VP of Finance in Ely

About Abselion

At Abselion we are on a mission to revolutionise protein research. Our vision is to empower scientists to focus on discovery and innovation, not tedious manual tasks. We have created Amperia, a compact, affordable benchtop solution designed to simplify protein research for everyone. Amperia helps researchers to develop the medicine of the future, find the best ways to produce novel biomolecules, and ensure that medicine is always safe and efficacious.

We are a dynamic, interdisciplinary team working at the intersection of biotechnology and engineering. We value a flat hierarchy, where everyone is encouraged to share their ideas and follow their passion. We are supported by some of the leading investors and companies in the biopharmaceutical industry.

Role Overview

The VP Finance is a senior, hands-on role responsible for ensuring that the company's financial operations run reliably, accurately, and predictably, while also providing executive operational leverage across the business.

In the first 6 months, the priority is stabilising and upgrading the finance function: close, cash visibility, AR/AP cadence, controls and board reporting, with increasing readiness for audit and future fundraising. Alongside finance, the role takes ownership of a set of executive responsibilities related to commercial operations.

Key Responsibilities

• Financial Operations
  • Own the reliable day-to-day execution of the company's finances and ensure financial data is accurate, timely and trustworthy.
  • Oversee the full accounting cycle in collaboration with external accountants, including reconciliations, month-end close and management accounts.
  • Invoicing, billing and collections to ensure timely and accurate cash inflow.
  • Manage banking operations, payment runs and short-term cashflow visibility.
  • Incrementally improve finance and operational processes, controls and documentation as the company scales.
• Commercial & Operations Finance
  • Own and improve end-to-end order-to-cash and procure-to-pay workflows across Commercial, Operations and Finance.
  • Oversee purchasing workflows, invoice matching and spend control.
  • Customer orders, delivery confirmation, invoicing and collections.
  • Work closely with Commercial to ensure ERP and CRM data supports accurate billing, forecasting and reporting.
  • Support logistics, fulfilment and internal handovers between sales, operations, production and finance.
  • Identify and resolve friction points in commercial and operational execution.
• Reporting
  • Build the financial foundations required for a growing manufacturing and consumables business, with increasing readiness for scale and future investment.
  • Support inventory, BOMs, COGS and gross margin tracking for instruments and consumables.
  • Produce budget vs actual analysis, forecasts and cash runway views.
  • Provide clear finance inputs for board reporting.
  • Prepare and maintain robust financial models, forecasts and scenario analyses to support future fundraising.
  • Ensure financial data, reporting and processes are audit ready, and coordinate external auditors as required.
  • Support grants, R&D tax credits and funder reporting where applicable.
• Executive Operations
  • Provide operational leverage to the leadership team by owning cross-functional initiatives and corporate administration that sit outside any single functional lead.
  • Lead set-up and ongoing administration of International subsidiaries, including timelines, budgets, banking and payroll readiness and baseline compliance.
  • Own the company compliance calendar and corporate housekeeping.
• Fundraising Readiness
  • Support fundraising, diligence and investor reporting with high-quality financial materials and narratives.
  • Maintain an investor-grade financial model, scenarios and use-of-funds planning.
  • Prepare finance elements of data room and diligence packs and support investor Q&A.
  • Support equity and option administration readiness in coordination with external specialists where required.

Experience & Skills

Essential

• Qualified accountant (ACA / ACCA / CIMA) or equivalent hands-on experience.
• Significant experience in execution-heavy finance roles (Financial Controller, Head of Finance, Senior Accountant or similar).
• Hands-on capability across reconciliations, invoicing, AP/AR, cashflow and month-end close.
• Experience operating in a venture-backed start-up or scale-up environment, including board reporting, runway planning and diligence readiness.
• Proven ability to run cross-functional operational projects.
• Comfortable working closely with operations, production and commercial teams.
• Clear communicator with non-finance stakeholders.

Desirable

• Experience in manufacturing/cost accounting, hardware or consumables-based businesses.
• Exposure to inventory, BOMs, COGS and margin analysis.
• Experience supporting order-to-cash and procure-to-pay processes.
• Experience supporting grants, funder reporting or R&D tax credits.
• Familiarity with ERP, CRM and operational systems that interface with finance.
• Exposure to UK and US cross-border operations is preferred.
• Experience supporting fundraising processes and investor diligence.

What we offer

• Dynamic and fast-paced work environment in a rapidly expanding company.
• Be part of a step-change in life science instrumentation.
• Working on cutting-edge technology at the intersection of biology, engineering, and data science.
• Share option scheme.
• Base salary £90,000 - £110,000 per annum.
• Most important of all, join a great team!

Start date: Immediate

Location: The role is on-site located in Cambridge, UK.

Application process: First stage: Video or phone call; Second stage: Face to Face Technical interview.

How to apply: Please fill in the application form on our Careers page and attach your CV in PDF format. We look forward to receiving your application.