘We came top in the region for our internal audits and control reviews,’ he recalls. ‘That was a career highlight, to get one of the highest scores and to have done it all with a local team, who answered all the questions in a “Marriott way” and knew all the policies and procedures, was a proud moment.’
Hassan describes his leadership style as firm but fair – an approach he feels promotes accountability and fosters trust among teams. ‘I set very clear expectations and maintain very high standards, but I make sure my teams are well supported and given every chance to succeed and meet those standards, while being treated with respect,’ he says.
That philosophy, coupled with Hassan’s commitment to achieving maximum ROI on his own career, should ensure that his future remains bright.
