Head of Finance

A leading food manufacturing business is recruiting a Head of Finance to take full responsibility for its wholesale and production divisions. This is a high‑profile, broad hands on leadership role reporting directly to the Group CFO and the Divisional Managing Director. You will play a pivotal role in driving performance and supporting growth across a dynamic and complex division.

As part of the Leadership Team, you will have a tangible impact across all areas of the business. This role also offers exposure to the PE ownership structure and future transaction.

You will lead a small team covering Commercial Finance, Financial Accounting, and Business Information. Working closely with divisional and group finance teams, you will ensure processes, reporting, and KPIs are fit for purpose, while continuously improving the quality, insight, and impact of financial information. Acting as a Finance Business Partner, you will support and challenge the Operations Director and Commercial Director, helping to shape decision‑making, improve efficiency, and drive profitability.

This is a hands‑on, strategic role where you will combine financial rigour with commercial insight and an operational mindset to influence performance and drive sustainable growth.

Key responsibilities:

• Full ownership of reporting, forecasting, and budgeting processes, ensuring clarity and actionable insight.
• Develop and implement new KPIs to improve performance visibility and decision‑making.
• Partner with operations and commercial colleagues on decisions around products, wastage, labour efficiency, and contracts.
• Lead business case management for capital investments and new customer acquisition.
• Drive process improvements and efficiency across reporting and finance operations.
• Lead, mentor, and develop a small team.

We are looking for a qualified accountant (ACA, CIMA, ACCA) with strong experience in operational and commercial finance, ideally gained in manufacturing, supply chain, food production, or FMCG. You will have a proven ability to partner with production and operations and senior leadership in a fast‑paced, complex environment.

You will be naturally curious, resilient, and commercially minded, confident in challenging and supporting non‑financial colleagues. The ideal candidate will be equally comfortable on the factory floor and in the boardroom, bringing robust analysis, strong leadership, and commercial acumen to drive performance. Advanced Excel skills and an interest in BI tools (such as Power BI) would be advantageous.

If you are a finance leader with the drive to combine financial rigour with operational impact — and the ambition to progress towards an FD role — we would like to hear from you.

Seniority level

• Director

Employment type

• Full‑time

Job function

• Accounting/Auditing and Finance

Industries

• Consumer Services, Food and Beverage Services, and Hospitality

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