Financial Controller

Antonia Saunders Ltd; Greater London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Antonia Saunders Ltd in London is seeking a Financial Controller to join the team and own the day-to-day finance engine. You will manage month-end close, reporting, and the wider control framework, while supporting the Head of Finance to grow the business both in the UK and internationally.

The role leads a Finance Manager and Senior Accountant, with potential to broaden cross-border duties and a credible path to Head of Finance within 1–2 years, depending on performance.

Qualifications

• Qualified accountant with ACA/ACCA/CIMA or equivalent.
• 1–5 years PQE in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong data-to-decision capability and people skills.
• Experience in professional services or similar fast-growing settings is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Own day-to-day finance operations and month-end close.
• Lead close, reporting, and the broader control framework.
• Manage a Finance Manager and Senior Accountant plus a larger team.
• Interface with senior stakeholders and support Head of Finance for strategic goals.

Skills

Qualified accountant

Finance leadership

Stakeholder communication

Education

ACCA/ACCA or CIMA

Job description

One of our private clients, an established law firm, requires a Financial Controller to join the London team. The firm is growing fast, and the plan is to keep pushing further, both at home and into new markets abroad.

The Role

This role exists because finance leadership needs someone to properly run the engine room - a second-in-command who can take full ownership of the day-to-day and free up the Head of Finance to focus upward and outward. You'll be the person accountability sits with when the monthly figures need to land accurately and on schedule.

Two direct reports - a Finance Manager and a Senior Accountant - sit under you, with a combined team of roughly eight handling billing, management accounts and cash. Close, reporting and the wider control framework will be yours to shape and defend. In practice, you become the natural point of contact whenever the team needs a steer.

Expect the brief to widen as the business does. Cross-border complexity is already on the horizon, and whoever takes this on should find that prospect energising rather than off-putting. Commercial and strategic responsibilities will build over time, and a credible route to Head of Finance sits within reach for the right person - realistically inside one to two years.

Finance isn't siphoned off into a back office here. You'll be close to how the business actually operates, with genuine input into the calls that shape it.

The ideal candidate

This brief is deliberately not aimed at a career Financial Controller who has settled into the seat. Our client wants someone earlier in that journey - roughly up to five years post-qualification - taking on the FC title for the first time, with the ceiling still clearly above them. Think driven, sharp, and comfortable making change happen, not just administering what's already there.

Beyond that, we're looking for:

• A qualified accountant - this is essential and non-negotiable. ACA, ACCA or CIMA qualification backed by genuine technical depth - comfortable across close, balance sheet control, audit and tax
• Approximately 1-5 years PQE
• Natural people skills, including with part-qualified staff who need developing as well as managing
• A process-and-systems mindset, ideally with some hands-on exposure to finance transformation or automation work
• The presence to talk numbers with senior people directly, without needing everything scripted in advance
• An instinct for turning data into a recommendation rather than just a report
• Prior exposure to professional services or a comparably fast, relationship-led setting is useful but not a prerequisite