The Director of Finance Shared Services is a highly visible position with a material impact to the business. This position will be split into phases initially overseeing the Payroll, Billing, Collections, Cash Application and Treasury teams as Phase One and then the addition of the Management Accounts department in Phase Two. After Phase Two, the successful candidate will track teams of 60+ individuals based primarily in Manchester. The successful candidate must possess well-rounded accounting knowledge and experience, along with strong inter-personal skills. This person will lead their organisation to achieving continued operational excellence and drive continuous improvement in transactional activities. This role is heavily service-oriented toward both internal and external customers.

Whilst not an exhaustive list, key responsibilities for the role include:

• The management and coaching of Payroll, Billing, Credit Control, Treasury and Management Accounts teams in Manchester with month end close processes, delivering payroll, client billing, treasury and funding requirements, supplier payments and credit control.
• Support the local Finance stakeholders through the shared services within EMEA, working alongside Regional Directors and Financial Controllers/Directors
• Make sound decisions and recommendations based on understanding of Finance concepts, methods, standards, principles, and technology.
• Analyse operational and technical information to identify and develop recommendations for improvements in Finance processes and policies.
• Set key performance indicators, strategic vision, and project roadmap for the Shared Services organisation.
• Define prioritisation of non-standard team deliverables (e.g., projects, reporting requests). Accountable for delivery of agreed upon deliverables.
• Team Management: coaching, motivating, developing, training and leading teams to meet and exceed targets and KPIs.
• Responsible for the ongoing development and improvement of service delivery including the adoption of new best practices and process improvements.
• Responsible for documentation of processes and knowledge transfer within the shared services team
• Ad-hoc request from the Finance Directors/Controllers
• Mentor staff and identify opportunities to develop their technical and leadership skills.
• Build trusting relationships with business leaders, peers, and clients.
• Make sound decisions and recommendations based on understanding of Finance concepts, methods, standards, principles, and technology.
• Possess and apply a comprehensive knowledge of current and evolving best practices and industry trends.
• Analyse operational and technical information to identify and develop recommendations for improvements in Finance processes and policies.
• Set policies and accompanying audit controls.
• Set key performance indicators, strategic vision, and project roadmap for Shared Services organization.
• Define prioritization of non-standard team deliverables (e.g., projects, reporting requests). Accountable for delivery of agreed upon deliverables.

Abilities Required

• Bachelor’s degree in finance/accounting is a minimum
• ACA/ACCA/CIMA/CPA, Qualified Accountant or Master’s degree in finance/accounting preferred
• At least 5 years’ relevant experience and proven track record of career progression.
• Experience managing a sizeable team in a Shared Services environment with most Shared Services functions: payroll, billing, credit control, accounts payable, treasury and management accounts
• Experience of working in a global environment.
• Thinks analytically, focuses on the big picture, and is able to drill into the detail and explain the impact at an executive level.
• Ensuring a high degree of quality and accuracy with transaction processing.
• Knowledge of business processes; ability to document business processes, identify gaps and propose sustainable process improvements.
• Strong analytical, problem solving and conflict resolution skills.
• Strong organisational, time management and interpersonal skills.
• Proven experience leading and delivering projects.
• Strong coaching and mentoring skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication. All candidates must be fluent in English.
• Must be proficient with all MS Office applications such as Word, Excel and Power Point.
• Systems knowledge of Power BI, Dynamics D365, OneStream, MS Planner or Asana
• Experience of Group reporting and working to tight deadlines
• Ability to work in a time-sensitive, pressured environment with non-flexible Group deadlines.
• Ability to be flexible and able to multitask with day-to-day workflow.

Person Specification

• Must be located in Manchester, UK. This role will require physical office presence 3-4 days per week.
• Proven ability to handle pressured working environment
• Able to demonstrate examples of process improvement and change management skills
• Ability to prioritise workload and work to strict deadlines. Must be able to manage own time efficiently.
• Previous experience working with either one or more accounting system, ideally Microsoft Dynamics365.
• Effective communicator who is articulate, professional and confident at all times, both with finance and non-finance colleagues.
• Confident in challenging existing processes and holding colleagues to standards set out by Senior Management.