Head of Finance

Yolk Recruitment; Cardiff; On-site; GBP 80,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Yolk Recruitment is seeking a Head of Finance to build the finance function from the ground up within a startup environment in Cardiff. You will own designing robust processes, controls and reporting to support rapid growth and financial discipline.

You’ll lead the establishment of the finance infrastructure, implement systems, and deliver monthly management reporting, budgets and cash-flow insights for the leadership team.

Responsibilities

• Taking full ownership of the finance function and developing it from the ground up
• Designing and implementing robust financial processes, controls and governance
• Establishing the finance infrastructure required to support a rapidly growing business
• Implementing and optimising finance systems and technology
• Developing monthly management reporting, budgets, forecasts and cash-flow reporting
• Building meaningful MI and financial dashboards for the leadership team
• Providing commercial insight to support strategic decision-making
• Managing statutory accounting, tax, audit and year-end requirements
• Establishing strong financial controls and ensuring the business has the right framework as it scales
• Working closely with the founders and senior leadership team, acting as a genuine commercial partner
• Identifying opportunities to improve financial efficiency, visibility and decision-making
• As the business grows, building and developing the finance team around you

Job description

Head of Finance

Build the Finance Function. Shape the Future.

Are you a Head of Finance who thrives on building, rather than simply maintaining?

This is an opportunity to join an ambitious start-up organisation at a genuinely exciting stage of its growth and take complete ownership of building its finance function from the ground up.

We're looking for someone who has recently been there and done it - someone who has taken a start-up or early-stage business from limited finance infrastructure to a robust, scalable and commercially focused finance function.

If you love creating processes, implementing systems, establishing controls, building reporting frameworks and putting the foundations in place for sustainable growth, this could be the role for you.

This isn't a "keep the lights on" finance role.

You'll have the opportunity to build the finance function around you.

From establishing the right processes and controls, to selecting and implementing systems, developing reporting, managing cash flow and creating meaningful financial insight for the leadership team, you'll be instrumental in shaping how finance operates as the business grows.

What will you be doing?

• Taking full ownership of the finance function and developing it from the ground up

• Designing and implementing robust financial processes, controls and governance

• Establishing the finance infrastructure required to support a rapidly growing business

• Implementing and optimising finance systems and technology

• Developing monthly management reporting, budgets, forecasts and cash-flow reporting

• Building meaningful MI and financial dashboards for the leadership team

• Providing commercial insight to support strategic decision-making

• Managing statutory accounting, tax, audit and year-end requirements

• Establishing strong financial controls and ensuring the business has the right framework as it scales

• Working closely with the founders and senior leadership team, acting as a genuine commercial partner

• Identifying opportunities to improve financial efficiency, visibility and decision-making

• As the business grows, building and developing the finance team around you

What we're looking for

This role is not simply about having held the title of Head of Finance.

We're particularly interested in someone who has recent, hands‑on experience of building a finance function within a start‑up or early‑stage environment.

You’ll ideally have experience of:

• Setting up a finance function from scratch

• Building processes and controls where they previously didn’t exist

• Selecting, implementing or developing finance systems

• Creating reporting and MI frameworks from the ground up

• Establishing budgeting, forecasting and cash‑flow processes

• Supporting a business through a period of significant growth

• Working closely with founders / CEOs and senior stakeholders

• Moving between strategic thinking and hands‑on delivery

• Building and leading a finance team as the organisation develops

Most importantly, you'll be someone who gets excited by a blank sheet of paper.

You won’t be walking into a fully established finance function with every process already documented. You'll be creating it.

The person behind the role

We're looking for someone entrepreneurial, commercially minded and pragmatic.

Someone who can look at a business and think:

"Right - here's what we need to build, here's how we should do it, and here's where I can make a difference."

You’ll need to be comfortable operating at pace, working with ambiguity and getting stuck into the detail when required.

You should enjoy creating, improving and building, rather than simply inheriting established processes.

And you’ll need the confidence to challenge, influence and advise senior leadership while remaining hands‑on enough to make things happen.

Why this opportunity?

This is a chance to make your mark from day one.

You'll have genuine ownership of the finance agenda and the opportunity to build something that will scale alongside the organisation.

For the right person, this could be much more than another Head of Finance position - it's an opportunity to design the finance function, shape the infrastructure and become a key part of the company's growth story.

If you've recently built a finance function from the ground up and that's exactly the kind of challenge that energises you, I'd love to hear from you.