Group Financial Controller
We’re looking for an established Group Financial Controller to focus on maintaining and developing accurate accounting practices and procedures across our global business.
We usually respond within two weeks
We’re looking for an established Group Financial Controller to focus on maintaining and developing accurate accounting practices and procedures across our global business and leading a team of 15+ to deliver key business goals.
You’ll be a qualified accountant with proven experience in a similar global role within a fast-pace and entrepreneurial environment ideally within the retail, ecommerce or FMCG space.
As well as the technical skills, you’ll be a confident communicator – able to share key information both up and down the business, highlighting risks and spotting opportunities in advance. You’ll be a strong leader and be able to motivate and develop your team to deliver their goals, as well as working within a wider finance community.
Technical Focus:
- Overall responsibility for the Group Financial Control team, Accounts Payable, and Credit Control including team members in the US
- Working closing with the Commercial Finance team to plan and deliver finance activities and reporting in a seamless, accurate and timely manner
- Ensuring the right authorisation and review levels are in place to create segregation of duties and robust financial controls across the business
- Defining and developing daily, weekly and monthly finance dashboards covering areas of responsibility including exception reporting for swift identification and resolution of areas requiring attention
- Owning the Monthly Management Accounts ensuring the accuracy of the numbers through appropriate revenue recognition, accrual and provisions, and working with the Commercial Finance team to produce the monthly management pack with value added commentary and analysis within two weeks of month end
- Ensuring all journals are appropriately reviewed and authorized before being entered in to the G/L
- Ensuring monthly balance sheet reconciliations are completed and reviewed to timelines, this should include a detailed review of all Balance Sheet accounts to identify any issues for action
- Owning the cash-flow reporting and forecasting short and long term on a weekly / daily basis, ensuring targets are set and achieved for cash collection and payments to factories, while maintaining an appropriate cash headroom
- Owning tax across the business, including year-end computations and payments, transfer pricing and country specific needs. This will include being the day to day contact for external tax advisors where appropriate
- Contribute to the Group Budget and Reforecasts and 3-5 Year Strategic Planning process, working with the Commercial Finance team. Support the yearly timetable for submissions and review meeting and instructions to achieve the accurate and timely delivery thereof.
- Authorising/recommending credit limits for customers and ensuring appropriate letters of credit and stand-by letters of credit are in place before shipping to customers, particularly in APAC
- Key contact for Due Diligence and data requests from auditors and banks as appropriate
- Lead the day to day Banking relationships and look for possible new ways to finance the business where appropriate
- Ensuring the appropriate Foreign Exchange transactions are in place, including hedging overseas currencies and the best way to repatriate cash to the UK
- Maintain, review and develop accounting practices and procedures across the business
- Updating the whole business on high level financial performance with a simple slide and communication at appropriate cascade or leadership team opportunities
- Supporting the roll-out of a Core System Upgrade
- Ad-hoc requests from the CFO when required
People:
- Management and development of a team of 15 across Financial Accounting, Credit Control, Accounts Payable and the US - setting clear goals and objectives, driving personal development and creating succession plans
- Cross-functional collaboration – working closely with your stakeholders across the business including Commercial Finance, Operations, HR and Legal
- Communication – sharing key business information at the right time, highlighting risks and proposing potential solutions
The Person:
- ACA qualified Accountant with proven experience, ideally in similar role, within FMCG, retail or ecommerce
- Experience of working in an international business an advantage
- A fantastic people manager with the ability to recruit, lead and motivate a team
- A highly self-motivated individual with a positive can-do mind-set, as well as an eye for the detail
- Commercially minded with an excellent level of business acumen
- Strong communication and influencing skills. Excellent stakeholder management skills; someone who recognises the importance of over-communication to the team and wider business, within a matrixed international organization
- Independent thinker – has conviction and tenacity and takes initiative without waiting to be asked
- Proactive nature – ability to identify the need for change and drive it through to action
- Customer-centric and commercial in your approach, you will enjoy working in a developing business – with all the growth pains that come with it!
- Resourceful and creative, focuses on getting the right things done within time commitments
What good looks like:
- A robust financial control environment where there are clear process notes for each role, sign off levels for each journal, and review of every reconciliation each month end identifying actions that need to take place to clear reconciling items, ultimately to be reviewed with the CFO monthly as a Balance Sheet sign off
- Management Accounts completed, with commentary, and reviewed with CFO within 2 weeks of month end
- A transformed management accounts pack that adds real value to the business, helping to define appropriate KPI’s for different divisions
- Daily, weekly and monthly dynamic cash flow forecasting and reporting to the CFO
- A clear financial timetable, with appropriate review and presentation meeting booked into calendars at least 6 months in advance
- Budget, Reforecast and 3-5 Year Strategic Plan packs, with commentary and analysis to enable the Leadership Team and Board to understand the key issues the business faces and how it is addressing them
- Statutory Accounts and Tax Returns completed well in advance of deadlines, with the appropriate deliverables made available to the auditors and advisors to avoid over run costs
- The seamless roll out of a new ERP system
- Communication to the Finance Team, Leadership Team and whole Company, tailoring the content as appropriate to the audience, on a regular basis
- Great people management, identifying and nurturing talent, so that key roles can be filled internally through succession planning and recruitment of high quality individuals externally where appropriate
The Benefits:
⛑Private health or dental insurance
💰Pension contribution
🌴25 days of holidays
👟Free pairs and product discount
📚 Learning and Development Plan
⏰ Hybrid working hours with a minimum of 2/3 days in our office in Hammersmith
☀️Summer Fridays (6 ½ days in July and August on Fridays)
💆♀️Wellbeing programme – Sanctus coaching, Calm App and Retail Trust Access Life assurance
Group Financial Controller
We’re looking for an established Group Financial Controller to focus on maintaining and developing accurate accounting practices and procedures across our global business.
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