Financial Director

Location: Reading (Hybrid – 3 days office)

Our client is a Private Equity-backed, multi-site UK organisation operating within a regulated sector, with a significant operational footprint and ambitious growth plans.

The business is on a clear value creation journey, focused on strengthening financial performance, enhancing operational discipline, and preparing for a future exit. As part of this, there is a strong emphasis on building a high-performing, scalable finance function capable of supporting both operational delivery and investor requirements.

This is a Finance Director position operating as the number two to a high-calibre CFO
, with broad responsibility across financial control, commercial finance, and investor engagement.

The role offers significant exposure to the full Private Equity lifecycle, including exit preparation and transaction activity
, and provides the opportunity to play a key leadership role in shaping the finance function.

You will combine strong technical controllership with business partnering, working closely with operational leaders to drive performance across a multi-site environment.

• Lead the financial control environment, including month-end close, consolidation, and statutory reporting
• Own technical accounting, ensuring compliance with UK GAAP and strong balance sheet integrity
• Oversee day-to-day finance operations, including AP, AR, and cash management
• Drive robust cashflow forecasting and working capital management
• Support investor reporting, Board engagement, and external stakeholder management
• Play a key role in exit readiness, transaction support, and due diligence activity

• Act as a key financial partner to operational leadership across multiple sites
• Provide insight into key performance drivers including revenue, occupancy/utilisation, staffing, and cost control
• Support decision-making through analysis, modelling, and scenario planning
• Challenge and influence operational stakeholders to drive performance improvement
• Work closely with FP&A to ensure consistent, clear financial messaging across the business
• Translate financial data into actionable insight for non-finance stakeholders

• Lead and develop a finance team, building a high-performance culture and improving capability
• Drive improvements in financial systems, processes, and data quality
• Support finance transformation initiatives, including automation and standardisation
• Act as a key deputy to the CFO, with the ability to step in where required

• Fully qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, or equivalent)
• Proven experience in a senior finance leadership role within a multi-site or complex organisation
• Strong technical accounting and consolidation expertise
• Experience operating in a Private Equity-backed environment
• Exposure to transaction processes or exit activity is highly desirable
• Strong business partnering capability, with the ability to influence non-finance stakeholders
• Strong leadership experience, with the ability to build and develop teams
• Comfortable operating at Board level and engaging with investors
• Hands-on, proactive approach with the ability to operate in a fast-paced environment
• Strong commercial awareness alongside controllership expertise

This is a high-impact Finance Director role offering the opportunity to operate as a true number two to the CFO within a Private Equity-backed business.

The position provides broad exposure across financial control, commercial business partnering, and investor engagement, alongside the chance to gain valuable exit experience and shape a high-performing finance team.

It is an excellent opportunity for an ambitious finance leader looking to step into a role with significant responsibility, visibility, and long-term progression potential.

Due to the high volume of applications, we may not be able to provide individual feedback to all unsuccessful candidates.