Chief Operating Officer

ISx4 Group; Northern Ireland; Hybrid; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid Working

Long-Term Incentive Plan

Sale Bonus

Job summary

ISx4 Group is seeking an experienced Chief Operating Officer to own Finance, HR, Legal, Compliance and daily operations. Reporting to the CEO, the COO will lead the business backbone from month‑end financial reporting to people operations, contracts, governance, and risk, while supporting strategic initiatives and client proposals.

The role requires hands‑on leadership with the ability to operate at both detail and strategic levels across multiple functions.

Qualifications

• Professional accounting qualification with significant post‑qualification experience.
• Senior finance/operations leadership experience at COO/FD level.
• Hands-on experience in management accounting, financial control, budgeting and forecasting.
• Experience leading HR operations including recruitment and onboarding.
• Knowledge of governance and information‑security frameworks.
• Strong stakeholder management with a CEO and leadership team.
• Excellent organizational and communication skills.
• Experienced manager across multiple departments.
• Collaborates with all departments on projects.

Responsibilities

• Line management for Finance including accounting, control and reporting.
• Maintain a robust control framework and financial integrity.
• Oversee year‑end close, group accounts and audits with external accountants.
• Review financial reports, controls and sign off expenses.
• Oversee banking, cash management and FX activities.
• Lead HR operations: recruitment and onboarding.
• Own internal communications and staff engagement.
• Ensure compliance with policies and visa requirements.
• Own corporate governance, policies and staff attestations.
• Support strategy: market entry, tenders and client proposals.

Skills

Senior leadership

Management accounting

Budgeting & forecasting

HR operations leadership

Governance & compliance

Stakeholder management

Strategic planning

Education

Professional accounting qualification (ACCA/CIMA/CPA)

Job description

Job Role

We are seeking an experienced Chief Operating Officer to take ownership of ISx4's Finance, HR, Legal, Compliance and day‑to‑day business operations. Reporting to the CEO, the COO will lead and control the full operational backbone of the business – from month‑end financial control and reporting through to people operations, contracts, governance and corporate risk – while also supporting strategic initiatives such as new market entry, tenders and client proposals. This is a hands‑on leadership role suited to someone who can operate equally well at the detail level and at the strategic level.

Key Responsibilities

• Line management and oversight responsibilities for the Finance team including accounting, financial control and management reporting
• Ensure a robust control framework is operating effectively
• Oversee year‑end close, internal reporting and preparation of group/consolidated accounts, liaising with external accountants and auditors
• Review financial reports and financial controls, and sign off expense approvals
• Oversee banking relationships, cash management and wealth/financial management activity, including investment platforms and FX
• People & HR Operations
• Own the Recruitment, Onboarding and HR functions
• Point of contact for outsourced HR services
• Lead on staff communications, team meetings and internal engagement
• Ensure compliance with employment policies, right‑to‑work/visa requirements and relevant government or regulatory changes
• Own the company's legal function, including NDAs, client and non‑client contracts
• Manage relationships with external legal advisers, insurers and regulatory bodies
• Point of contact for any external legal escalations
• Own corporate governance, policy and standards ensuring reviews, updates and approvals in line with Board mandates. Drive the staff policy attestation process.
• Maintain the internal control framework to implement and manage appropriate controls
• Lead compliance submissions and accreditations, such as JOSCAR, Cyber Essentials (CE/CE+), ISO 27001 and ISO 42001
• Operations & Business Support
• Line management and oversight responsibilities for the Operations team including facilities, IT and supplier relationships
• Act as the primary point of contact for external partners, landlords and service providers
• Oversee licence renewals, government schemes (e.g. Invest NI) and periodic KPI, audit and grant reporting
• Strategic & Business Development
• Support new legal entity set‑up, new country/market entry, new payroll and new bank account establishment
• Contribute to tenders, client proposals and G‑Cloud/procurement submissions
• Provide input to and oversight on new investments and strategic ad hoc initiatives
• Partner with the CEO and leadership team on business planning and growth strategy
• Making the company “sale‑ready” including the implementation of the announced Long‑Term Incentive Plan and owning the preparation of documents to facilitate a sale

Key Requirements

• Professional accounting qualification with significant post‑qualification experience
• Proven experience in a senior finance/operations leadership role, ideally as a COO, Finance Director or Head of Finance & Operations
• Strong hands‑on experience across management accounting, financial control, budgeting and forecasting
• Experience leading or overseeing HR operations, including recruitment, onboarding and employee lifecycle management
• Working knowledge of corporate governance, compliance and information‑security frameworks
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, with the ability to work closely with a CEO and senior leadership team
• Strong organisational skills and comfortable managing a broad, varied portfolio of responsibilities
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal
• An experienced manager
• Collaborate with all departments, particularly on projects being explored or implemented

Nice to Have

• Experience in a professional services, consultancy or technology business
• Experience managing ISO 27001 and/or ISO 42001 certification programmes
• Experience with public‑sector procurement frameworks (e.g. G‑Cloud, tenders)
• Experience supporting company expansion into new legal entities, countries or payrolls
• Familiarity with cloud‑vendor billing/reconciliation (AWS, Azure, Microsoft)
• Experience in make a company “sale ready”

What We Offer

• A very competitive salary, reflective of experience.
• Hybrid Working
• Flexible hybrid arrangement based in Northern Ireland.
• Growth & Impact
• A senior leadership role at the heart of an ambitious, fast‑growing AI and analytics business.
• Long‑Term Incentive Plan
• Participation in the bonus from the eventual sale of the business.