Financial Controller

Forge Talent; Preston; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Forge Talent are partnering with a high-growth, PE-backed organisation to appoint a Commercial Financial Controller. This isn’t a role for someone who just wants to report the numbers, we need someone who can understand them, challenge them and use them to drive performance.

Working closely with senior operational leadership, you’ll have real influence across profitability, cash, margins, commercial decision-making and the continued growth of the business.

Qualifications

• Must have strong financial control foundations and commercial capability.
• Detail-oriented with high standards around accuracy and delivery.
• Proactive, organised and able to manage multiple priorities.

Responsibilities

• Take full ownership of monthly management accounts process with timely, insightful reporting.
• Partner with senior operations to translate performance data into actions.
• Identify opportunities to improve revenue, margins and cash conversion.
• Lead budgeting and forecasting, with forward-looking financial views.
• Develop KPIs and drive management information to influence decisions.
• Manage and develop the management accounts team.

Skills

Financial control

Commercial mindset

Communication

Attention to detail

Stakeholder management

Education

ACCA/CIMA qualification

Job description

Forge Talent are partnering with a high-growth, PE-backed organisation to appoint a Commercial Financial Controller.

This isn’t a role for someone who just wants to report the numbers, we need someone who can understand them, challenge them and use them to drive performance.

Working closely with senior operational leadership, you’ll have real influence across profitability, cash, margins, commercial decision-making and the continued growth of the business.

Key Responsibilities:

• Take full ownership of the monthly management accounts process, ensuring accurate, insightful and timely reporting that gives leadership a clear view of business performance.
• Work closely with senior operational leaders as a genuine commercial partner, providing challenge, improving financial understanding and helping translate performance data into clear actions.
• Get properly under the skin of the commercial drivers of the business, particularly revenue, pricing, margins, customer and service-line profitability, identifying opportunities to improve performance.
• Lead the annual budgeting process alongside regular forecasting and reforecasting, ensuring the business has a robust and forward-looking view of financial performance.
• Maintain a strong focus on cash generation and working capital, improving visibility, accountability and performance across cash conversion, WIP and debt.
• Develop and embed meaningful operational and financial KPIs across areas including WIP, utilisation, productivity, margins and profitability, ensuring management information drives decisions rather than simply reports what has already happened.
• Lead, manage and develop the management accounts team, creating clear accountability, raising standards and building capability as the finance function continues to evolve.
• Continuously improve financial processes, controls and reporting, creating a finance function that is increasingly efficient, scalable and able to support the growth of the wider business.
• Play a key role across systems improvement, automation and wider finance transformation, identifying opportunities to remove manual processes and improve the quality, speed and accessibility of financial information.
• Act as a key finance contact throughout the external audit process, ensuring information is accurate, well controlled and delivered within agreed timelines.
• Support the broader finance and commercial agenda as the business continues to scale under PE ownership, bringing greater rigor, insight and pace while helping build a finance function capable of supporting the next stage of growth.

Qualifications & Experience:

• ACA, ACCA or CIMA Qualified.
• Previous experience with strong financial control foundations and genuine commercial capability.
• Hands-on, resilient and someone who genuinely thrives in a fast-paced, demanding environment.
• Detail matters. High standards around accuracy, controls and getting things delivered properly and on time.
• Proactive, organised and comfortable spinning multiple plates without losing sight of what matters.
• A strong communicator who builds relationships quickly, challenges when needed and can influence people at every level finance and non-finance.
• Commercially switched on. Someone who wants to understand the business behind the numbers, add value and ultimately grow into a much broader finance leadership role.