Financial Director

Location: Hybrid Working (minimum 2 days per week in the office near Chichester on the South Coast)

Salary: £130,000 – £150,000 + up to 30% annual bonus + benefits

Reporting to: CEO / Managing Director of Business Unit

About the Role

We are seeking an exceptional Finance Director to join the Executive Leadership Team of a 200 million utilities and energy business, part of a larger listed organisation, multi billion turnover.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Business Performance

• Partner with the CEO and Executive Leadership Team to develop and execute business strategy.
• Shape long-term growth plans and translate strategic objectives into measurable financial outcomes.
• Drive value creation through effective resource allocation, investment decisions and commercial prioritisation.
• Provide financial leadership and challenge across strategic initiatives, partnerships and transformation programmes.
• Support the Board with forward-looking insight into business performance, opportunities and risks.

Commercial Finance & Business Partnering

• Lead the commercial finance agenda across the organisation.
• Act as a strategic partner to commercial, operational and functional leaders.
• Drive improvements in revenue, profitability, customer value and return on investment.
• Develop financial frameworks to support pricing, proposition, customer and channel decisions.
• Evaluate business cases and investment opportunities, ensuring robust analysis and disciplined decision-making.
• Challenge assumptions and drive accountability for financial performance across the business.
• Own the long-term financial plan, annual budget and forecasting processes.
• Deliver insightful management information and performance reporting to support decision-making.
• Lead scenario modelling, sensitivity analysis and strategic planning activities.
• Monitor performance against targets and recommend corrective actions where required.
• Develop KPI frameworks that drive operational and financial accountability.

Financial Control, Governance & Risk

• Maintain ownership of the organisation’s financial control framework.
• Ensure timely, accurate and reliable financial reporting.
• Provide oversight of accounting, reporting, compliance and governance processes.
• Ensure a strong and effective control environment across the business.
• Lead relationships with external auditors, advisers and financial stakeholders.
• Identify and mitigate financial, operational and commercial risks.
• Provide assurance to the Board regarding reporting integrity, financial resilience and control effectiveness.
• Drive continuous improvement in financial processes, systems and controls.
• Optimise cash generation, working capital and balance sheet performance.
• Ensure capital is deployed effectively against strategic priorities.
• Support investment decisions through rigorous financial analysis and performance evaluation.
• Monitor financial resilience and support sustainable business growth.
• Lead the development of reporting, analytics and business intelligence capabilities.
• Drive improved use of data to enhance decision-making and performance management.
• Sponsor finance transformation and continuous improvement initiatives.
• Support the implementation of technology, automation and process improvements that increase efficiency and scalability.

Leadership & Team Development

• Lead and develop a high-performing finance function circa 5 people currently.
• Create a culture of accountability, ownership and continuous improvement.
• Build strong finance business partnering capability across the organisation.
• Develop leadership capability, succession plans and future talent within the finance team.
• Act as a role model for collaboration, integrity and commercial excellence.

What Success Looks Like

• Delivery of revenue, profit, EBITDA, cash flow and return targets.
• Improved customer, product and channel profitability.
• High-quality financial planning, forecasting and decision support.
• Strong commercial partnering across the business.
• Effective capital allocation and investment returns.
• Robust financial controls with no material audit, compliance or reporting issues.
• Timely and accurate management and Board reporting.
• Successful delivery of transformation and business improvement initiatives.
• A highly engaged, capable and high-performing finance team.

About You

Experience

• Proven experience as a Finance Director or senior finance leader within a complex organisation.
• Must have gained senior finance leadership experience within Utilities, Energy, Infrastructure or Financial Services sectors.
• Must be able to roll your sleeves up and deal with all levels within the finance team
• Experience operating within regulated environments is highly desirable.
• Strong track record of partnering Executive Leadership Teams to drive growth, profitability and business performance.
• Experience leading commercial finance, FP&A, performance management and business partnering activities.
• Demonstrated success influencing strategic, investment and operational decisions.
• Proven ability to lead organisational change, transformation and performance improvement programmes.
• Experience operating at Executive and Board level.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• Experience leading and developing high-performing finance teams.

Qualifications & Skills

• Qualified Accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent).
• Significant post-qualification leadership experience.
• Strong commercial finance, FP&A and business partnering expertise.
• Excellent strategic thinking and financial modelling capability.
• Deep understanding of business performance drivers, profitability analysis and investment appraisal.
• Strong knowledge of financial controls, governance, reporting and risk management.
• Experience leveraging data, technology and analytics to improve business outcomes.
• Outstanding communication, influencing and leadership skills.
• Ability to balance commercial ambition with financial discipline and control.

Reward Package

• Up to 30% annual performance bonus
• Hybrid working with a minimum of 2 days per week in the office near Chichester on the South Coast
• Senior leadership role with significant influence across the organisation
• Opportunity to shape strategy, performance and future growth

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