Financial Control, Reporting & Compliance

• Ensure the integrity of financial statements, management accounts, and statutory reporting in accordance with UK GAAP/IFRS and group accounting policies.
• Maintain robust internal controls, risk management frameworks, and audit processes across the UK business.
• Oversee statutory audit, tax compliance (including corporation tax, VAT, and CIS considerations relevant to construction/FM services), and regulatory filings.
• Ensure compliance with contractual financial obligations, including open-book contracts, gain-share/pain-share mechanisms, and client audit requirements common in FM outsourcing agreements.

Contract & Commercial Finance

• Oversee finance business partnering across major client accounts, ensuring accurate contract accounting (including long-term contracts, variable/self-delivery vs. subcontracted work, and mobilisation/demobilisation costs).
• Drive margin improvement initiatives across FM, project delivery, asset management, and critical environments service lines.
• Manage commercial risk related to contract mobilisation, TUPE transfers, supply chain/subcontractor costs, and inflation-linked pricing mechanisms.
• Support procurement and supply chain teams on cost control and supplier commercial arrangements.

Treasury, Cash & Working Capital

• Own UK cash flow forecasting, working capital management, and treasury operations.
• Manage banking relationships, facilities, guarantees, and bonding requirements typical of large FM/construction-adjacent contracts.
• Optimise working capital across debtors, WIP, and creditors, particularly given the scale of subcontracted labour and materials costs.

Leadership & Team Development

• Build, lead, and develop a high-performing UK finance team, embedding a culture of commercial acumen, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Act as a visible, values-led leader across the business, supporting the organisation's broader people, culture, and safety commitments.
• Champion finance systems, process improvement, and digital transformation (ERP, reporting tools, automation) to enhance efficiency and insight.

Governance & Stakeholder Management

• Serve as a key point of contact for external auditors, banks, insurers, and regulatory bodies.
• Support ESG reporting and sustainability commitments in partnership with the sustainability/energy services teams.
• Manage relationships with client finance teams, particularly around open-book accounting, benchmarking, and contract governance in public sector and regulated environments.

Candidate Profile

Essential Experience

• A dynamic, high-energy leader who thrives in a fast-growing, entrepreneurial environment and brings genuine drive and presence to the Executive team.
• Qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA, or equivalent).
• Previous experience operating at CFO level (not solely FD or equivalent), ideally within facilities management, business services, construction, engineering services, or another contract/project-based service industry.
• Proven track record managing long-term, multi-year service contracts, including open-book/transparent commercial models, gain-share arrangements, and contract mobilisation.
• Experience operating within a multinational group structure, comfortable balancing UK Board accountability with alignment to wider group policy and standards.
• Strong track record of business partnering with operational and commercial teams to drive margin and cash performance.
• Experience supporting bids/tenders for large public and private sector outsourcing contracts.
• Track record of scaling a finance function through a period of significant, sustained revenue growth (ideally through a comparable multiple, e.g. business more than doubling), including building capability, systems, and controls ahead of the curve rather than reactively.

Desirable Experience

• Experience within critical environments, government/defence, education, or financial services client sectors.
• Exposure to TUPE processes and workforce-intensive service delivery models.
• M&A, due diligence, or carve-out/integration experience.
• ERP/finance transformation project leadership (e.g., SAP, Oracle, Workday).

Skills & Attributes

• Dynamic, energetic, and hands-on — comfortable operating at pace in a business that has tripled in size and intends to double again.
• Strong commercial and strategic mindset, balanced with rigorous financial control discipline.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, credible with clients, group leadership, auditors, and the Board.
• Resilient, hands-on leadership style suited to a fast-paced, operationally complex services environment.
• Strong communicator, able to translate complex financial information for non-financial audiences.
• High personal integrity and commitment to governance, safety, and ethical standards.

What Success Looks Like (First 12 Months)

• Robust, contract-level financial visibility embedded across all major accounts and service lines.
• Strengthened forecasting accuracy and working capital performance.
• Clear margin improvement plans in place for underperforming contracts.
• A finance team structure and capability plan defined that will scale credibly from £125m to £250m, with initial hires/investment underway.
• A high-performing, well-structured finance team aligned to current and future business needs.
• Strong, trusted relationships established with the President, the Board, and key client finance stakeholders.

What Success Looks Like (Year 2–3, en route to £250m)

• Finance systems, controls, and reporting proven to operate effectively at c.2x current scale.
• Finance has been a credible, proactive partner in evaluating and integrating growth opportunities (new contracts, expansions, bolt-on M&A).
• Cash and working capital performance sustained despite rapid growth in headcount and subcontractor volume.
• A finance function recognised internally (and by the Board) as a strength underpinning the growth story, not a constraint on it.