Head of Finance

SF Partners; Shard End; On-site; GBP 85,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

SF Partners in Castle Bromwich is recruiting a Head of Finance for a major manufacturing operation. You will sit at the heart of the site leadership, partnering directly with the Site Managing Director to influence commercial and operational decisions.

You'll lead and develop the finance team, maintain a robust control environment and ensure high-quality reporting to support strategic investments and performance improvements.

Qualifications

• Qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA or CIMA) with manufacturing finance experience.
• Strong financial control with operational and commercial influence.
• Experience partnering with site leadership and senior stakeholders.
• Excellent budgeting, forecasting and analytical capability.
• Strong technical accounting foundations and commercial acumen.

Responsibilities

• Lead, develop and oversee the site finance team.
• Own budgeting, forecasting and longer-term financial planning.
• Turn data into insight to guide performance and investment decisions.
• Challenge and support the Site Managing Director and leadership team.
• Maintain robust financial controls, reporting and compliance.
• Oversee cash flow, working capital, taxation and statutory reporting.

Skills

Leadership

Business partnering

Budgeting & forecasting

Analytical capability

Technical accounting

Commercial judgement

Manufacturing experience

Education

ACA/ACCA/CIMA

Job description

Head of Finance

Location: Castle Bromwich

Salary: £85,000 - £100,000 + Benefits

A senior finance leadership role where you ll sit at the heart of a substantial manufacturing operation, partnering directly with the Site Director and influencing the commercial and operational decisions that drive its performance.

We are recruiting a Head of Finance for an established and successful manufacturing business with significant operations in the West Midlands.

This is a broad, visible role with responsibility for the finance function and a genuine seat at the leadership table. Working closely with the Site Managing Director, you ll provide the financial insight, challenge and commercial perspective behind decisions spanning operational performance, profitability, investment and the future development of the business.

You ll also lead and develop the finance team, maintain a strong financial control environment and ensure the business has the quality of reporting and analysis required to make well-informed decisions.

This isn't a role where finance operates at arm's length from the operation. You'll be close to what's happening across the site, working directly with the people making the decisions and using finance to influence what happens next.

What you'll be taking on:

A major part of your role will be partnering with the Site Managing Director and wider leadership team, helping them understand what's driving performance and where the opportunities, risks and priorities sit.

Alongside this, you will:

• Lead, develop and get the best from the site finance team.
• Act as the senior finance partner to operational and commercial leaders across the business.
• Own the budgeting, forecasting and longer-term financial planning cycle.
• Turn financial and operational data into clear insight that supports better decision-making.
• Get underneath manufacturing performance, identifying the drivers behind margins, costs, efficiencies and variances.
• Support the Site Director with business cases, capital expenditure, investment decisions and strategic initiatives.
• Maintain strong oversight of cash flow, working capital and financial risk.
• Ensure the business operates within a robust financial control environment.
• Take ownership of statutory reporting, year-end, audit, taxation and associated compliance requirements.
• Improve finance processes, reporting and systems where there is an opportunity to make them more effective.
• Present financial performance, risks and opportunities to senior leadership and Board-level stakeholders.
• Oversee the Company's statutory and Company Secretarial requirements.

What we're looking for:

We're looking for a qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA or CIMA) who has already established strong credibility within a manufacturing environment.

You may already be a Head of Finance, or you could be an experienced Financial Controller ready to step into a broader finance leadership position. Either way, this role needs someone who can combine strong financial control with genuine operational and commercial influence.

You’ll understand the realities of manufacturing: margins, stock, working capital, operational performance and investment. More importantly, you’ll know how to use that understanding to challenge and support the people running the operation.

You’ll be comfortable working closely with a Site Managing Director and senior operational leaders, able to challenge constructively and confident enough to offer a different perspective when the numbers point in another direction.

You’ll also need to be equally comfortable with the detail. This is a visible, hands-on finance leadership role rather than one where everything is delegated through the team.

We're particularly interested in people who can demonstrate:

• Strong experience within a manufacturing finance environment.
• Leadership and development of finance teams.
• Effective business partnering with senior operational stakeholders.
• Excellent budgeting, forecasting and analytical capability.
• A track record of improving financial processes, reporting or controls.
• Strong technical accounting foundations.
• Commercial judgement and the confidence to influence senior decision-makers.

Exposure to consumer products, FMCG or another fast-moving manufacturing environment would be useful.

Why consider it?:

The attraction here is the influence that you will have as Head of Finance within such a commercial operation.

You’ll work directly alongside the Site Managing Director rather than operating as a remote reporting function. That gives you visibility of what's happening across the business and the opportunity to influence decisions before they're made. You'll also have ownership of the finance function and the autonomy to develop the team, strengthen reporting and improve how finance supports the operation.

For an ambitious Financial Controller, it offers a genuine move into senior finance leadership and a much broader level of influence. For an established Head of Finance, it provides the combination of autonomy, operational exposure and senior-level partnership that can be difficult to find.

Even if you're not actively looking but would be interested in understanding the opportunity, please get in touch for a confidential conversation.