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Finance Director – Cheltenham, Aintree & Haydock Park
Based at: Cheltenham Racecourse
Contract type: Permanent
Hours: 37.5 hours per week
About the role
We have a fantastic opportunity for a Finance Director to join our senior leadership team and lead finance across Cheltenham, Aintree and Haydock Park racecourses. Responsible for financial reporting, forecasting and analysis across these flagship venues, you will provide commercial insight, strategic challenge and financial leadership to support performance and drive the delivery of the Group's objectives. Leading a talented business partnering and management accounting team, you will be central to decision-making across the business.
About The Jockey Club
The Jockey Club stages thrilling sporting occasions and live events nationwide including The Grand National, The Cheltenham Festival & The Derby. Owning & operating 15 courses, millions of people every year enjoy the special experiences we offer through racing, music, food and entertainment on racedays and beyond.
As the largest commercial group in British racing, we are guided by our mission to act for the long term good of the sport. Every penny we make goes back into racing to promote excellence within Britain’s second biggest spectator sport. Our people are what makes this possible.
At The Jockey Club people are at the heart of what we do and drive our success. We are inclusive and actively seek to attract people with unique backgrounds and perspectives. Diverse, collaborative teams are pivotal to our success and support the potential and growth of all our people.
The Finance Director will
- Lead all financial reporting, forecasting and performance analysis for Cheltenham, Aintree and Haydock Park racecourses, providing strategic insight to support decision-making and business growth.
- Partner closely with Racecourse General Managers and commercial teams to drive revenue performance, monitor raceday sales trends and present key insights at weekly trading meetings.
- Own the budgeting, forecasting and long-term planning processes, ensuring alignment with racecourse and wider Group objectives.
- Develop robust business cases for investment opportunities and oversee the financial evaluation and tracking of capital projects.
- Prepare and present financial performance, budgets and strategic plans to senior leadership and Main Board stakeholders with confidence and credibility.
- Lead, develop and inspire a high-performing finance team, fostering a culture of accountability, continuous improvement and talent development.
- Deliver timely and accurate management information, including monthly management accounts, raceday reporting, commercial analysis, KPI reporting and annual audit and tax submissions.
- Ensure strong financial controls, balance sheet integrity and effective governance across all racecourse operations.
- Build strong relationships across the business and wider Group, contributing to the Finance Leadership Team and driving best practice, consistency and process improvement.
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About you
- ACA, ACCA or CIMA qualified with significant post-qualification experience and a strong technical finance foundation.
- An experienced Finance Director with a track record of operating at senior leadership level, ideally within leisure, hospitality, sport or a customer-facing multi-site business.
- Commercially astute, with the ability to turn financial insight into meaningful business outcomes and influence key strategic decisions.
- Experienced in leading budgeting, forecasting, long-term planning and investment appraisal processes within a complex organisation.
- A credible business partner, confident working with senior stakeholders, Boards and operational leaders to drive performance and growth.
- Proven ability to partner with commercial and sales teams to improve revenue performance and deliver against ambitious targets.
- An accomplished people leader with a strong record of developing high-performing teams and nurturing future talent.
- Exceptional stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to influence across a diverse business with multiple revenue streams.
- Collaborative, pragmatic and results-focused, bringing a hands-on approach and a commitment to continuous improvement.
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What we offer in return
- All colleagues can go along to any of our race day or music events free of charge – along with 3 friends or family with our TeamPass Ticket scheme.
- An award-winning pension scheme provider with a generous employer contribution.
- A healthcare cashback plan enabling you to claim money back on health & wellbeing services.
- 25 days annual leave.
- Access to a suite of Learning & Development training resources from renowned providers.
- A whole host of other benefits including free eyecare vouchers, a ride to work cycle scheme & discounts across varying retailers & services.
If you think you have everything we’re looking for and more, then we’d love to hear from you. Don’t hang around, our closing date for this vacancy is 10th August but we reserve the right to bring this forward if we have many applications.
This role may be subject to a criminal record check, standard or enhanced DBS check or BHA Suitability Check. By applying you confirm that you are happy for these checks to be carried out.
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