Head of FP&A

M+C Saatchi Group; Greater London; On-site; GBP 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

27 days annual holiday

Private healthcare

Employer pension contribution

Life assurance

Job summary

M+C Saatchi Group is seeking a senior Head of FP&A to own the group’s end-to-end financial performance cycle, linking monthly results with forecasting, Budget, LRP and strategic scenarios. The role reports to the Group Commercial Finance Director and partners closely with the CFO and leadership team.

You will own group reporting, budgeting, forecasting and scenario analysis, lead a high-performing FP&A team, and drive a consistent performance narrative across the organisation.

Qualifications

• Qualified accountant with post-qualification FP&A experience.
• Proven ownership of group reporting, forecasting, budgeting and LRP.
• Experience influencing CFO, executive team and boards.
• Experience leading multi-currency/multi-entity environments.

Responsibilities

• Own the end-to-end Group reporting calendar and sign-off.
• Lead flash reporting, management packs and investor analysis.
• Create a single performance narrative across actuals, forecast and budget.
• Drive end-to-end Group forecast, Budget and long-range planning.
• Shape FP&A operating model and lead the team.
• Connect commercial insight with forward-looking decisions.

Skills

FP&A leadership

Group reporting

Forecasting & budgeting

Stakeholder management

Financial systems

Education

Professional accounting qualification (ACA/ACCA/CIMA)

Tools

Power BI

NetSuite

ERP systems

Job description

We are looking to appoint a commercially minded and forward-looking Head of FP&A to own the Group’s end-to-end financial performance cycle, connecting monthly reporting and actual performance with forecasting, Budget, long-range planning and strategic scenarios business partnering. The role reports directly to the Group Commercial Finance Director.

About The Role

The Head of FP&A will be the senior integrator across actual performance, expected outturn and strategic outlook. The role will ensure that reported results are accurate and clearly explained, then use commercial MI and leading indicators provided through the Commercial Finance Lead to determine what performance means for the future, what choices are available and what action is required.

Group reporting and performance narrative | 30%

• Own the monthly Group reporting calendar, dependencies, submissions, reviews and sign-off process.
• Lead flash reporting, trading results, management reporting, Board performance materials and agreed investor-relations analysis.
• Create one consistent performance narrative across actuals, prior year, forecast, Budget, risks and opportunities.
• Coordinate and challenge Regional and Business Unit commentary.
• Ensure outputs across P&L, balance sheet, cash flow and working capital are reconciled, controlled, accurate and delivered to timetable.
• Ensure actual performance flows directly into expected outturn, forecast and management interventions.
• Lead automation and simplification of recurring Group reporting.

Forecasting, Budget and LRP | 35%

• Own the end-to-end Group forecast, Budget and long-range planning processes.
• Develop an independent Group outlook using client, pipeline, pricing, utilisation, capacity, margin, cash and other commercial drivers.
• Lead scenario and sensitivity analysis across revenue, cost, headcount, investment, working capital and cash.
• Own the Group risks and opportunities view.
• Lead Regional and BU forecast challenge, Group calibration, approval and lock.
• Drive forecast accuracy, planning discipline and accountability.

Strategic performance and decision support | 20%

• Translate financial and commercial information into implications, choices and recommendations for senior management.
• Lead strategic analysis supporting the CFO, Executive Leadership Team and Board.
• Assess how commercial drivers affect the Group outlook and recommend interventions.
• Develop forward-looking models supporting investment, cost transformation and resource allocation.

Leadership, systems and operating model | 10%

• Shape and embed the future FP&A operating model, governance, controls and decision rights.
• Lead, coach and develop the FP&A team.
• Act as business owner for Planful planning, forecasting, budgeting, workflow, controls and adoption.
• Set planning-system priorities and sponsor system development and rollout.
• Work with the Commercial Finance Lead to connect trusted commercial insight with stronger forward-looking decisions.

OPERATING RHYTHMS AND KEY OUTPUTS

Monthly performance

• Forums Led/Facilitated: Reporting readiness; Flash and Results Review; Group Performance Review; Board Pack Review; Reporting Sign-off.
• Key Outputs: Flash; management pack; Board pack; performance narrative; reconciled actuals.

Monthly FP&A

• Forums Led/Facilitated: Expected Outturn; Regional and BU Forecast Challenges; R&O Review; Group Calibration.
• Key Outputs: Integrated forecast; forecast bridge; R&O register; scenarios; actions.

PBF cycle

• Forums Led/Facilitated: PBF Kick-off; Central Shaping; submission reviews; Budget and LRP challenge; Executive and Board preparation; final lock.
• Key Outputs: Budget; LRP; assumptions; target-gap analysis; Board narrative; locked plan.

Strategic

• Forums Led/Facilitated: Strategic Outlook; Investment Case Review; Cost and Productivity Forum; Benefits Realisation Review.
• Key Outputs: Strategic scenarios; decision papers; investment cases; benefits tracker; interventions.

About You

You will be an experienced FP&A leader with strong commercial judgement, the confidence to challenge senior stakeholders and the ability to connect detailed performance with the wider strategic picture.

Essential Experience And Qualifications

• Professionally qualified accountant: ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent.
• Strong prior Technology, Media or Telecommunications experience.
• Substantial post-qualified FP&A and Commercial Finance experience.
• Proven ownership of Group reporting, forecasting, Budget and LRP in a multinational, multi-entity and multi-currency organisation.
• Strong CFO, executive and Board stakeholder experience.
• Demonstrable people-management and team-development experience.
• Experience managing central or corporate-function costs.
• Required experience of finance-system development, implementation or rollout.
• Excellent attention to detail and ability to maintain quality while working at pace.

Desirable Experience

• Planful, Adaptive, Anaplan, OneStream or another PBF platform.
• Power BI or comparable BI tools.
• NetSuite or a comparable international ERP.
• Listed-company, investor-relations, agency or professional-services experience.

WHAT YOU’LL GET:

For the right candidate, we will offer a competitive salary and benefits package which includes 27 days annual holiday, private healthcare, employer contributory pension, life assurance and income protection. We also offer a host of benefits that support wellbeing including subsidised gym membership, whilst our commitment to Diversity and Inclusion sees us offer learning opportunities around D&I, mentoring programmes and the opportunity for all to participate in a number of active Employee Led Networks and associated events. Finally, this role will be supported with all the necessary personal development required to set someone up for success.

ABOUT M+C SAATCHI GROUP

M+C Saatchi Group has pledged its commitment to create a company that values difference, with an inclusive culture. As part of this M+C Saatchi Group continues to be an Equal Opportunity Employer which does not and shall not discriminate, celebrates diversity and bases all hiring and promotion decisions solely on merit, without regard for any personal characteristics.

If you require any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment and selection process, please make us aware as part of your application.

All employee information is kept confidential according to General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

M+C Saatchi Group was founded in 1995 and is now the biggest Independent creative agency group in the World. Founded on one core principle, Brutal Simplicity.