Finance Director (London)

About Unity Advisory

Unity Advisory is a new advisory firm built by a founding team of exceptional professionals across tax, finance, and technology. We’re reimagining what it means to partner with clients — commercially minded, collaborative, and committed to building better. With backing from Warburg Pincus, we are scaling quickly and intentionally. We’re focused on delivering bold, pragmatic solutions for our clients and creating a home for top talent that thrives on ownership, pace, and experimentation. As we scale, we are building a finance function that matches our ambition and gives the business the confidence to move fast - with control, clarity and insight.

The Opportunity

We are looking for a highly capable and commercially minded Finance Director to support the CFO in building a high-performing, scalable finance function. This is a hands-on leadership role where you will own the day-to-day finance operations while helping the business make smarter, faster financial decisions. The ideal candidate brings a balance of strong financial control and process discipline with the ability to work at pace in a dynamic environment. You’ll be instrumental in helping us move from early-stage foundations to a robust, insight-driven finance operation.

Key Responsibilities

• Finance Operations & Control
  • Take ownership of daily and monthly finance operations, including accounts payable/receivable, general ledger, and working capital / cash management.
  • Design, implement and oversee the monthly close process and ensure timely, accurate management reporting.
  • Drive establishment and application of standards, policies and procedures for revenue recognition, reflecting pricing methodologies, data capture and accounting requirements.
  • Lead preparation of monthly and quarterly management accounts, supporting analysis and board packs.
  • Build and maintain financial policies, controls, and procedures that are fit for a scaling business.
  • Own tax compliance and optimisation for current and future entity landscape, specifically including income tax and transfer pricing.
  • Manage VAT, PAYE, and other reporting and compliance activities with support from external advisors.
• Financial Planning & Decision Support
  • Support the CFO with budgeting, reforecasting and strategic planning cycles.
  • Provide commercial insight to leadership on performance trends, profitability, and investment trade-offs.
  • Deliver financial modelling and scenario planning to support hiring, service line growth, and capital allocation.
  • Own internal cost reporting and analysis, working closely with the people and hiring teams to maintain headcount visibility.
• Tech & Process Enablement
  • Support the selection and implementation of finance systems as we evolve from start-up tooling to more scalable platforms.
  • Develop a coherent financial reporting framework with clear data ownership and process flows.
  • Define and streamline all Finance activities, with a Technology-led mindset, including month-end, reporting, procurement, expense management, and approval workflows across Finance tools and technologies.
• External Relationships & Governance
  • Lead preparation for audit, investor reporting and external disclosures.
  • Support regulatory compliance and risk management activities.
• Team Development & Leadership
  • Support recruitment and onboarding of finance hires as needed.
  • Role model a culture of clarity, ownership and continuous improvement within the function.
  • Deputise for the CFO where appropriate in internal and external forums.

What We’re Looking For, Skills & Experience

• ACA, ACCA, or equivalent qualified accountant.
• Strong finance leadership experience in a professional services or consultancy environment.
• Exposure to early-stage or scaling businesses, ideally backed by private equity.
• Demonstrated ability to own finance processes end to end and implement improvements.
• Strong commercial awareness and ability to support strategic decision-making.
• Comfortable operating both at detail level and in the bigger picture.
• Advanced Excel / financial modelling skills; experience with finance systems implementation and optimisation in a period of rapid change/growth.

Additional Information

At Unity Advisory, we are committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruitment process. In line with the Equality Act 2010, we will accommodate any suitable candidate requiring assistance to attend or conduct an interview. If you need any adjustments or support, please let us know when either scheduling your interview or in your application cover letter. We are dedicated to ensuring that everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed and are here to support you throughout the process.