Head of Finance

Collins McNicholas Recruitment & HR Services Group; Cork; On-site; EUR 110,000 - 140,000; Full time

Job summary

Collins McNicholas Recruitment & HR Services Group is partnering with an established market leader to appoint a Head of Finance in Cork. Reporting to the Managing Director, you will own the finance function, shape commercial decisions and drive business performance in a hands‑on entrepreneurial environment.

You will be a commercially minded, qualified accountant with post‑qualification experience, capable of partnering with senior stakeholders and delivering robust MI, dashboards and BI across

Qualifications

• We're seeking commercially minded, qualified accountants with substantial post‑qualification experience.
• Strong commercial instincts alongside robust technical finance capability are essential.
• Comfortable challenging and influencing senior stakeholders while hands‑on when needed.
• Experience developing management information, dashboards or BI is highly relevant.
• Exposure to ERP systems such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is advantageous.
• Experience in manufacturing or packaging environments is a plus but not essential.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the finance function with strong controls, reporting and compliance.
• Act as a trusted commercial partner to the MD and leadership team.
• Deliver management accounts, budgeting, forecasting, cash flow and treasury management.
• Develop meaningful KPIs, dashboards and analytics to improve decision‑making.
• Provide insights on margins, pricing, profitability and operational efficiency.
• Identify opportunities, risks and areas for improvement.
• Improve finance processes, systems and data quality.
• Drive utilisation of ERP and data tools.
• Support strategic projects and business growth initiatives.

Skills

Commercial mindset

Stakeholder management

Financial analysis

Leadership experience

Business partnering

Education

Qualified accountant (CA/ACCA/CIMA)

Tools

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central

Job description

We are partnering with an established and successful market leader to appoint a Head of Finance to join its senior leadership team.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced finance leader who wants to be much more than the person who reports the numbers. You will work directly with the Managing Director and wider leadership team, helping to shape commercial decisions, improve business performance and support the next stage of the company's development.

The appointment is being made as part of a planned succession, with the current Head of Finance due to retire next year. The successful candidate will therefore benefit from a structured handover and the opportunity to really understand the business before taking full ownership of the finance function.

The Opportunity

Reporting directly to the Managing Director, you will take overall responsibility for Finance while becoming a key commercial partner to the wider business.

The company is looking for someone who is naturally curious about what sits behind the numbers, someone who can identify opportunities, challenge assumptions and turn financial and operational data into useful business insight.

This is a hands‑on role within an entrepreneurial environment. You'll need to be equally comfortable discussing strategy with the MD, analysing margins and profitability, improving a process or getting into the detail to understand why something isn't working.

Key areas of responsibility will include:

• Leading and developing the finance function and ensuring strong financial controls, reporting and compliance.
• Acting as a trusted commercial partner to the Managing Director and leadership team.
• Delivering management accounts, budgeting, forecasting, cash flow and treasury management.
• Developing meaningful KPIs, dashboards and business analytics to improve decision‑making.
• Providing insight across margins, pricing, profitability, product performance and operational efficiency.
• Identifying commercial opportunities, risks and areas for improvement.
• Improving finance processes, systems and data quality.
• Driving utilisation of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
• Supporting strategic projects, investment decisions and wider business growth initiatives.

What we're looking for

• We'd like to speak with commercially minded, qualified accountants who have significant post‑qualification experience.
• You'll ideally bring strong commercial instincts alongside your technical finance capability.
• You should be comfortable challenging, influencing and working closely with senior stakeholders while still being willing to roll up your sleeves when required.
• Experience developing management information, dashboards or business intelligence will be particularly relevant, as will exposure to ERP systems such as Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
• Experience within manufacturing, packaging or a related environment would be advantageous but is not essential.

Why consider it?

This is an opportunity to inherit an established finance function within a successful business, but with plenty of scope to make your own mark.

Rather than simply maintaining what is already there, the successful candidate will have the opportunity to improve reporting and analytics, get more from the company's systems, identify opportunities to improve profitability and become a genuine adviser to the MD and leadership team.

This is a fully onsite position on the south side of Cork, and candidates should be comfortable working onsite on a full‑time basis.

For a confidential discussion and more information on the role, please contact Michael O'Brien.