Head of Finance

Role Overview

This is an ownership-level finance role for someone who wants to be inside the numbers rather than sitting above them. Day to day, you will be running the mechanics of the business — stock levels, cash positions, supplier and customer balances spread across several currencies and project-based work — while also working directly with the CEO and owners to shape budgets, forecasts and commercial decisions. The role matters because the business needs a finance leader who can tighten control, release working capital and hand decision-makers figures they can actually act on.

Key Responsibilities

• Run the finance function end to end, covering accounting, reporting, internal control, compliance and team performance.
• Manage cash and working capital daily — inventory, debtor collection, creditor terms, liquidity forecasting and exposure across multiple currencies.
• Deliver monthly management accounts and performance analysis that explain what is moving margin, cost and cash, not just what the totals were.
• Build budgets, rolling forecasts, cash-flow projections and business plans alongside the CEO and owners.
• Design and enforce the controls that stop value leaking out of the business, catch errors early and reduce financial risk.
• Coordinate tax, audit and statutory filings, keeping every reporting obligation current and defensible.
• Handle the finance of a multi-supplier, multi-customer, import and project-driven operation, including currency exposure and job-level profitability.
• Lead, develop and hold accountable the finance team, and get genuine value out of the ERP/accounting system alongside Excel-based modelling.
• Act as a commercial sounding board — push back on weak assumptions, surface risks early and recommend moves that improve profit and cash generation.
• Keep refining processes, controls and reporting as volumes and complexity grow.

Requirements & Qualifications

• 10–15+ years of progressive finance experience, including a substantial period at Finance Manager, Financial Controller, Head of Finance or a comparable senior level.
• Proven background in a large-scale trading, distribution, FMCG, retail, manufacturing or import business, ideally in a complex and commercially driven setting.
• Deep expertise in working-capital management: inventory, receivables, payables and cash-flow control.
• Demonstrated track record of building and maintaining financial controls, with the ability to find and shut down leakage, error and risk.
• Strong management accounting and financial reporting capability, including hands-on preparation of monthly management reports.
• Practical experience with budgeting, forecasting, cash-flow projections and business planning.
• Solid knowledge of tax, audit, statutory compliance and financial reporting obligations.
• Proven ability to lead, manage and develop a finance team.
• Strong command of ERP and accounting systems, paired with excellent Excel and analytical skills.
• Commercial acumen and the confidence to challenge management and give sound financial advice.
• A hands-on approach — comfortable running day-to-day finance operations while contributing to broader financial strategy.
• Experience of businesses carrying significant inventory, multiple suppliers and customers, multiple currencies and heavy working-capital demands.
• High integrity, trustworthiness, discipline and close attention to detail.
• The ambition and capability to grow into a CFO-level position.

What We Offer / Why Join

• Full ownership of the finance function, with real authority over how it is run and improved.
• Direct working relationship with the CEO and owners, including genuine influence over commercial and strategic decisions.
• A defined pathway toward a CFO-level role for someone who delivers.