Group Head of Finance

Logistics & Business Operations - Automotive & Aerospace | High-Value Product | Private Equity-Backed

Our client is a private equity-backed logistics and business operations group serving the automotive and aerospace sectors, specialising in high-value product. Recently separated from a large corporate parent, the business is entering an ambitious growth phase - including a buy-and-build acquisition strategy - and investing heavily in its systems, processes and people.

We are seeking a Group Head of Finance to lead the finance function day-to-day, acting as principal deputy to the CFO and a senior member of the leadership team - building a finance function from the ground up while contributing directly to acquisition strategy and the shift to standalone, private equity-backed ownership.

• Own financial control, reporting and compliance: management accounts, balance sheet control, statutory reporting, budgeting/forecasting, cash and treasury, tax, and the external audit relationship.
• Prepare board, investor and lender reporting, including KPI and covenant packages for the private equity sponsor.
• Act as commercial partner to the CEO, CFO and leadership team, providing analysis on pricing, contract profitability, and route-level margins.
• Lead systems and process transformation, including ERP/finance system selection, automation, and separation from the former parent (exit from transitional service agreements, new banking/insurance/payroll infrastructure).
• Support M&A activity: due diligence, integration planning, and financial modelling for the buy-and-build strategy.
• Build and lead a high-performing finance team, positioning finance as a commercial enabler rather than solely a reporting function.

• Qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA or CIMA) with significant post-qualification experience.
• Experience at Finance Director / Head of Finance level, or ready to step up, within a private equity- or investor-backed business.
• Strong technical grounding in financial control, reporting and compliance, with experience managing the external audit relationship.
• A track record of business change - carve-outs, systems implementation, restructuring, or rapid growth - and of building and developing finance teams.
• Confidence operating close to a CFO, CEO and PE investor, with a hands-on, pragmatic, execution-focused style.
• Desirable: a logistics, transport or freight background; MBO or comparable ownership-transition experience; ERP implementation; or prior exposure to a private equity sponsor.

A seat on the senior leadership team during a defining period of independent ownership and growth, genuine influence over transformation and M&A activity, and direct engagement with the CFO, CEO and private equity investor.

• Competitive salary and benefits, including participation in the management incentive scheme, commensurate with experience - full package details on application.

All applicants must have an unrestricted right to work in the UK as our client will not support visa sponsorship for this role