Interim Financial Controller – Cash Flow and Working Capital

An established services business is seeking an experienced Interim Financial Controller to support it through an important period of financial and operational improvement.

This is a hands‑on and business‑critical assignment with a strong emphasis on cash‑flow forecasting, liquidity and working‑capital management. The successful interim will provide accurate visibility over the company’s short‑term cash position and help the leadership team make well‑informed decisions regarding expenditure and supplier payments.

Working closely with senior finance and operational directors, you will identify business‑critical suppliers, establish payment priorities and ensure available cash is used effectively without unnecessarily disrupting operations.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Producing and maintaining regular, reliable cash‑flow forecasts
• Providing clear updates on cash requirements, risks and available funding
• Managing short‑term liquidity and supporting the effective use of external funding facilities
• Working closely with operational directors to understand upcoming expenditure and business requirements
• Identifying business‑critical suppliers and establishing clear payment priorities
• Overseeing supplier payments and ensuring decisions are communicated appropriately
• Improving visibility over debtors, billing and expected cash receipts
• Working with operational and commercial colleagues to accelerate invoicing and cash collection
• Challenging spending, commitments and cash requirements where necessary
• Identifying immediate opportunities to release cash and improve working capital
• Producing scenario analysis to support short‑term decision‑making
• Providing clear, accurate and timely information to the senior leadership team
• Supporting wider financial control, reporting and process‑improvement activity
• Leaving behind a robust and sustainable cash‑forecasting process

We are looking for a qualified accountant with previous experience as an Interim Financial Controller, Finance Director or senior finance leader.

You must be:

• Highly experienced in cash‑flow forecasting and working‑capital management
• Comfortable operating in a business experiencing financial and operational pressure
• Resilient, pragmatic and able to remain effective when handling difficult situations
• Confident having challenging conversations with senior stakeholders and suppliers
• Able to build strong relationships with operational directors while maintaining appropriate financial control
• Decisive when prioritising payments and allocating limited resources
• Willing to get into the detail rather than operating solely at a strategic level
• Commercially aware, with a strong understanding of how finance decisions affect day‑to‑day operations
• Able to produce reliable information quickly, even where existing processes or data require improvement
• Available to start at short notice

Previous experience within a project‑led, operational, engineering, construction, infrastructure or industrial environment would be useful. However, strong cash‑flow, turnaround and working‑capital experience is more important than an exact sector match.

This assignment is expected to run for a minimum of three months and requires somebody who can make an immediate impact.