Head of Finance Operations
At a Glance
• Full Time, Permanent
• Office-based in Belfast, with travel to other group sites
• £80,000 - £90,000
About the Company
Our client is a well-established, family-owned group based in Northern Ireland. It operates multiple sites across several people-focused service businesses, employing a large workforce.
The group has strong values and a reputation for quality, and is continuing to grow, including through acquisition.
The Role
Reporting to the Group Finance Director, you will own day-to-day finance delivery across the group. That covers monthly management accounts for each business and the consolidated group, balance sheet integrity, cash flow and leadership of the finance team.
This is a hands-on role with real commercial influence. Workforce cost is the biggest lever in the business, and you will help managers understand performance, control costs and improve results, while modernising the systems that link rotas, time and attendance and payroll.
Key Responsibilities
• Own the monthly close and management accounts for each business and the consolidated group
• Explain performance against budget, forecast and prior year in clear operational terms
• Maintain fully reconciled balance sheets, accruals, prepayments and intercompany balances
• Lead and develop the finance team across AP, AR, reconciliations and payroll support
• Run a rolling cash flow forecast and oversee debtors, collections and supplier payments
• Strengthen controls over billing, collections and payroll adjustments
• Report workforce and agency costs by business, site and role
• Coordinate budgets and forecasts and build KPI reporting for each business
• Improve finance, rostering and payroll systems and their integration
• Coordinate year-end, audit and tax, and support integration of acquired businesses
What You'll Need
Essential:
• Qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent)
• Experience preparing management accounts across multiple entities or sites
• Strong technical accounting and a disciplined approach to balance sheet reconciliation
• Experience leading or supervising a finance team
• Budgeting, forecasting, cash flow and working capital experience
• Strong Excel and confidence working with operational data
• Ability to explain financial performance clearly to non-finance colleagues
• Track record of improving processes and fixing control weaknesses
Desirable:
• Experience in a labour-intensive, multi-site business such as hospitality, health or care services
• Experience in a family-owned or growing business
• Familiarity with Sage, purchasing systems or time and attendance systems
• Experience improving payroll controls, system integrations or acquisition reporting
Why Apply
• Senior role with real ownership of the finance function, reporting to the Group FD
• Variety across several distinct businesses, each with its own KPIs
• Genuine scope to modernise systems and leave a lasting mark
• Stable, family-owned group with strong values and continued growth
• Training, career development, employee assistance programme and free parking
