Strategic Finance Director

Collinson is the global, privately-owned company dedicated to helping the world to travel with ease and confidence. The group offers a unique blend of industry and sector specialists who together provide market-leading airport experiences, loyalty and customer engagement, and insurance solutions for over 400 million consumers. Collinson is the operator of Priority Pass, the world’s original and leading airport experiences programme.

Travellers can access a network of 1,500+ lounges and travel experiences, including dining, retail, sleep and spa, in over 650 airports in 148 countries, helping to elevate the journey into something special. We work with the world’s leading payment networks, over 1,400 banks, 90 airlines and 20 hotel groups worldwide.

We have been bringing innovation to the market since inception – from launching the first independent global VIP lounge access Programme, Priority Pass to being the first to sell direct travel insurance in the UK through Columbus Direct and creating the first loyalty agency of its kind in the travel sector with ICLP. Today we still invest heavily in innovation to ensure that we continue to deliver superior customer experiences.

Key clients include Mastercard, American Express, Cathay Pacific, British Airways, LATAM, Flying Blue, Accor, Easy Jet, HSBC, Chase, HDFC.Our mission is focused on doing good beyond profit, which for us means we seek out opportunities for our people to share in our success and that we give back to the communities and people within which we work.

Never short of ambition, the success of our business is delivered through the diverse and talented team of over 2,200 global colleagues.

Purpose of the job Reporting to the VP Group FP&A, the Strategic Finance Director is responsible for leading the Group's Strategic Finance activities, including investment governance, capital planning, financing support and strategic transaction analysis.

The role acts as a key finance partner on capital allocation, capital planning and strategic investment decisions, supporting the CFO, Investment Committee and Board through robust financial analysis, investment appraisal, challenge and governance. Working closely with Group Strategy, Treasury and business leadership teams, the role helps ensure investment and financing decisions are supported by consistent evaluation of risk, return, funding requirements and value creation outcomes.

The role leads and develops a small Strategic Finance team, ensuring delivery of high-quality strategic financial analysis, effective Investment Committee support and robust investment governance processes.

The Strategic Finance Director is accountable for:
· Defining and embedding the Group's capital allocation framework
· Leading the Group's capital planning process, including assessment of funding requirements, investment capacity and capital deployment priorities
· Supporting M&A and strategic transactions from a financial perspective
· Leading financial analysis and governance activities underpinning financing, refinancing and capital structure decisions, including engagement with lenders and funding stakeholders
· Establishing and overseeing effective investment governance, including Investment Committee processes, appraisal standards, approval tracking and value realisation

Key Responsibilities Capital Allocation & Investment Strategy
· Define and embed the Group's capital allocation framework, ensuring consistent evaluation of investment opportunities across business units and initiatives.
· Support the Investment Committee and senior leadership through clear, comparable financial analysis and recommendations on capital deployment opportunities.
· Assess trade-offs across competing uses of capital, including organic investment, acquisitions, strategic partnerships and debt reduction.
· Develop financial recommendations that balance strategic priorities, expected returns, risk and funding constraints.
· Ensure proposed investments are evaluated against agreed strategic objectives, return thresholds and risk appetite.

Investment Governance & Investment Committee Support
· Define and embed investment appraisal methodologies and…