Financial Controller

Partner Group; Essex; On-site; GBP 75,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Partner Financial is recruiting a Financial Controller for a growing private equity backed business services group based in Essex. The role reports to the Group Finance Director and acts as a senior member of the finance function, elevating reporting quality and control robustness in line with ambitious growth and value creation plans.

The post will drive month-end close, management reporting, and board-ready analysis, while supporting audits, tax, and treasury.

Qualifications

• Qualified Accountant with post-qualification experience in industry.
• Strong reporting and financial control experience.
• Excellent communication and ability to influence senior management.
• Able to lead creation of a strong controls environment.
• Experience with budgeting, audit coordination and statutory filings.

Responsibilities

• Own the month-end close process with journal entries and balance sheet reconciliations.
• Prepare management accounts and reporting packs with variance analysis and commentary.
• Develop an expanded controls environment to support scalable growth.
• Support finance and IT systems upgrades and increase reporting automation.
• Coordinate annual audit and manage corporation tax, VAT returns and other filings.
• Assist treasury with cash flow forecasting and bank relationships.
• Lead and mentor a small finance team (two professionals).
• Assist in acquisitions integration and continuous improvement projects.
• Produce ad hoc board reports and senior stakeholder analyses.

Skills

Operational finance experience

Communication skills

Stakeholder influence

Financial reporting

Team leadership

Education

ACCA / CIMA / ACA qualification

Job description

Partner Financial have been retained to recruit a Financial Controller for a growing private equity backed business services company. This newly created role is designed to provide greater reporting capability and to support the delivery of an ambitious growth and value creation plan.

The business needs to improve both the timeliness and depth of their reporting ahead of a planned sale in 2027. To that end, they have recently recruited a high calibre Group CFO to take them through this sale and build for their long-term future. This post of Financial Controller is therefore a strategically important hire that will elevate the finance function, strengthen the robustness of the numbers produced and improve the relevance of management information as a whole. It also offers excellent progression opportunities within the wider group.

Reporting to the Group Finance Director, the Financial Controller will operate as a key member of the finance team and will also work closely with the Group CFO, the Head of Commercial Finance and wider operational leaders.

Key Responsibilities:

• Own the month-end close process including journal entries & balance sheet reconciliations.
• Prepare management accounts and reporting packs (including variance analysis and full commentary) for senior leadership in a timely manner.
• Develop the wider controls environment to allow the business to scale quickly in the future.
• Support upgrades across finance & IT systems; increase automation to speed up reporting.
• Coordinate the annual audit, manage corporation tax & VAT returns plus other statutory filings.
• Support treasury management, e.g. cash flow forecasting and managing bank relationships.
• Assist the Group Head of Commercial Finance with budgeting and quarterly rolling forecasts.
• Lead, manage and mentor a team of two finance professionals.
• Assist in integrating acquisitions and wider continuous improvement projects.
• Produce ad hoc board reports and analysis in addition to other reports for senior stakeholders.

The Candidate:

• Qualified Accountant (ACA / CIMA / ACCA) with post-qualification experience in industry.
• Strong operational finance experience across management reporting and financial control.
• Well-developed communication skills along with the ability to influence senior management.
• Adept at presenting complex information in a clear, simple way to non-finance stakeholders.
• ‘Knows what good looks like’ and can lead the creation of a strong controls environment.
• Able to be flexible, deadline driven and to demonstrate a can-do attitude.