Group Financial Controller

Group Financial Controller | Leisure & Hospitality | Surrey | £120,000 to £130,000 plus car allowance, bonus & benefits

Zachary Daniels Finance is partnering with a high-profile, multi-site leisure and hospitality organisation to appoint a Group Financial Controller into a senior and broad-ranging finance leadership role. Reporting directly to the CFO and sitting on the Finance Leadership Team, this is significantly more than a traditional financial control position. Alongside ownership of Group reporting, statutory accounting, tax, treasury and financial governance, the role has a broad leadership remit extending beyond traditional financial control, with responsibility for a sizeable team and several key business functions. The organisation is entering a significant period of investment and change, making this an excellent opportunity for a commercially minded Financial Controller who enjoys solving complex problems, improving how businesses operate and influencing beyond the traditional boundaries of finance.

The role

• Lead the Group controllership agenda, ensuring accurate, relevant and timely financial reporting across the organisation.
• Own the Group statutory accounts process, external audit relationship and Group balance sheet.
• Lead Group cash flow forecasting, covenant reporting and working capital performance.
• Oversee Group tax compliance and the relationship with HMRC, including VAT and wider regulatory requirements.
• Provide technical accounting leadership across significant and non-routine transactions under FRS 102.
• Provide leadership and oversight across broader operational and commercial functions outside of core Finance.
• Drive improvements across financial operations, processes, controls and service levels.
• Own the finance systems framework and play a key role in systems implementation and wider finance transformation.
• Lead financial input into significant commercial contracts, investment decisions and business-wide projects.
• Support the CFO with refinancing and investment activity.
• Manage key external relationships including auditors, tax advisers, banks and other professional partners.
• Lead and develop a sizeable team, creating a high-performance environment while building capability and succession.
• Operate as an active member of the senior leadership community, representing Finance across major commercial, organisational and strategic initiatives.

About you We are looking for a qualified Chartered Accountant with a strong technical foundation, but this role requires considerably more than technical accounting expertise.

You will ideally bring:

• At least five years' post-qualified experience within a sizeable, complex organisation.
• Strong technical accounting knowledge, including FRS 102, statutory reporting and ownership of external audit relationships.
• Experience leading and developing high-performing finance teams.
• The confidence to take leadership responsibility beyond your own technical specialism.
• Strong commercial judgement and the ability to challenge investment, contracts and business decisions constructively.
• Experience improving financial processes, controls, systems and ways of working.
• A track record of operating successfully through change, ambiguity and complex business challenges.
• Excellent communication skills with the credibility to influence CFO, Board and senior operational stakeholders.
• A proactive, solutions-focused approach, identifying problems, taking ownership and driving them through to resolution. Experience within multi-site, consumer, retail, leisure, hospitality, travel, entertainment or another operationally complex environment would be advantageous, but we are equally interested in individuals from other sectors who can demonstrate the required scale, complexity and leadership capability.

Package

• £120,000 to £130,000 basic salary, with potential flexibility for an exceptional candidate
• Car allowance
• Bonus
• Employer pension contribution
• 25 days' annual leave
• Healthcare benefits
• Excellent wider benefits
• Hybrid working

This is an unusual Group Financial Controller opportunity, combining the technical foundations of a senior controllership position with broader operational leadership, systems transformation, investment, commercial contracts and significant senior stakeholder exposure. For somebody looking for a broad finance leadership position with genuine influence across an organisation, it offers considerably more scope than a conventional Group Financial Controller role. For a confidential conversation, please apply to Zachary Daniels Finance with your CV.

Zachary Daniels is a specialist UK and International recruitment consultancy, partnering with retail, consumer and brands businesses across a wide range of disciplines, including Finance & Accountancy, Buying, Merchandising & Ecommerce, Design, Technical, Wholesale & Production, HR & Talent, Health & Safety & Compliance, Marketing, Digital & Technology, Property & Centre Management, Retail Operations and Executive Search. BH37510