Head of Commercial Finance

SF Recruitment; England; Hybrid; GBP 125,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

A private equity backed manufacturing business is seeking a qualified Head of Commercial Finance to manage the financial strategy and reporting processes. This hybrid role requires strong experience in manufacturing finance, with responsibilities including budgeting, forecasting, and performance analysis. The successful candidate will report directly to the Chief Commercial Officer and support customer negotiations through data analysis. Ideal for those with ACA/ACCA/ACMA qualifications who thrive in fast-paced environments.

Qualifications

• Qualified in accounting such as ACA, ACCA, or ACMA.
• Experience in a manufacturing environment, ideally in private equity.
• Ability to perform data-driven financial analyses.

Responsibilities

• Accountable for the commercial financial strategy of the business.
• Oversee financial reporting processes for accuracy and timeliness.
• Design and improve reporting systems for actionable insights.
• Manage the commercial budget and forecasting processes.
• Support customer negotiations with data-driven approaches.

Skills

Commercial financial strategy

Financial reporting

Data analysis

Budgeting and forecasting

Business partnering

Education

Qualified ACA/ACCA/ACMA

Job description

SF Executive is partnered with a private equity backed, manufacturing business that is seeking a Head of Commercial Finance (HCF). You will report to Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) and have a dotted line to the Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

Responsibilities

• Accountable for the commercial financial strategy for the business and supporting the CCO in financial value creation
• Oversee weekly and monthly operations financial reporting processes, ensuring accuracy and timeliness and which are action-oriented
• Design, implement and continuously improve reporting system throughout the business to ensure that stakeholders get the right data and insights in a timely and actionable manner
• Responsible for the commercial budget and forecasting process, including sales, trade promotions, gross margins and marketing spend
• Working with the Group Financial Control, ensure ongoing monitoring of key controls in the areas of commercial finance to provide reasonable assurance to the board that the system of internal controls is fit for purpose
• Ensure appropriate business partnering capability to ensure in equal measures, both support and constructively challenge to the commercial organisation
• Support the customer negotiations that the commercial function undertakes, by providing a data-driven approach and scenario analysis
• Perform ROI and payback analysis to ensure constant value creation
• Ensure full understanding of margin drivers and to highlight/advise stakeholders on margin variances and how to capitalise/correct on margin trends.
• Working with the Head of Shared Service in terms of driving working capital improvements in the area of debtor management
• Ensure robust processes in the way that commercial finance functions. Advising the commercial function in terms of wider process improvements

Qualifications

The successful HCR will be a qualified (ACA/ACCA/ACMA) and experienced finance lead. You will have worked within a manufacturing environment and you will have ideally been exposed to the pace of private equity backed business.

This role is being offered on a hybrid basis. The expectation is to work 4 days from site with a flexible day from home.