Finance Manager

South Lanarkshire | Some travel to England | International Technical Business

Reporting to: European Finance Director

The Opportunity

Our client is a well-established international organisation operating within a highly technical, industry, with a strong reputation in its specialist market and operations across the UK and Europe.

As part of the continued development of its finance function, the business is looking to appoint a Finance Manager to take ownership of the financial management of its UK operations.

Based from the company's South Lanarkshire site, this is a broad and commercially focused finance role reporting directly to the Finance Director. The successful candidate will have significant exposure to the UK leadership team while also working closely with colleagues across the wider European finance organisation.

The role represents an excellent opportunity for an ambitious Finance Manager who enjoys being close to the operation and wants a position that goes beyond traditional reporting and month-end responsibilities.

The Mandate

The successful candidate will assume responsibility for the day-to-day financial management of the UK business, ensuring strong financial control while providing the commercial insight required to support business performance.

A key element of the role will be developing a strong understanding of the underlying business drivers and partnering with operational and commercial leadership to improve profitability, working capital and overall financial performance.

The position will also involve some travel to South, West England, providing financial leadership and ensuring consistency across the UK sites.

Key areas of responsibility will include:

Ownership of monthly management accounts and UK financial reporting.
Management of the month-end, year-end and forecasting cycles.
Annual budgeting and ongoing financial forecasting.
Detailed analysis of business performance, margins, costs and variances.
Working capital and cash-flow management.
Balance sheet integrity and financial controls.
Supporting statutory reporting, audit and tax requirements.
Providing commercial analysis and financial modelling to support decision-making.
Business partnering with senior operational and commercial stakeholders.
Identifying opportunities to improve margins, efficiency and cost control.
Improving the quality, consistency and timeliness of management information.
Driving improvements to finance processes, systems and controls.
Supporting the European Finance Director with wider European reporting and projects.

The Ideal Candidate

This appointment is likely to suit an experienced Finance Manager or Financial Controller who is comfortable operating in a hands-on environment and enjoys having genuine influence on the business.

We are particularly interested in individuals who have progressed beyond pure financial reporting and can demonstrate strong commercial judgement and business-partnering capability.

The ideal candidate will bring:

ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent qualification, although exceptional qualified-by-experience candidates may be considered.
Strong experience across management accounts, budgeting, forecasting and financial control.
A track record of working closely with operational and commercial teams.
Strong analytical and problem-solving capability.
Excellent Excel and financial modelling skills.
Experience of ERP/finance systems and process improvement.
The confidence to challenge and influence senior stakeholders.
The ability to communicate financial information clearly to non-finance audiences.
A pragmatic and hands-on approach, with the ability to operate effectively in a lean structure.
The flexibility and willingness to travel regularly between Strathaven and Devon.

Experience within manufacturing, engineering, life sciences, technical distribution or another complex B2B environment would be advantageous, although the business is open to strong candidates from other relevant sectors.

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