The client seeks a strategic finance leader to provide end-to-end accounting and transactional finance leadership across the UK. Reporting to a senior European finance leader, this role is accountable for statutory accounting and financial control, and serves as a key member of the UK senior leadership team, contributing to broader business and transformation discussions.
Key responsibilities include full accountability for statutory accounting, financial control, tax, audit and compliance across multiple UK and Ireland legal entities; leading a large, multi-layered finance organisation (approximately 50 finance professionals, including senior managers across financial accounting and control, accounts payable/receivable, record-to-report, and credit and revenue); and driving working capital performance and cash generation through improvements in AR, AP and related processes. The role will also oversee offshore or outsourced finance partners to improve service quality, efficiency and cost optimisation, and ensure consistent application of group accounting policies, internal controls and governance standards within a European framework.
The position will support finance integration, systems and process improvement initiatives, including standardisation and digitalisation, and will act as a senior finance partner to regional and business finance teams to ensure financial information is accurate, transparent and timely. The successful applicant will be a hands-on, visible leader comfortable operating at scale, developing senior direct reports, and building depth and succession within the finance function, with experience in complex, matrixed international organisations and strong people leadership, process improvement, and outsourced/offshore service management. Essential qualifications include being a fully qualified accountant (ACA/ACCA/CIMA or equivalent), along with significant senior-level leadership experience in large accounting and finance teams and deep technical grounding across financial accounting, control, statutory reporting, tax and audit.