Senior Finance Leader & Group Financial Controller

Commercially focused Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) offering over 15 years of progressive finance leadership spanning both professional practice and industry environments.

Proven track record leading, modernizing, and scaling finance functions across international group structures, high-growth mid-market businesses, and turnaround environments with turnovers ranging from £1m to £50m.

Combines statutory and dual-jurisdiction (UK & Republic of Ireland) compliance rigor with strategic commercial partnering, ERP/systems implementations, robust working capital optimization, and direct C-suite/Board advisory.

• FCA (Fellow Chartered Accountant) – Chartered Accountants Ireland (Fellowship awarded 2022; ACA qualified 2012).

• BSc (Hons) in Accountancy (2:1) – University of Ulster.

• Comprehensive governance credentials covering dual UK GAAP and IFRS statutory reporting frameworks.

• ERP & Financial Architecture: Sage, Microsoft Dynamics, Xero, integrated timesheet and project accounting software platforms.

• Reporting, BI & Analytics: Advanced multi-entity financial modeling, KPI dashboarding, automated month-end board pack production, and rolling 2- to 5-year integrated cash-flow models.

• E-Commerce & Digital Billing: Cross-platform integrations with Stripe, Worldpay, and Shopify merchant payment ecosystems.

• Taxation & Statutory Governance: Hands-on multi-jurisdiction compliance across the UK and Ireland, including VAT, One Stop Shop (OSS), PAYE/PRSI, Construction Industry Scheme (CIS), Relevant Contracts Tax (RCT), and grant-funding governance.

• Proven mentor and leader of finance teams across both single- and multi-site, multi-entity operational structures.

• Direct advisory and commercial sounding board to Managing Directors, Chief Financial Officers, and international parent boards.

• Driver of cross-departmental change management, securing user adoption across commercial teams during large-scale ERP rollouts and process transformations.

• Overhead & Margin Optimization: Executed forensic operating expense reviews, realizing up to 50% overhead reductions in turnaround situations and a 70% decrease in distribution costs through strategic outsourcing models.

• Treasury & Working Capital: Overhauled group credit control and collection frameworks, decreasing debtor days by more than 50% and permanently eliminating reliance on bank overdrafts.

• Investor & Funder Relations: Built dynamic 5-year integrated P&L, balance sheet, and cash-flow models for private equity and institutional investors; negotiated debt repayment arrangements and standstills with financial institutions and tax authorities.

• Grant Administration: Successfully secured, managed, and audited government and enterprise development grant funding to fuel business expansion.

• Unified Financial Governance: Established standardized group operating procedures, unified charts of accounts, and rigorous balance-sheet reconciliations across international group entities.

• Process Automation & Cycle-Time Reduction: Deployed automated reporting workflows via advanced modeling and BI tools, significantly accelerating month-end close cycles and shifting finance from static historic numbers to predictive, forward-looking insights.

• Audit Assurance: Direct liaison and relationship lead for Big 4 and top-tier audit partners, ensuring seamless, timely delivery of group statutory year-end audit sign-offs.

An accomplished, technically grounded, and commercially astute Head of Finance / Group Financial Controller.

With dual-jurisdiction UK/ROI expertise and rare breadth across both top-tier compliance and hands-on commercial turnaround, this candidate represents an immediate de-risking hire for multi-entity groups, private-equity-backed assets, or businesses preparing for systems transformation or growth. Highly recommended for interview.