Finance Manager

Much Better Adventures; Bristol; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

An ambitious remote-first travel scale-up is seeking a Finance Manager to oversee financial operations and drive improvements. This role offers the chance to work in a dynamic environment where your insights will shape decisions and contribute to meaningful change. As part of a small, agile finance team, you will manage accounts, produce reports, and collaborate with various departments. If you are a qualified accountant with a passion for the outdoors and a strong technical background, this is an exciting opportunity to make a significant impact in a growing company. Join a team that values creativity and encourages innovative ideas while supporting local economies and communities.

Benefits

38 days holiday

Annual performance-based bonus

Flexible hours

Generous pension scheme

Free MBA trip within the first year

£500 annual travel voucher

30% employee discount on trips

Free access to private GP

Budget for remote working space

Supportive maternity and paternity pay

Qualifications

• Qualified accountant with post-qualification experience and strong technical knowledge.
• Excellent analytical skills and a keen eye for detail are essential.

Responsibilities

• Manage day-to-day financial operations and ensure accuracy in reporting.
• Produce month-end management accounts and lead year-end reporting.

Skills

Technical Accounting Knowledge

Analytical Skills

Problem-Solving Skills

Attention to Detail

Communication Skills

Self-Starter

Adaptability

Education

Qualified Accountant (ACA/ACCA/CIMA)

Tools

Xero

Excel

Job description

We're an ambitious, remote-first travel scale-up, looking to grow our team with a Finance Manager. If you're a passionate accountant with a love for the outdoors and a technical, detailed eye, this is the opportunity for you!

Read more about working at Much Better Adventures.

The Role

We are on the lookout for a Finance Manager to join our fast-growing, ambitious team here at Much Better Adventures. Working in our Finance team, under the guidance of our Finance Director, you'll take full ownership of the day-to-day management of financial operations. You'll play a crucial role in ensuring efficiency, accuracy, and continuous improvement in our finance function. You'll also work closely with other teams, our amazing hosts and be the lead contact for external reporting requirements.

We are seeking a qualified accountant with post-qualification experience (PQE) who possesses strong technical knowledge and a keen eye for detail. The ideal candidate will have excellent reviewing skills, ensuring accuracy and compliance in financial reporting. While some background in practice is preferred, we are also open to candidates with purely industry experience who demonstrate a solid understanding of accounting principles and standards.

As a growing and constantly evolving company, we operate in a fast-paced environment where change is the norm. We need a candidate who is agile, adaptable, and able to think quickly on their feet. Strong problem-solving skills are essential, as you will be expected to navigate challenges, drive improvements, and contribute to the company's ongoing success.

Why you'll love it here

You'll love it here if you're looking for more than just a standard finance role. The work is dynamic, the subject matter is fascinating, and you'll have the opportunity to make a real impact. This is a role where your insights and expertise will shape decisions, drive change, and contribute to something meaningful-far beyond just numbers on a spreadsheet.

Key Responsibilities

As Finance Manager, you will take ownership of our day-to-day financial operations, ensuring efficiency, accuracy, and continuous improvement. Working closely with the Financial Assistant, you will play a key role in strengthening our finance function. You will report to the Finance Director and collaborate with a CFO who will be joining later this year, forming a four-person finance team.

Responsibilities include:

• Managing accounts payable and receivable, bank reconciliations, VAT returns, and journal entries in Xero.
• Overseeing weekly invoicing and payments to our fantastic local hosts worldwide.
• Producing month-end management accounts and reports for the board, senior management, and investors.
• Leading year-end reporting and working with external accountants for statutory accounts.
• Identifying opportunities to streamline and improve financial processes.
• Supporting ongoing financial projects and strategic initiatives.

Requirements

Essential 'must haves':

• A qualified accountant (ACA/ACCA/CIMA) with post-qualification experience (PQE).
• Strong technical accounting knowledge, a keen eye for detail, and excellent reviewing skills.
• Highly analytical and an excellent problem solver.
• Proficient in Excel and accounting software.
• Constantly striving to make improvements to systems, workflows, and processes.
• Meticulous attention to detail.
• A self-starter who can make decisions and manage your own workload with minimal supervision.
• Effective communicator with excellent written and spoken English and strong interpersonal skills.
• Able to work under pressure, learn and adapt quickly, and adhere to tight deadlines.
• Flexible, thrive on change, self-driven, and able to work independently as part of a remote team.
• Quick to pick up new systems and always striving to be efficient and autonomous.
• Excited about what we're doing here at MBA!

We're a bunch of team players, so it's important you're happy getting involved in tasks (big or small) outside your remit when required. As a fast-growing business, your responsibilities may change, but we always look to promote from within and provide opportunities to develop your career based on your personal ambitions.

Desirable:

• Preferably from a practice (including audit) background, though we are open to candidates with purely industry experience.
• Travel industry experience.
• Experienced in using Xero.
• Experience in financial modelling and cash flow projections.

Benefits

• An entrepreneurial and creative environment where great ideas are actively encouraged, and taking responsibility for them is expected.
• The warm fuzzy feeling that comes with knowing you are making a huge difference to small independent businesses, local economies, and communities.
• 38 days holiday (inclusive of public holidays) - to be used when you like.
• Annual company performance-based bonus.
• Company-wide, adventurous meet-ups.
• Flexible hours and hybrid working.
• Generous Pension scheme.
• Experience what we do: everyone goes on a free MBA trip within their first year.
• A £500 annual travel voucher to spend on an MBA trip/s.
• 30% employee discount, plus 15% friends and family discount for MBA trips.
• Free access to private GP, and unlimited mental health support and counselling via our partner at BHSF.
• Budget to set up a remote working space and a dedicated desk at the Bristol co-working office.
• Supportive Maternity and Paternity pay: we offer 16 weeks full pay if you're the primary caregiver & 4 weeks full pay if you're the secondary caregiver.

What does the typical interview process look like?

• Stage 1: CV submission and completion of screening questions.
• Stage 2: Short video call, approx 30 minutes. A 'get to know each other' interview, to find out more about your experience and personal passion for active adventure travel.
• Stage 3: Online assessments and/or reference checks.
• Stage 4: Attend an in-person interview in Bristol with two senior members of the MBA team, which will include an Excel exercise on data analytics.

Job 'Need to Know' Details:

• Salary: £50,000-£60,000 depending on experience, plus benefits listed above.
• Closing date for applications: 12pm on Monday 7th April, however we reserve the right to close to new applications before this date.
• Preferred start date: May 2025.
• Working Hours: a full-time role is 40 hours per week, with core hours being 1000 - 1500 GMT, and a flexible hours policy for the remaining time. We also welcome applicants who wanted a fixed-term contract, or from those wanting to work part-time, but we require an 80% (32 hours) minimum commitment, spread over 4 or 5 days/week.
• Location: you must be resident in the UK and able to come into the Bristol office for 2-3 days per week.

We are an equal opportunities employer and strongly encourage applicants from a diverse range of backgrounds. Our flexible working arrangements are designed to support everyone in the team to achieve that all-important work/life balance in a way that works for their particular circumstances.