Financial Controller

The opportunity has arisen for a qualified accountant to join a growing SME retail outfit, based in London, as a Financial Controller. This is the first senior hire in finance so will provide an excellent development opportunity and challenge for the successful applicant.

Client Details

My client is a womenswear retail business based in London, but with operations in the US, Hong Kong, and continental Europe. They now have circa 120 stores and a T/O of £4m having experienced 40-50% growth in the past few years. They are a growing business, but with several existing relationships and a number of experienced members of the senior leadership team. As a result of their growth they are now looking to bring in a Financial Controller as the most senior hire in finance and as support for the senior management team.

Description

As the Financial Controller for this retail business you will be based in London and report into the COO. You will take ownership for the day-to-day of the finance function, developing processes and controls, planning the scalability of the business, and work on a range of projects. Your key responsibilities will include:

- Management of the monthly close in a timely manner to ensure all revenue and cost streams are recorded accurately;

- Produce insightful commentary to support senior management with understanding the business performance;

- Develop KPI reporting to drive business performance across all areas;

- Lead on investigating profitability through revenue streams or cost management;

- Develop and implement processes and controls to ensure compliance;

- Prepare annual budgets and quarterly forecasts;

- Lead role in key projects (e.g. Xero implementation);

- Ad hoc analysis and reporting as required.

Profile

As a strong applicant for this Financial Controller position you will:

- Be a qualified accountant (ACA/ACCA/CIMA) with a strong academic profile;

- Demonstrate a clear ability to manage month end close, produce commentary, and build budgets and forecasts;

- Possess a background in SMEs with exposure to a growing business and the challenges this brings;

- Ideally show knowledge of the retail space with exposure to supply-chain reporting;

- Show strong excel and systems skills (implementation projects will be advantageous);

- Possess excellent interpersonal skills with the ability to support and engage senior management.

Job Offer

The offer to the successful candidate will be between £60,000-£75,000 depending on experience. You will also be entitled to statutory pension. As the business grows the benefits package will develop and you will play a key role in this.

The offer is to join a developing business and have a genuine impact on decision making and the growth of the business through providing insight financial support. You will be working in a collaborative and passionate team environment.