Financial Controller

We are delighted to be supporting a retail facing business based in Peterborough who are looking for a Financial Controller who wants a step into a Finance Director position in the next 12 months.

• Directly support the leadership team, in defining and monitoring business strategy, planning and decision-making.
• Partner with the leadership team to provide clear financial insight, constructive challenge and practical recommendations.
• Support strategic projects, investment decisions, commercial initiatives and growth plans through robust financial analysis and judgement.
• Translate financial performance into clear, actionable insight for both finance and non-finance stakeholders.
• Help prioritise activity across the finance function, balancing strategic projects with essential financial control, reporting and compliance requirements.
• Build on an already strong and proactive relationship with the Managing Director as the priority stakeholder, ensuring clear challenge and practical support for business performance and decision-making.
• Work closely with the CFO to ensure appropriate alignment, escalation and visibility across business performance, financial controls, risks and strategic priorities.
• Develop models, interpret results and engage stakeholders to support and guide commercial decision making.

• Lead the delivery of monthly and annual financial reporting, ensuring outputs are accurate, timely and supported by meaningful commentary.
• Maintain a strong financial control environment, including monthly balance sheet reconciliations, documented and appropriate approvals, payment controls, governance processes and compliance with relevant business and finance policies.
• Oversee budgeting, forecasting, cashflow management and performance reporting processes.
• Ensure reporting deadlines are met and that financial information is reliable, transparent and suitable for senior level decision-making.
• Identify financial risks, controls gaps and process weaknesses, and ensure appropriate remedial actions are delivered.
• Oversee statutory reporting, audit preparation, tax compliance and other regulatory requirements as needed.

• Ensure core finance processes operate efficiently, consistently and with appropriate controls.
• Drive improvements in finance systems, processes, data quality and reporting capability to support scalable growth.
• Champion automation, standardisation and simplification where this improves efficiency, accuracy or control.
• Establish clear rhythms, responsibilities and expectations across the FRS finance team and their activities.
• Lead or support finance transformation projects, with strong planning, stakeholder engagement and adoption of new ways of working.

• Lead, coach and develop the finance team, setting clear objectives and standards for performance, accountability and collaboration.
• Build capability within the team so that colleagues are empowered, appropriately supported and able to deliver high-quality outputs.
• Promote a culture of continuous improvement, professional rigour and constructive challenge.
• Ensure the finance function is well organised, resilient and able to respond effectively to changing business priorities.
• Act as a role model for strong leadership behaviours, including clarity, ownership, accountability, integrity and calm prioritisation.

• Fully ACA, ACCA or CIMA qualified accountant, with robust technical finance capability.
• Proven experience in a senior finance role within a growing or evolving business.
• Strong understanding of financial reporting, budgeting, forecasting, cashflow management, controls and audit processes.
• Commercially minded, with the ability to interpret financial performance and identify risks, opportunities and practical actions.
• Experience in building financial models in excel using best practice structures and excel functionality to ensure robustness and reliability of modelling outputs.
• Experience leading finance teams and building capability, accountability and confidence.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence, challenge and communicate clearly and appropriately to differing audiences across all levels.
• Comfortable operating in a dynamic environment where processes, structures and priorities will continue to evolve.
• High standards of accuracy, judgement, confidentiality and professional integrity.

• Confident, professional, credible and collaborative leadership style.
• Strategic thinker who remains grounded in the importance of strong financial control.
• Pragmatic, adaptable and solutions-focused, with the ability to make progress in an evolving business while taking learnings from both challenging situations and successful outcomes to support an environment of continuous improvement. Clear communicator who can simplify complex financial…