Finance Director

JD&Co is delighted to be partnering with a disruptive award-winning luxury gifting brand to hire their new Finance Director. The successful candidate will bring excellent prior experience as a finance lead in a busy manufacturing / production environment. This brand’s beautiful, personalised products are already enjoyed by a global consumer and corporate customer base in over 50 countries worldwide with plenty more scope for growth. This role will work closely with the CEO/Founders and wider leadership as they embark on the next phase of their exciting journey.

This role needs a dynamic, collaborative, and impactful finance leader, someone who is comfortable partnering regularly with wider business functions on finance and operations. You will lead the day-to-day financial operations, manage a small but growing finance team and also support and partner closely with the Founder/MD, Production Director and other Directors to deliver the business strategy. You will be the trusted voice in financial, strategic and commercial matters.

About the Role

• Partner with the Founder/CEO to shape and deliver the finance strategy of the business.

• Lead the finance and management reporting function including overseeing an efficient and streamlined monthly closure & monthly/quarterly financial reporting for the management team

• Prepare the annual budget with the Founder/CEO and operate a rolling monthly reforecast, to be part of the monthly reporting.

• Work closely with co-Directors to control & monitor spending and optimise margins

• Provide robust cash management, including reviewing weekly cash forecasting. Optimise credit management policy and practices including cash collection or key corporate and wholesale clients

• Optimise the financial control framework to deliver improved efficiency and profitability as well as to support entrepreneurial decision making.

• Work closely with the Founder/CEO and other directors on the capital investment program

• Support the Founder/CEO and the board in raising funds (equity and debt) including consulting with prospective external fund providers

• Lead the management of external partner relationships.

• Taking responsibility for Corporate Governance, Company Secretariat, pensions & benefits, including EMI scheme.

• Line manage and mentor a small but growing finance team

This role also requires partnering with the wider business on operational matters to include:

• Collaborate with the wider business to help develop / enhance systems (including WMS, ROS and ERP) and processes and to build the infrastructure required to help the business scale.

• Work closely with the Production and Commercial Planning function leads to shape and supply financial data to inform and optimise production decisions.

• Work closely with Purchasing / Operations function leads to optimise the sourcing and costing and stocks.

About You

• You have proven experience in an omnichannel manufacturing / production business (D2C ecommerce plus retail wholesale and corporate clients)

• You have led a finance function through a period of growth/scaling

• You are a qualified accountant (ACA/ACCA/CIMA qualified (or equivalent).

• As the #1 in finance (or #2 in a larger business), you are used to overseeing the overall financial health of the business including successful delivery against annual financial strategy and targets. This includes revenue, gross profit, EBITDA and net profit margin, cost of capital, working capital and cash flows.

• You are used to effectively managing day-to-day finances and leading an engaged, focussed and productive finance team (currently 3)

• You are able to work closely with all levels of the business including CEO/Founders and the Board / Shareholders plus other functions and act as a trusted and respected advisor across all things finance.

• You have experience in leading investment cycles with wider leadership and are comfortable liaising with external fund providers and presenting business plans to investors

• You have excellent critical analysis and thinking skills

• You are an effective challenger, always looking for a better way of doing things

• You have strong interpersonal skills and can work as part of a team and alone in a fast-paced environment, able to adapt quickly to changing priorities

• You are energetic, driven and a self-starter

This is an amazing opportunity to join a mission-driven, growing business. If you have the experience detailed above and you’re excited to find out more, please share your details below.

Due to the high volume of applications we receive, sadly, we're unlikely to be able to respond to everyone who registers their interest; thank you for your understanding. If you don’t hear from us within five working days of sharing your details, it is likely that we don't feel there is a strong enough alignment between your experience and what our client is looking for. But, be assured if there is another opportunity in our network which might be better suited, we will be in touch!

We appreciate it’s a tricky time to navigate your career and it's important for us to be authentic about the opportunities we share here. We know that people have been impacted by the current economic climate, so we politely request that you only apply for this role if you meet the essential criteria that we have outlined above.