Finance Manager - Number One Finance Role

Finance Manager - Number-One Finance Role

Stevenage, Hertfordshire

£50,000-£60,000 depending on experience

Permanent Full time

Predominantly office-based, with the option to work from home one day per week following probation.

The Animal People Recruitment Company is partnering with an ambitious, owner-managed consumer-products business to appoint a hands-on Finance Manager.

Operating across the pet-care and wider consumer-products markets, the group develops, manufactures and distributes a growing portfolio of products across the UK and internationally.

This appointment will bring full-time finance leadership into the business. You will become the number-one finance person across four associated trading and property entities, reporting directly to the Managing Director and leading an established finance team.

This is much broader than a traditional management accounts position. You will take ownership of financial control, reporting, cash flow, forecasting and commercial insight, helping the Managing Director understand performance, identify risks early and make confident decisions.

The opportunity

As Finance Manager, you will:

• Lead the day-to-day finance function across four group entities
• Own the monthly management accounts across P&L, balance sheet and cash flow
• Provide clear commentary on performance, risks and opportunities
• Build and maintain a robust rolling 12-week cash-flow forecast
• Proactively manage liquidity, working capital and funding requirements
• Maintain control over debtors, creditors, stock, intercompany and loan balances
• Lead annual budgeting, rolling forecasts, variance analysis and scenario planning
• Analyse profitability across products, customers, suppliers and sales channels
• Work with operations and supply chain to improve stock management, product costing and gross margins
• Support pricing, promotions, supplier negotiations and investment decisions
• Strengthen financial controls, reporting tools, systems and processes
• Coordinate tax and statutory compliance with external advisers
• Lead, support and develop the existing finance team
• Act as a trusted financial partner to the Managing Director

About you

You will already have held broad responsibility within a finance function and personally owned management accounts, budgeting, forecasting, cash flow and working-capital management.

You may currently be working as a Finance Manager or Financial Controller within an owner-managed SME, manufacturing business or stock-led organisation.

You will bring:

• Proven ownership of management accounts, budgeting and forecasting
• Strong practical cash-flow and working-capital management experience
• Experience of stock, inventory, product costing and gross-margin analysis
• The ability to translate financial information into clear commercial recommendations
• Experience leading and developing a small finance team
• Confidence working directly with an MD, founder or business owner
• A hands-on approach and willingness to work within the detail
• Strong Excel and financial systems capability
• The confidence to improve processes and constructively challenge existing thinking
• A collaborative, approachable and commercially curious style

Experience within manufacturing, FMCG, consumer goods, pet care, cosmetics, wholesale, distribution, e-commerce, import/export or another stock-led environment would be particularly valuable.

An ACCA, CIMA or ACA qualification would be advantageous. However, the business is equally open to part-qualified or qualified-by-experience candidates who can demonstrate the required breadth, leadership and real-world commercial experience.

What success will look like

During your first six months, you will have:

• Established reliable and timely monthly reporting
• Embedded a robust rolling cash-flow forecast
• Improved visibility over stock, margins and working capital
• Strengthened key financial controls and processes
• Created clear priorities and accountability across the finance team
• Built a trusted and effective working relationship with the Managing Director

Why consider this opportunity?

This is an opportunity to become genuinely influential within an entrepreneurial business where finance will play a central role in its next stage of development.

You will benefit from:

• Direct access to the Managing Director
• Genuine ownership of the finance function
• An established team to lead and develop
• Exposure to multiple entities, products and commercial projects
• The freedom to strengthen systems and introduce better ways of working
• The opportunity to shape both the finance function and your own position
• A salary of £55,000-£60,000 depending on experience
• The option to work from home one day per week following probation

You do not need previous pet-sector experience, but you should be interested in the products, customers and purpose behind a growing pet-care business.

This is a highly collaborative position at the centre of the organisation. You must therefore be able to work from the Stevenage office for at least four days each week.

If you are an experienced, hands-on finance professional looking for greater ownership, commercial influence and the opportunity to shape a growing business, we would love to hear from you.

Apply today or contact Katie Fletcher at The Animal People Recruitment Company for a confidential conversation.