Senior Director, Communications in London

Company Overview

We are the better way to work in finance. As private equity’s value creation partner, we sit at the heart of PE—where sponsors and CFOs meet. Through financial consulting rooted in data, technology, and AI, we help clients drive value—supporting the office of the CFO to drive end-to-end value creation.

If you crave challenging work and are looking to grow, come solve complex issues alongside 1,400+ finance & technology experts in a supportive, collaborative environment. As we build our European footprint, the London office presents a unique entrepreneurial opportunity to shape our presence and accelerate growth across the region—while benefiting from the support and stability of an established, industry-leading firm.

Backed by premier private equity firms and headquartered in New York with 10 offices around the globe, we are a high-growth, entrepreneurial firm looking for people who want to be part of building something great. Come make your mark.

Transformation

With the increase in complexity of the business environment and transactions, CFOs of private equity backed companies are increasingly being looked towards to drive strategic insights for their business. Finance organisations are no longer simply result reporters, but rather, they couple these results with forward looking data to provide strategic insights which are leveraged to make business decisions. Efficiency of process and meaningful control environments allows for speed of financial reporting with increasingly accurate measures, leaving more time for the finance team to add future enterprise value, rather than look backwards.

Accordion’s Transformation Practice is comprised of a dedicated team providing strategic advice to support PE backed portfolio companies on a wide range of transactions and events, including profitability improvements, finance process optimisation, liquidity enhancements and digital transformation transaction. We are doers and problem solvers – making sense of complexity and bolstering sponsors’ value creation theses.

This role will be based in our London office. Ideal candidates should be local to the desired location, with the flexibility to work remotely 1-2 days a week, blending the best of both worlds for efficiency and collaboration.

What You’ll Do:

• Work closely with other team members to serve clients within the office of the CFO of private equity portfolio companies, in the areas of finance strategy and processes improvements such as:

• Capability and Maturity assessments
• Operating Model Design
• Technology Optimisation and Roadmaps
• Design and Process Enhancement across areas including order-to-cash, procure-to-pay, record-to-report and FP&A
• Assess and recommend change management processes
• Drive initiatives to increase effectiveness, reduce costs and improve profit/shareholder value
• Develop and implement KPI dashboards and tracking tools
• Bring deep financial expertise and strong experience leading practices to engagements
• Manage multiple client engagements at the same time, ensure projects are on track, manage client expectations and perform course corrections when necessary
• Interact and build relationships with C-suite personnel at portfolio company as well as representatives from Private Equity sponsors
• Regular and extensive travel across Europe to work with clients in the relevant jurisdictions
• Assist in growing the firm by identifying and driving business development activities
• Identify and sponsor internal initiatives

You Have:

• Minimum 12+ years of relevant professional experience working in a client serving role at a top-tier accounting or financial advisory firm, and/or mix of client service and private industry experience at a senior level
• Proven experience successfully managing multiple projects at the same time, managing not only client/sponsor dynamics but internal team dynamics as well
• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance or related field. MBA is a plus
• A strong and up-to date knowledge of strategic finance best practices specifically related to the professionalisation of the finance function
• Subject matter expert in financial business processes including order-to-cash, procure-to-pay, record-to-report, FP&A, as well as other functions within the CFO’s portfolio
• Extensive expertise related to the design and implementation of strategies, processes and technology which increase effectiveness, reduce costs and improve profit/shareholder value
• Experience designing and enhancing financial processes including Finance Automation and Technology deployment
• Experience performing financial and operational assessments
• Experience driving strategic finance transformations
• Experience working with Private Equity, with an understanding of the unique requirements of the Private Equity consulting environment
• Strong Excel and PowerPoint skills
• Strong client service mindset

You Are:

• A self-starter with a strong work ethic
• A leader of others; you lead by example
• A strong team player, able to work with team members across all levels
• Able to effectively communicate complex issues and solutions, and raise issues to senior team members when necessary
• Comfortable managing projects with multiple complex workstreams while also focused on your single workstream (you are managing and doing).
• Excited to be part of a growing team, with a focus on driving future growth
• Full of entrepreneurial spirit and comfortable in a fluid, flat organization
• Knowledgeable about the relationship between Private Equity sponsors and their portfolio companies
• Passionate about delivering exceptional client service
• Someone who enjoys mentoring others and doing meaningful work
• Willing to get your hands dirty in the details of a project while simultaneously seeing the whole picture

Accordion is an Equal Opportunity Employer. We are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, religion, marital status, age, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition, pregnancy, genetic information, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, military status, or any other status protected under law.

Please note that as per Accordion policy, we do not accept unsolicited resumes from third-party recruiters unless such recruiters are engaged to provide candidates for a specified opening and in alignment with our inclusive diversity values. Any employment agency, person or entity that submits an unsolicited resume does so with the understanding that Accordion will have the right to hire that applicant at its discretion without any fee owed to the submitting employment agency, person or entity.