Commercial Finance Director

Ogilvy UK; London; Hybrid; GBP 200,000 +; Full time

Job summary

A leading creative agency in London seeks a strategic finance leader. Responsible for driving financial performance and leading a commercial team of 24. Candidates should be qualified accountants with a strong background in commercial finance, team leadership, and analytical skills. The role offers a hybrid working model and various benefits including private healthcare and wellness incentives.

Benefits

25 days annual leave + 1 Volunteer Day

Bupa Private Healthcare from day 1

Flexible Working Model

Wellbeing and Health schemes

Life Assurance

Qualifications

• Significant experience in the finance sector, ideally within advertising or media.
• Proven ability to lead large finance teams effectively.
• Deep understanding of client profitability and pricing strategies.

Responsibilities

• Act as the primary link between the finance department and client leadership.
• Oversee reporting compliance related to client contracts.
• Drive margin enhancement and profitability goals.

Skills

Commercial Finance Expertise

Leadership and Team Development

Financial Modeling

Analytical Skills

Strategic Partnering

Education

Qualified Accountant

Job description

Overview

Department: Finance
Location: Sea Containers, London - hybrid working (3:2)
Contract Type: Permanent
Full Time/Part Time: Full Time - 35 hours per week

About Ogilvy

Ogilvy has been growing brands and businesses since 1948, and we continue that rich legacy through borderless creativity. Operating across 132 offices in 82 countries, our experts in Public Relations, Consulting, Advertising, Health, and Experience work fluidly to deliver the greatest platform for growth for our clients and our people.

Our UK Finance department, a vibrant community of 60+ professionals, is an enablement function dedicated to ensuring compliant, efficient, and profitable growth. We are commercial partners to the business, constantly seeking creative solutions, challenging the status quo, and optimising technology to support our ambitious growth strategy.

What You’ll Do

• Strategic Client Partnership:Act as the primary link between the finance department and the client leadership community of Ogilvy UK.
• Commercial Leadership:Lead commercial thinking, from spearheading new business pitches and pricing initiatives to ensuring effective Net Working Capital (NWC) management, accurate billings, and compliant revenue recognition.
• Profitability & Margin Improvement:Drive margin enhancement by setting appropriate client profitability targets, monitoring performance, and implementing robust action plans.
• Resource Allocation & Growth Planning:Collaborate closely with the Group Finance Director on staff cost budgets, client capacity planning, and allocating financial resources to align with and drive the UK business growth strategy.
• Team Leadership & Development:Lead the UK Commercial Team (24 people), comprising four direct reports (two Senior Commercial Managers, a Lead Commercial WIP Manager, and a Revenue Compliance Lead). You will have overall responsibility for the commercial managers and commercial WIP managers, and the autonomy to shape your team structure and reporting lines to best achieve objectives.
• Process & System Evolution:Bring fresh ideas to the team and wider business, evolving internal reporting systems, challenging the status quo, and optimising processes for efficiency and compliance.
• Reporting & Compliance:Oversee all reporting requirements related to client contracts, revenue recognition, and relevant balance sheet accounts (WIP, Accrued Revenue, Deferred Revenue, Trade Debtors). Ensure adherence to regulations and group policies.
• KPI Focus & Influence:Focus the business and commercial team on relevant KPIs, report against them, and actively influence outcomes to achieve targets.
• Insight Delivery:Ensure the commercial team delivers timely, accurate, relevant, and useful information and insight, tailored to the audience and message.

What You’ll Need

You're a highly experienced, commercially astute, and strategically-minded finance leader with a proven track record of driving financial performance in a fast-paced environment.

We're looking for someone who:

• Is a Qualified Accountant: With significant post-qualification experience, ideally from an advertising, media, or project-based professional services background.
• Possesses deep Commercial Finance Expertise:You understand client profitability, pricing strategies, and contract negotiation inside out.
• Is a natural Strategic Partner:You build strong, trusted relationships with senior client leadership and non-finance stakeholders, influencing decisions with clear, actionable insights.
• Is an Exceptional Leader:You have a proven ability to lead, mentor, and develop large finance teams (specifically a team of 24), fostering a collaborative and high-performing culture, with experience in shaping team structures.
• Is an Analytical Powerhouse:You excel at financial modeling, forecasting, budgeting, and profitability analysis, translating complex data into compelling narratives.
• Is a Process & System Innovator:You're proactive in challenging the status quo, identifying improvements, and embracing technology for efficiency.
• Is Results-Oriented:Driven to achieve financial targets and contribute directly to business growth.
• Is Values-Driven: Committed to fostering an inclusive, equitable, and diverse environment, embodying Ogilvy's core values; Do the right thing; Do the best work of our lives & Do it together
• 25 days annual leave + 1 Volunteer Day
• Bupa Private Healthcare from day 1
• Enhanced Maternity, Adoption and Shared Parental Leave
• We have a Flexible Working Model with core working hours: 10am – 4pm
• Wellbeing and Health: Up to £25.00 per month towards physical or online exercise class membership, Unmind membership, LifeWorks tool and annual eye tests and development budgets and Wellbeing incentives and activities throughout the year
• Season Ticket Loan and Cycle to Work Scheme
• Life Assurance

Equal Opportunity and Inclusion

Our ambition is to attract the very best diverse talent to Ogilvy, and to be the employer of choice in the UK. We want everyone to feel welcome when they join us, and once they’re here, for them to want to stay with us, grow their career, and to feel they belong with us.

We are an equal opportunity employer and we’re committed to creating an inclusive, welcoming environment for everyone who wants to work at Ogilvy. For us, diversity, equity and inclusion is integrated into everything that we do. Your race, colour, ethnic, religion, gender, gender identity, national origin, sexual orientation, age, marital status, disability, have no bearing on our hiring decisions, but we encourage everyone to feel free to express their true selves in an environment we are consistently striving to make as inclusive as possible.

We aim to facilitate an accessible and positive application experience for all candidates. If you require any adjustments from us to support you through the process or expect to require any adjustments to working conditions to be able to best perform in the role, please let us know. We are happy to consider all reasonable adjustments.

If you live with a disability and you would like to take advantage of our offer of a guaranteed interview under the Disability Confident Scheme, please ensure you fill out our voluntary Equal Opportunities Questionnaire when applying.

Privacy and Application Information

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