Assistant Finance Director

Assistant Finance Director – Fixed Term Contract

London / Hybrid

£95,000 – £100,000

Fixed Term Contract until 30 June 2027

Stanton House is partnering exclusively with a large, complex and rapidly evolving organisation to appoint an Assistant Finance Director on a fixed-term basis.

This is a senior, hands-on finance role providing additional leadership capacity during a period of significant change and increased activity. Working directly with the Finance Director, you will operate across financial control, technical accounting, payroll, audit and a number of priority finance projects.

This is not a traditional people-management position. There are no direct reports and we are looking for someone comfortable operating at senior leadership level while remaining close to the detail and willing to personally get involved where required.

Key responsibilities

• Deputise for and work closely with the Finance Director, providing senior-level support and judgement across the Finance function
• Review monthly accounts, identifying accounting issues, errors, significant variances and areas requiring further investigation
• Provide senior oversight and approval across payroll and payment processes
• Support complex accounting, tax, statutory reporting and financial-control matters
• Oversee cashflow forecasting, treasury activity and working-capital considerations
• Support financial reporting and requests associated with significant external and government funding
• Review financial aspects of supplier and customer contracts, identifying relevant accounting, tax and control considerations
• Support year-end and external audit activity
• Oversee elements of internal audit and ensure actions are appropriately addressed
• Support the implementation of a new finance system, ensuring appropriate controls and processes are embedded
• Review and develop finance policies, procedures and process documentation
• Act as a senior escalation point for financial and operational issues across the organisation
• Provide hands-on support across the Finance function as priorities and workloads change

The profile

We are looking for a qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent) with significant experience operating at Financial Controller, Finance Director, Assistant Finance Director or equivalent level.

You will need to combine strong technical accounting knowledge with a pragmatic, hands-on approach.

Experience within a charity, not-for-profit or government-funded environment would be particularly attractive, especially where this has included exposure to SORP and restricted/government funding. However, candidates from relevant corporate environments will also be considered.

We are particularly interested in people with:

• Strong financial accounting and financial-control experience
• Excellent technical accounting knowledge and the ability to apply judgement to unfamiliar issues
• Strong payroll knowledge, including senior review and approval
• Tax and statutory reporting experience
• Experience reviewing accounts and identifying errors, risks and control issues
• Strong Excel capability
• Experience working with finance systems; Xero experience would be useful but is not essential
• Confidence communicating with senior internal and external stakeholders
• The ability to manage multiple competing priorities and switch quickly between strategic and detailed operational work
• A highly adaptable and self-sufficient working style

Experience of budgeting and forecasting, government funding, internal audit, finance transformation or system implementation would be advantageous.

The opportunity

This role would suit an experienced senior finance professional who enjoys variety and is comfortable entering a fast-moving environment where priorities can change quickly.

You will have considerable autonomy and visibility, working directly with the Finance Director while providing additional senior capacity across both business-as-usual finance and key projects.

The position will predominantly be worked remotely, with attendance at the Central London office approximately 1–4 times per month, depending on business requirements.