Senior Finance Manager

Edenbridge Source: WhatJobs

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Reports to: Managing Director | Location: Agusta House, Commerce Way, Edenbridge, Kent TN8 6ED

About Nationwide Air Conditioning

Nationwide Air Conditioning is a national HVAC contractor with annual turnover of approximately £24 million, targeting £30 million by 2030 under our ‘30 by 30’ growth strategy. We are employee owned through an Employee Ownership Trust, so the people who deliver our work share directly in the value we create.

National scale: 10 regions, over 150 PAYE staff including 100+ directly employed engineers, serving 2,400+ sites
Blue-chip client base: long-term relationships with David Lloyd Leisure, Hilton, Radisson Hotel Group, TJX Europe (TK Maxx), JD Sports, Frasers Group and British Land
Industry recognition: RAC Cooling Industry Awards Contractor of the Year, 2022, 2023 and 2024, ACR Award 2025 and CIBSE Awards 2026
Clear growth trajectory: the ‘30 by 30’ plan targets £30 million turnover with set margins.

Purpose of the Role

The Senior Finance Manager is the most senior finance professional in the business, reporting directly to the Managing Director and leading the performance of the Finance function.

The role safeguards financial control and reporting accuracy, while providing the commercial insight and financial challenge needed to support effective decision making across the business, with particular focus on profitability, margins, work in progress, project and job performance, working capital, cash flow and forecasting.

Finance is expected to operate as a business partner rather than purely a reporting function, using financial and operational information to identify trends, highlight areas requiring attention, and provide clear analysis and recommendations that improve business performance.

The role combines financial control, management accounting and commercial finance, with the ability to work across large volumes of financial and operational data in a project and service led environment. It also carries responsibility for developing the Finance team and improving systems, processes, reporting and the use of technology and automation.

The role additionally provides financial and commercial oversight of the Purchasing function, working closely with the Strategic Purchasing Manager to support cost management, supplier performance and wider margin and cash objectives.

Overall, the role gives the Managing Director and leadership team confidence that the financial position is well controlled, clearly understood and appropriately challenged, while Finance continues to develop in line with the growth of the business.

Key Responsibilities

Financial Reporting and Control

Own the monthly management accounts and reporting process
Maintain strong profit and loss and balance sheet control, including accruals, prepayments and reconciliations
Oversee revenue recognition, work in progress and job costing
Oversee debtors, creditors and payroll reconciliations
Lead year-end preparation and external audit requirements
Maintain appropriate accounting policies and financial controls

Commercial Finance

Provide commercial financial support to the Managing Director and operational leadership team
Analyse regional, divisional, job, contract and client profitability
Monitor gross margin and key cost drivers, including labour, materials and subcontract expenditure
Review project and job performance, including work in progress and unbilled revenue
Identify financial risks, opportunities and areas of cost leakage
Provide financial analysis to support significant commercial and operational decisions

Budgeting, Forecasting and Cash

Lead the annual budgeting process
Maintain regular financial forecasts and scenario modelling
Monitor performance against budget and forecast
Own cash flow forecasting and working capital management
Oversee credit control, aged debt and customer and supplier payment profiles
Oversee banking, treasury and surplus cash management
Review project and contract cash requirements

Finance Team Leadership

Lead, manage and develop the Finance team
Establish clear responsibilities and accountability
Develop team capability through coaching, training, cross-training and effective delegation
Maintain appropriate process documentation
Support succession planning and departmental resilience

Systems and Process Improvement

Drive continuous improvement across Finance systems and processes
Improve ERP utilisation and financial data quality
Develop management dashboards and reporting
Automate repetitive Finance processes and reduce reliance on manual spreadsheets
Improve integration between financial and operational information

Purchasing Oversight

Provide financial and commercial oversight of the Purchasing function
Support supplier spend and cost analysis to identify savings and cost-reduction opportunities
Support improvements in supplier and payment terms
Monitor purchasing performance and key expenditure trends
Support significant supplier negotiations where required

Day-to-day procurement activity and supplier relationships remain the responsibility of the Strategic Purchasing Manager.

Governance and Compliance

Oversee statutory accounts and external audit
Maintain oversight of Corporation Tax, VAT and PAYE obligations
Maintain appropriate banking and financial controls
Oversee financial authorities and risk management
Maintain relationships with auditors, tax advisers, banks and other professional advisers

Experience and Skills

Qualified, part-qualified or qualified by experience, with a strong track record in a senior finance role
Strong management accounting and commercial finance experience
Experience producing and interpreting monthly management accounts, budgets and forecasts
Strong understanding of balance sheet control, cash flow and working capital
Experience analysing large and complex financial and operational datasets
Strong Excel and financial systems capability
Ability to translate financial information into clear commercial recommendations
Experience leading and developing a Finance team
Strong communication skills, with the ability to challenge and influence operational management
Experience within construction, facilities management, engineering, maintenance or another project or service-led environment
Strong project accounting and work-in-progress experience, including revenue and cost recognition, job costing and contract profitability analysis
Experience working with high-volume transactional and operational data across a multi-site or regional operating structure
Experience of ERP systems, dashboard development and BI tools such as Power BI
Experience supporting procurement or purchasing functions