Headstar
Financial Director

How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Finance Director
Wakefield, West Yorkshire
£110,000 - £130,000 + 30% bonus + benefits
If you want a Finance Director role where you can sit behind a spreadsheet, send out a board pack once a month and disappear back into your office, this probably isn’t for you!
This is a successful SME business (£40-50million t/o) with a loyal team, a strong culture and ambitious plans for growth.
You get a real sense of that culture when you speak to the people who work there. Unprompted, I spoke to a member of staff who’d been with the business 17 years and even followed the MD there from a previous employer. He described the business simply as “well-run” and said “they look after their staff.”
What more needs to be said?
This is a great opportunity for a Finance Director who buys into that culture, wanting to be right in the middle of the business to join the team.
You’ll sit on the Senior Leadership Team, work closely with the MD as their commercial and strategic partner, but also stay close enough to the operation to understand what’s really going on.
What you’ll be doing
This is a broad FD role. You’ll be there to help run and improve the business, not just the Finance function. You’ll:
- Work closely with the MD and Senior Leadership Team on strategy, growth and commercial decision-making
- Bring greater visibility to cash, working capital, CapEx and business performance
- Improve MI, reporting and data, making sure it helps people make better decisions
- Strengthen financial risk, credit and working capital management, ensuring the business has the right controls as it continues to grow
- Lead, coach and develop an established Finance team
- Own relationships with banks, funders and other finance partners, ensuring the business has the funding and liquidity required to support its growth
- Assess the current ERP system and decide whether to optimise or replace it
- Take ownership of the AI and automation agenda, identifying opportunities to improve efficiency
- Get close to the operation, build relationships and provide constructive commercial challenge
Reasons to use Rodeo
I’m in my final year doing Economics and I don’t know whether to apply for grad schemes now or do a masters first. What do you think?
Honest answer — it depends on where you want to end up. A lot of top grad schemes (Big 4, civil service, banking) don’t need a masters. Let’s look at the ones you’d be competitive for now, and we can decide if a masters actually adds anything.
Also worth knowing: most autumn 2026 applications are open now. Timing matters more than you think.
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
Graduate Consultant — 2026 Scheme
Why you're a good match
StrongYour economics background and your summer at a regional bank line up with what PwC looks for on the consulting scheme. Applications close in four weeks.
See breakdownIt searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Why you're a good match
You’ve got the grades and the economics background, and your bank internship is exactly the experience this scheme looks for. Apply soon — deadlines close within the month.
Experience fit
Your summer at the bank plus your econometrics coursework map directly to the day-one responsibilities on this scheme — client modelling, market briefings, and deal support.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
Ultimately, this is a great opportunity for an FD to professionalise and improve without overcomplicating things.
What they’re looking for
You’ll be a qualified accountant already operating at Finance Director level. You’ll also:
- Have a strong commercial mindset and be comfortable contributing beyond the numbers, coupled with a strong grounding in financial control, reporting, forecasting, cash flow and working capital
- Experience managing financial risk, credit exposure and working capital in a commercial environment
- Have experience in an asset-intensive, equipment-hire, leasing or service-based environment
- Be able to operate at both strategic and operational level
- Have experience leading and developing Finance teams
- Understand ERP systems and ideally have been involved in an implementation or optimisation
- Have a genuine interest in AI, automation and technology
- Have the interpersonal skills to challenge, influence and win hearts and minds
- A track record of managing fruitful relationships with Banks & Funders


Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
Why consider it?
- A genuine seat at the table as part of the Senior Leadership Team
- A close working relationship with an MD who wants a commercial partner
- The opportunity to shape the next stage of a successful and growing business
- Plenty of scope to improve Finance, systems, reporting and technology
- A long-standing team and a business where people and culture genuinely matter
One important point: this is five days a week in the office. That will rule some people out. But it’s deliberate. They want their FD visible, accessible and properly embedded in the business.
If you’re looking for a Finance Director role where you can have a genuine influence, get close to the operation and become an important part of the business rather than simply running its Finance function, I’d be keen to hear from you.
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London