Head of Finance

SushiDog Head Office; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Free Gym membership to PureGym

Healthcare Support via Simply Health

28 days holiday inclusive of bank hols

Extra holiday day on your birthday

Sabbatical after 5 years

Profit share scheme - up to 20%

Social company events

Job summary

SushiDog Ltd is seeking a hands-on Finance Controller to shape and scale the finance function across 18-site estate. You will own month-end close, financial controls, site-level reporting, and commercial partnering with Operations to drive margins and efficiency.

You will report to the Fractional Finance Director and partner with external management accountants while building robust processes, governance, and audits readiness for a growing QSR group.

Qualifications

• Proven experience in a multi-site business is essential.
• Experience in a Financial Controller, Sr. Finance Manager, Head of Finance or equivalent role with ownership of financial reporting and controls.
• Experience managing or coordinating an outsourced finance function or external accountancy provider.
• Hands-on, proactive approach with ability to challenge and own problems through to resolution.
• Strong communication skills and ability to translate complex information into actionable insights.

Responsibilities

• Own month-end close process and ensure timely, accurate reporting.
• Coordinate between external management accountants and internal stakeholders; ensure accountability.
• Establish financial controls across revenue, purchasing, payroll, stock and cash handling.
• Develop site-level reporting, interpret P&L and highlight variances with insights for improvements.
• Serve as finance business partner to Operations; drive cost control, pricing and purchasing decisions.

Skills

Financial controls

Month-end close

Financial reporting

Commercial partnering

Stakeholder management

External accountant coordination

Job description

Role Overview

Hybrid - 4 days in office / 1 WFH

This role reports into the Fractional Finance Director, and is an opportunity to build and shape the finance function for scale, establishing the processes, controls and reporting needed to support a growing QSR estate while providing meaningful commercial insight to the wider business.

You will be the key link between our external management accountants and internal team, ensuring financial information is accurate, timely and useful. Alongside this, you will be a key business partner to our Head of Operations and wider Operations team. The ideal candidate is someone who combines strong financial control and accounting fundamentals with a hands‑on, commercially focused mindset.

Key responsibilities

1. Financial control and month-end management

• Take ownership of the month-end close process, ensuring financial information is complete, accurate and delivered to agreed deadlines.
• Act as the primary liaison between our external management accountants and internal stakeholders, coordinating inputs, investigating discrepancies and resolving queries and ensuring clear accountability for deliverables.
• Ensure appropriate financial controls are in place across revenue, purchasing, supplier payments, payroll, stock and cash handling.
• Ensure the business meets relevant statutory, tax and financial reporting obligations, working with external advisers where appropriate.

2. Multi-site financial reporting and performance analysis

• Develop clear, consistent financial reporting across our growing 18-site estate, giving leadership a reliable view of performance at both site and estate level.
• Own the interpretation of monthly site-level profit and loss reporting, investigate variances, ensuring performance is understood rather than simply reported.
• Establish appropriate KPIs and reporting rhythms for both the central team and site operations.

3. Commercial business partnering

• Act as the principal finance business partner to the Head of Operations, supporting operational decisions with clear financial analysis and commercial insight.
• Spot the trends in the numbers (e.g. labour slipping) and take them to ops in plain English, not finance-speak. Challenge assumptions constructively.
• Support the development of initiatives to improve labour efficiency, food margins, waste management, purchasing and other key cost drivers.
• Support commercial decision-making on pricing, promotions, menu changes, opening hours, staffing models and other operational initiatives.

4. Budgeting, forecasting and financial planning

• Support the annual budgeting process, working collaboratively with Operations and the wider leadership team to develop realistic, commercially informed budgets.
• Develop site-level budgets and forecasts, with clear assumptions and ownership of key revenue and cost drivers.
• Produce regular forecasts of revenue, profitability and cash flow, highlighting risks and opportunities early.
• Monitor performance against budget and forecast, ensuring material variances are understood and addressed.

5. Building and developing the finance function for scale

• Assess the existing finance processes, systems, reporting and division of responsibilities between the internal team and external management accountants.
• Establish a clear operating model for the finance function, defining ownership, responsibilities, deadlines and escalation routes.
• Audit readiness – liaise directly with auditors to lead the business through financial audits
• Help establish appropriate controls around purchasing, supplier onboarding, expenditure approval and financial commitments.
• Establish and manage all payments leaving the business in collaboration with external management accountanacy.

Experience and Qualifications

• Proven experience in a multi-site business is essential, ideally within QSR, hospitality, restaurants, retail or another operationally complex, site-based environment.
• Experience in a Financial Controller, Sr. Finance Manager, Head of Finance or equivalent role, with meaningful ownership of financial reporting and controls.
• Experience managing or coordinating an external accountancy provider, outsourced finance team or shared-service finance function.
• A proactive, hands‑on, and solution‑focused approach, with the confidence to challenge constructively and take ownership of problems through to resolution.
• Effective communication and soft skills and a talent for translating complex information into simple, actionable terms.

Benefits & Bonus

• Free Gym membership to PureGym
• Healthcare Support via Simply Health
• 28 days holiday inclusive of bank holidays + 1 day for each year of service completed up to 5 additional
• Extra holiday day on your birthday
• Paid Sabbatical month after 5 years of service
• Profit share scheme - up to 20% base salary
• Social company events