Finance Controller- Professional Services Industry

The role of the  Financial Controller is to be responsible for the corporate accounting department. In addition to the traditional role of ensuring robust financial controls and producing timely management information, a key part of this role will be to partner the management team providing commercial insights as the business continues to grow. The ability to create strong working relationships with both the local management team and the Group finance team will be critical to the success of this role.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Embed and oversee financial controls and processes to ensure accurate, timely financial information
• Manage the Sanctuary finance team to ensure effective prioritisation of all key deliverables, and maximising the use of technology to deliver efficiently
• Partner the management team providing commercial insights into business performance
• Prepare monthly board packs for the local management team and Group Finance providing commercial analysis on performance
• Lead the annual budgeting and forecasting process
• Ensure efficient working capital management, leading on the billing process and working closely with the management team to ensure timely collection of cash
• Prepare the annual financial statements and lead the Sanctuary audit process
• Attend management / Board meetings as required
• Be an active member of the wider Group Finance community, contributing to finance initiatives
• Identify opportunities to automate financial processes

Person Specification

• Must be Qualified Accountant (ACCA/CPA/Chartered Accountant) with previous commercial experience of working in a Professional services organisation. (Minimum of 5+ years of experience post qualification)
• Has demonstrable experience of working closely with the management team and the ability to influence and challenge strategically
• Strong financial and management reporting experience. The ability to provide the right level of business intelligent information to drive and influence business activity.
• It will be essential that the candidate understands and has experience of revenue accounting and understanding the nuances of pipeline management
• Must demonstrate restless curiosity and be able to get to the bottom on an issue
• Accurate with good attention to detail
• Be able to work under tight timelines
• Strong oral and written communication skills
• Enjoyment of working within a busy team within the Firm
• Enjoys technology with advanced Excel skills and strong experience of maximising the benefit from accounting software packages