Financial Manager

Job content

Financial Manager

Williams Lea is the leading global providerof skilled, technology-enabled, business-critical support services, enabling clients to maximise fee earning potential and improve critical workflow. Long-term trusted relationships with blue-chip clients across investment banks, law firms and professional services firms. These relationships foster cross-selling opportunities and business expansion through up-selling of value added services. Williams Lea employees provide services at client sites, from centralized Williams Lea on shore facilities, and through low cost company offshore locations. Global revenue is in the area of $400M annually. Williams Lea is owned by Advent International, one of the largest global private equity investors. The business was acquired in December 2017 as part of Williams Lea Tag. Williams Lea is now being carved out as a separate business, requiring the establishment of stand-alone Finance and other functional overhead organisations.

Role purpose:

The Controlling Team is key to developing and maintaining a strong control environment to ensure Financial Statements including the Balance Sheet, Profit and Loss and Cash flow Statements are accurately and timely reported to key stakeholders and the Group Board of Directors.

The Financial Controller/Business Partner will manage cost centre P&L and balance sheet items for Global Functions, e.g. HR, Finance, Legal etc. Delivery of historic & forward-looking management information, to understand performance drivers and trends.

As business partner the role will support the Head of functions, providing insightful financial information and analysis to ensure the overhead costs are managed within budget constraints and support and decision making. Building up a strong rapport with the functions and their team is crucial to success in the role as is gaining their trust. Proactive research into the commercial drivers will be required to ensure successful articulation of analysis to support the business.

The candidate will use their technical, problem solving and interpersonal skills to ensure that cost efficiencies are being implemented in their area of responsibility as well as generating annual budgets and periodic forecasts.

The role will be based in the United Kingdom and will report to the Senior Finance Manager Overheads

Responsibilities:

• Responsible for accurate reporting of the monthly management accounts, including balance sheet positions.
• Responsible for the tracking of financial performance of key strategic investments/projects.
• Maintaining clear visibility of P&L results and balance sheet positions.
• Leading and working alongside our Fin Ops support team & outsourced partners to complete monthly reporting.
• Ensure compliance with group accounting policies and procedures.
• Drive forward reporting improvements to ensure the provision of variance analysis and supporting commentary to both function heads and senior finance team.
• Support function heads with the preparation of Budgets & forecasts to capture all costs and communication risks & opportunities. challenging them where necessary; and collating the information into the budget/forecast packs in a timely manner.
• Support function heads with the preparation of business case documents with provision of financial analysis to enable decision making on key cost saving initiatives.
• As the separation of Williams Lea and Tag progress’ ensure any group wide costs are reported separately from costs solely and directly attributable to the Williams Lea group.
• Where necessary, provide additional schedules in preparation of the year-end audit.

Person specification:

• A qualified accountant (CIMA/ACCA/ACA), 5 years + experience

• Proven experience in financial and management accounting and reporting.

• Significant experience of analysis and focus on adding value to reported data.

• You will have strong interpersonal skills, with the ability to build effective working relationships at all levels across the business functions and influence senior management/directors and wider stakeholders.

• Highly organised & experience of working to tight deadlines.

• Proficiency in working in an ERP environment and extensive use of advanced Microsoft Excel skills.

• You should have excellent verbal and written communication skills appropriate for engaging a diverse range of audiences and stakeholders.

• Proven ability to work independently and as part of a team and the strength of character to challenge the business and influence decision making