Financial Controller
Location: Southampton
Salary: £65,000-£75,000 per annum
Hours: Full Time
Reporting to: Finance Director
About the Role
We’re a growing healthcare business looking for an experienced Financial Controller to join our team in Southampton.
This is a key role within our finance function and a great opportunity for someone who enjoys working in a business that is growing, changing and always looking for better ways of doing things.
Working closely with our Finance Director, you’ll take responsibility for the day-to-day finance function, providing strong financial control while improving the quality of our reporting, systems and processes.
We already have an established finance team, including a Management Accountant, Ledger Manager and Payroll Manager. We’re looking for someone who can lead and develop that team, raise standards and bring greater structure and accountability to the function.
We’re not looking for someone who wants to sit at a distance and simply review the numbers. You’ll need to be comfortable getting into the detail when needed, asking questions, challenging what doesn’t look right and helping us find practical solutions.
What You’ll Be Doing
- Overseeing the monthly management accounts process and ensuring an accurate and timely month-end close.
- Reviewing and challenging P&L, balance sheet and cash-flow reporting.
- Working with the Management Accountant to improve month-end processes and reporting.
- Ensuring balance-sheet reconciliations, accruals, prepayments and other month-end accounting are accurate and well controlled.
- Maintaining strong financial controls across the business.
- Overseeing cash-flow forecasting and improving working-capital visibility.
- Providing oversight of accounts payable, accounts receivable and credit control.
- Improving Board and management reporting so that it clearly explains what is happening in the business and why.
- Leading, supporting and developing the existing finance team.
- Reviewing finance processes and identifying opportunities to simplify or automate them.
- Reducing unnecessary manual processes and spreadsheet reliance.
- Improving the flow of information between finance, payroll and operational teams.
- Overseeing audit, statutory accounts, VAT and other financial compliance requirements.
- Working closely with the Finance Director and wider leadership team to support business decisions and continued growth.
What We’re Looking For
You’ll be a qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA or CIMA) with strong financial-control experience and previous experience working at Financial Controller or senior Finance Manager level.
We’re particularly interested in someone who has worked within a growing, fast-paced business and is comfortable operating in an environment where priorities can change and processes are still evolving.
You’ll also need:
- Strong management accounts and balance-sheet knowledge.
- Experience reviewing and challenging financial information produced by a finance team.
- Strong cash-flow and working-capital experience.
- Experience managing and developing finance teams.
- A track record of improving finance processes, systems and controls.
- Strong Excel and financial-systems skills.
- The confidence to question information and investigate when something doesn’t look right.
- Good commercial awareness and the ability to see the story behind the numbers.
- The ability to explain financial information clearly to non-finance colleagues.
Experience within healthcare, domiciliary care or another multi-site, people-focused business would be an advantage, but it isn’t essential.
What Kind of Person Will Do Well Here?
We’re looking for someone who is hands-on, commercial and pragmatic
You’ll understand the importance of good financial controls, but you’ll also recognise that process should make a business better – not simply create more paperwork.
You’ll be naturally curious and comfortable challenging the numbers. If something doesn’t make sense, you’ll want to understand why.
You’ll also be a strong people manager. We want someone who can develop the team we already have, give people clear ownership and accountability, and create a finance function that can grow with the business.
Most importantly, you’ll be comfortable with change. We’re growing, and that means not everything will always be perfectly packaged or have an established process. We need someone who sees that as an opportunity to improve things rather than a frustration.
Why Join Us?
This isn’t a Financial Controller role where you’ll simply inherit an established corporate finance function and keep things ticking over.
You’ll have the opportunity to shape how our finance function develops as the business grows
You’ll work closely with our Finance Director and senior leadership team, have genuine influence over how we improve our systems and processes, and play an important part in building a finance function that can support the next stage of our growth.
If you enjoy solving problems, developing people, improving how things work and seeing the impact of what you do, we’d love to hear from you.
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