Finance Integration Lead

Fixed Term Contract
: 12 months (Initially)

Location: UK, Ideally commutable distance to Maidenhead (Head Office)

The Finance Integration Lead will own the finance workstream of RWS's acquisition of Acolad, driving the practical, end-to-end integration of Acolad's finance operations, systems, and controls into the RWS Group finance operating model. This is a high-visibility, time-bound role spanning pre-completion planning through Day 1 cutover and the first 12 months of post-completion integration.

A significant part of the role is converting the acquisition's synergy plan into detailed, costed action plans, and partnering closely with HR and functional leads to ensure synergies are delivered on time, in full, and cost-effectively.

You will partner closely with the Transform segment Finance Director, Group FP&A, Group Reporting, Tax, Treasury, and the Acolad finance team to ensure a controlled, well-sequenced integration that protects business continuity, delivers a clean cutover of banking, systems, and master data, and embeds RWS's financial control environment across the newly acquired entities — including navigating the French works council and regulatory process ahead of completion.

You will also work closely with the wider integration programme (legal, tax, HR, IT/CTPO, procurement, and supply chain work streams) to ensure finance dependencies are correctly sequenced across the overall integration plan.

• Develop the finance integration blueprint covering banking, systems, master data, tax, and reporting requirements across Acolad's entities.
• Review financial due diligence outputs and translate findings into a practical integration risk register and mitigation plan.
• Work with legal and corporate development to understand completion mechanics and French works council timelines, and their impact on finance readiness.
• Build the Day 1 finance operating plan, including interim arrangements while Acolad and RWS continue to operate as separate businesses pre-completion.
• Convert the high-level synergy plan into detailed, costed, and time-phased action plans, with clear ownership and milestones for each synergy line.
• Partner with HR and functional leads to assess roles by function, align headcount and organisational design to the synergy plan, and drive delivery of workforce-related synergies.
• Track delivery of synergies against plan — on time, in full, and cost-effectively — reporting progress and variances to segment leadership and the Group Investment Committee on a regular cadence.
• Identify and elevate risks to synergy delivery early, working with functional leads to agree mitigating actions or re-phasing where required.
• Ensure synergy costs-to-achieve are tracked and managed within the overall investment case, flagging any cost overruns.

• Review Acolad's existing banking arrangements, give notice to current banks as required, and oversee cashflow monitoring through legacy accounts during transition.
• Distribute and embed the Group's Delegation of Authority (DOA) across banking mandates.
• Lead set-up of Acolad's legal entities on the Group's finance systems, including master data download from Acolad's existing systems, completion of master data templates for upload, and review/reconciliation of loaded opening balances.
• Ensure that Acolad can report, forecast and budget in accordance with the Group processes and tentemplates.

• Support the Purchase Price Allocation (PPA) process and lead the opening balance sheet review, confirming fair value adjustment requirements and write-offs of equivalent balances.
• Ensure Acolad's prior year statutory accounts are filed and outstanding compliance obligations are closed out.
• Complete outstanding VAT returns and agree the transfer pricing model for Acolad entities post-close.
• Align Acolad's fiscal year end to RWS Group's (30 September) and manage the tax notification process for incorporating Acolad into the RWS Group tax structure, including stamp duty considerations.
• Own migration of vendor and customer master data into RWS systems,…