Financial Controller
Job Title: Financial Controller
Reports To: CFO
Location: Poole – Onsite, Monday to Friday
Role Type: Permanent, Full-time
Salary: Competitive, depending on experience
About Us
We are a growing group of companies specialising in housing solutions for organisations with complex accommodation needs across the corporate, healthcare, construction, and insurance sectors.
Backed by over 20 years of experience, we provide tailored accommodation strategies, combining short- and long-term housing, property management, and bespoke client support.
As the business continues to grow, we are strengthening our finance function to ensure it is fit to support the next stage of development. This has created an exciting opportunity for a commercially minded Financial Controller to join the business in a newly created role.
The Opportunity
This is not a business-as-usual Financial Controller role.
As a newly created position, this role offers the opportunity to shape, develop and lead the finance function within a rapidly growing business. You will have the autonomy to improve processes, develop the accounts team, strengthen financial controls, and create a finance function that provides meaningful insight to the wider business.
Working closely with the CFO and senior leadership team, you will play a key role in improving financial reporting, supporting better decision-making, and ensuring the finance team becomes a proactive and valued partner to the business.
This role would suit a qualified finance professional who is technically strong, commercially aware, and confident leading people through change. You will need to be hands-on when required, but also capable of stepping back, identifying what needs to improve and bringing the team with you.
For the right person, there is real scope to develop with the business over the longer term.
Key Responsibilities
Finance Leadership and Team Development
- Lead, manage and develop the finance team, creating clear roles, responsibilities, and expectations.
- Coach and support team members to improve performance, confidence, and technical capability.
- Build a positive, accountable, and collaborative team culture.
- Identify skills gaps within the team and support training, development, and progression.
- Act as a senior point of support for the finance team, providing guidance and structure where needed.
- Help create a finance function that is proactive, commercially aware and aligned with the needs of the wider business.
Financial Reporting and Control
- Own the month-end and year-end close processes, ensuring reporting is accurate, timely and reliable.
- Prepare monthly management accounts and provide meaningful commentary for senior leadership.
- Produce quarterly and annual financial reporting as required.
- Maintain strong balance sheet controls, reconciliations, and review processes.
- Strengthen internal financial controls, ensuring they are appropriate for the size and complexity of the business.
- Ensure compliance with statutory reporting, tax requirements, and audit standards.
- Lead the preparation for external audit and liaise with auditors and external advisors.
Commercial Finance and Business Partnering
- Work closely with the CFO and senior leadership team to provide financial insight that supports decision-making.
- Partner with operational teams to improve financial understanding across the business.
- Build strong working relationships with other departments, ensuring finance is seen as an enabler rather than a blocker.
- Support budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis.
- Provide insight into business performance, risks, and opportunities.
- Help improve the quality and relevance of management information across the group.
Process Improvement and Systems
- Review and improve finance processes to increase efficiency, accuracy, and scalability.
- Streamline workflows and reduce unnecessary manual processes.
- Support the implementation of new systems, processes and reporting tools where required.
- Develop and document finance procedures to create consistency across the team.
- Identify opportunities to improve how finance interacts with other areas of the business.
- Ensure the finance function is structured to support future growth.
Cash Management and Governance
- Monitor cash flow, working capital and liquidity requirements.
- Oversee payment processes and ensure effective cash management.
- Support banking relationships and treasury requirements.
- Ensure appropriate approval processes and financial governance are in place.
- Support the CFO with ad hoc commercial, strategic, and operational finance projects.
About You
We are looking for a commercially minded and people-focused Financial Controller who enjoys improving finance functions and developing teams.
You will be confident operating in a growing business where processes may still be evolving, and you will be comfortable bringing structure, clarity, and momentum.
You will be someone who can build strong relationships across the business, challenge constructively and help the finance team become a trusted partner to senior leaders and operational teams.
Key Requirements
- Fully qualified accountant: ACA, ACCA, or CIMA.
- Previous experience in a Financial Controller or senior finance role.
- Proven experience managing, developing, and improving finance teams.
- Strong technical accounting, reporting, and control experience.
- Experience producing management accounts, budgets, forecasts, and variance analysis.
- Strong commercial awareness and the ability to translate financial information into useful insight.
- Experience improving finance processes, controls, and systems.
- Confident working with senior stakeholders and non-finance teams.
- Strong communication skills and the ability to build effective working relationships across the business.
- Advanced Excel skills and experience using accounting systems.
- Comfortable working in a hands-on role within a growing and changing business.
Additional Skills and Attributes
- Strong leadership skills, with the ability to get the best out of people.
- Proactive, organised and solutions focused.
- Confident challenging existing ways of working where improvements can be made.
- Able to balance attention to detail with commercial pragmatism.
- Comfortable managing competing priorities in a fast-moving environment.
- Positive, resilient, and adaptable.
- Able to bring structure and calm to a growing finance function.
- Ambitious and motivated by the opportunity to grow with the business.
Benefits
- Additional leave
- Group Life Insurance
- Casual dress
- Company events
- Company pension
- Cycle to work scheme.
- Employee discount
- Flexitime
- Health and wellbeing programme
- Referral programme
Why Join Us?
This is a fantastic opportunity to join a growing and ambitious business at an exciting stage of its development.
As this is a newly created role, you will have the chance to make a real impact from day one. You will be able to shape the finance function, develop the accounts team, improve processes, and help build a finance operation that supports the business as it continues to grow.
You will work closely with an experienced leadership team and have the opportunity to influence how finance supports the wider business. For someone who enjoys combining technical finance, commercial insight, team development and process improvement, this role offers real variety, ownership, and long-term progression potential.
Pay: £60,000.00-£70,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- Casual dress
- Company pension
- Cycle to work scheme
- Health & wellbeing programme
- Life insurance
- Referral programme
Application question(s):
- Are you fully qualified ACA, ACCA or CIMA?
- Do you have 5 years + experience Financial Controller or senior finance role?
- Proven experience managing, developing, and improving finance teams.
- Experience producing management accounts, budgets, forecasts, and variance analysis?
- Do you live in or close to Poole and able to work Monday to Friday on site ?
Work Location: In person
