Head of Commercial Finance

Guildford, Surrey – Hybrid Working (50/50 split)

Mechanical Manufacturing & Logistics

We’re supporting a growing mechanical manufacturing and logistics business that is looking to appoint a Head of Commercial Finance
.

This is a senior, commercially focused role sitting at the heart of the business, working closely with leadership to improve financial performance, strengthen decision-making and provide greater visibility across a complex and growing operation.

You’ll lead the commercial finance agenda, combining business partnering, forecasting, performance analysis and strategic insight
. It’s a role for someone who can get underneath the numbers, understand what’s really driving performance and turn that into clear actions for the wider business.

This is much broader than producing reports and explaining variances. You’ll work across Finance and the wider business to improve how financial information is used to make decisions.

You’ll take ownership of commercial planning and performance management, challenge assumptions, identify risks and opportunities and help senior stakeholders understand where the business is performing well and where improvements can be made.

• Lead the commercial finance and business partnering agenda across the organisation
• Partner senior stakeholders to provide financial challenge, insight and support around key business decisions
• Develop a deeper understanding of business performance, profitability and the key commercial drivers
• Lead and improve budgeting, forecasting and longer-term financial planning
• Identify emerging trends, risks and opportunities and translate these into clear recommendations
• Produce and develop insightful management information, commercial analysis and performance reporting
• Support strategic initiatives, investment decisions and wider business cases with robust financial analysis
• Improve the use of data, reporting and analytics to provide clearer and more actionable insight
• Develop a strong commercial finance culture, improving the quality and consistency of business partnering across the organisation

• Qualified accountant – ACA / ACCA / CIMA or equivalent
• Proven experience across Commercial Finance and Finance Business Partnering
• Strong background within a multi-site or operationally complex environment
• Proven experience leading and developing commercial finance professionals
• Strong commercial understanding with the ability to identify and analyse the key drivers of revenue, cost, margin and profitability
• Excellent analytical skills with the ability to turn complex financial and operational data into clear commercial insight
• Strong experience across budgeting, forecasting and performance management
• Commercial, curious and influential, with the ability to move between the detail and the bigger picture

This is a genuinely broad Head of Commercial Finance opportunity within a growing and evolving business. You’ll have significant autonomy to shape the commercial finance approach, improve how the business uses data and insight, and work closely with senior stakeholders on both day-to-day performance and longer-term decision-making.