Financial Director

Headstar; Wakefield; On-site; GBP 100,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Headstar is seeking a Finance Director for a growing SME in Wakefield with a turnover in the £40-50million range. You’ll sit on the Senior Leadership Team, partner with the MD as commercial and strategic lead, and help steer strategy, cash management and performance across the business.

You’ll lead an established Finance team, shape MI and ERP decisions, and drive AI and automation initiatives while staying close to operations to ensure practical, effective controls.

Qualifications

• Qualified accountant already operating at Finance Director level.
• Strong commercial mindset with grounding in financial control, reporting, forecasting, cash flow and working capital.
• Experience managing financial risk, credit exposure and working capital in a commercial environment.
• Experience in asset-intensive, equipment-hire, leasing or service-based environment.
• Ability to operate at strategic and operational levels.
• Experience leading and developing Finance teams.
• Understand ERP systems and ideally have been involved in implementation or optimisation.
• Genuine interest in AI, automation and technology.
• Interpersonal skills to challenge, influence and win hearts and minds.
• Track record of managing fruitful relationships with Banks & Funders.

Responsibilities

• Work closely with the MD and Senior Leadership Team on strategy, growth and commercial decision-making
• Bring greater visibility to cash, working capital, CapEx and business performance
• Improve MI, reporting and data, making sure it helps people make better decisions
• Strengthen financial risk, credit and working capital management, ensuring the business has the right controls as it continues to grow
• Lead, coach and develop an established Finance team
• Own relationships with banks, funders and other finance partners
• Assess the current ERP system and decide whether to optimise or replace it
• Take ownership of the AI and automation agenda, identifying opportunities to improve efficiency
• Get close to the operation, build relationships and provide constructive commercial challenge
• Ultimately, this is a great opportunity for an FD to professionalise and improve without overcomplicating things.

Job description

If you want a Finance Director role where you can sit behind a spreadsheet, send out a board pack once a month and disappear back into your office, this probably isn’t for you!

This is a successful SME business (£40-50million t/o) with a loyal team, a strong culture and ambitious plans for growth.

You get a real sense of that culture when you speak to the people who work there. Unprompted, I spoke to a member of staff who’d been with the business 17 years and even followed the MD there from a previous employer. He described the business simply as “well-run” and said “they look after their staff.”

What more needs to be said?

This is a great opportunity for a Finance Director who buys into that culture, wanting to be right in the middle of the business to join the team.

You’ll sit on the Senior Leadership Team, work closely with the MD as their commercial and strategic partner, but also stay close enough to the operation to understand what’s really going on.

What you’ll be doing

This is a broad FD role. You’ll be there to help run and improve the business, not just the Finance function.

You’ll:

• Work closely with the MD and Senior Leadership Team on strategy, growth and commercial decision-making
• Bring greater visibility to cash, working capital, CapEx and business performance
• Improve MI, reporting and data, making sure it helps people make better decisions
• Strengthen financial risk, credit and working capital management, ensuring the business has the right controls as it continues to grow
• Lead, coach and develop an established Finance team
• Own relationships with banks, funders and other finance partners, ensuring the business has the funding and liquidity required to support its growth
• Assess the current ERP system and decide whether to optimise or replace it
• Take ownership of the AI and automation agenda, identifying opportunities to improve efficiency
• Get close to the operation, build relationships and provide constructive commercial challenge

Ultimately, this is a great opportunity for an FD to professionalise and improve without overcomplicating things.

What they’re looking for

You’ll be a qualified accountant already operating at Finance Director level. You’ll also:

• Have a strong commercial mindset and be comfortable contributing beyond the numbers, coupled with a strong grounding in financial control, reporting, forecasting, cash flow and working capital
• Experience managing financial risk, credit exposure and working capital in a commercial environment
• Have experience in an asset-intensive, equipment-hire, leasing or service-based environment
• Be able to operate at both strategic and operational level
• Have experience leading and developing Finance teams
• Understand ERP systems and ideally have been involved in an implementation or optimisation
• Have a genuine interest in AI, automation and technology
• Have the interpersonal skills to challenge, influence and win hearts and minds
• A track record of managing fruitful relationships with Banks & Funders

Why consider it?

• A genuine seat at the table as part of the Senior Leadership Team
• A close working relationship with an MD who wants a commercial partner
• The opportunity to shape the next stage of a successful and growing business
• Plenty of scope to improve Finance, systems, reporting and technology
• A long-standing team and a business where people and culture genuinely matter

One important point: this is five days a week in the office. That will rule some people out. But it’s deliberate. They want their FD visible, accessible and properly embedded in the business.