Financial Operations Manager in Crawley

Permanent – Full-time – Location: Crawley or Newport

Reports to: Head of Financial Operations

Direct reports: Accounts Payable team

About AerFin

AerFin is breathing new life into aviation. We buy, sell, lease and repair aircraft, engines, and parts to maximise the value for their owners and provide a lower-cost supply of material to our airline, lessor and MRO customers. Through our deep technical expertise and high-performance culture, we deliver confidence-inspiring quality, safety and value to our customers. Our blend of industry expertise and experience – today’s insight and tomorrow’s foresight – gives us a unique perspective on our industry that is trusted by over 600 customers across six continents. With regional hubs in Europe, Asia and the USA we’re perfectly placed to keep fleets flying and get deals done. That’s the AerFin way. That’s the way ahead.

About The Role

Reporting to the Head of Financial Operations, this role provides the operational management layer between the AP team and senior Finance leadership. The Finance Operations Manager will lead day-to-day AP delivery, payment controls, banking administration and short-term cash forecasting, while building scalable, well-controlled and increasingly automated processes that support AerFin’s growth.

The role will work across Finance and the wider business to improve purchase order discipline, coding, goods receipting, supplier data and accountability. It will also play a key role in AP automation and ERP implementation, helping to design, test and embed the future way of working.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and develop the AP team, setting clear priorities and ensuring accurate, timely processing, payment runs, supplier query resolution and reconciliations.
• Improve end-to-end AP processes, controls and automation, addressing root causes and reducing manual effort, errors and month-end delays.
• Drive compliance with purchase order, coding, approval and goods-receipting requirements, including No PO, No Pay and controlled exceptions.
• Strengthen supplier onboarding, master-data and bank-detail controls, with clear validation, approval and audit trails.
• Oversee payment preparation and banking administration, maintaining effective segregation of duties and delegated authorities.
• Coordinate short-term cash forecasting and visibility of upcoming payment requirements.
• Own AP operational KPIs, control reporting, procedures and improvement plans.
• Support accurate month-end reporting through timely resolution of AP balances, supplier statements, GRNI and related control accounts.
• Act as the operational Finance lead for AP automation and an AP subject-matter expert for ERP process design, data cleansing, testing, training, cutover and stabilisation.
• Work with requestors, budget holders, Procurement and operational teams to embed accountability and consistent processes.
• Support audit, SOX readiness and control testing through clear documentation and evidence.

Key Outcomes

• A scalable and well-controlled AP operation that supports AerFin’s growth.
• More accurate coding and more reliable cost of sales, SG&A, inventory and management reporting.
• Stronger segregation of duties across supplier data, payments and banking.
• Faster, more automated processes with fewer errors, exceptions and month-end delays.
• Successful adoption of AP automation and the new ERP while maintaining business-as-usual delivery.

What You’ll Bring

• Proven experience managing Accounts Payable or transactional finance operations in a complex, fast-paced organisation.
• Strong knowledge of AP processes, financial controls, supplier master data, payment governance and banking administration.
• Experience improving processes, controls and automation, with a practical focus on sustainable outcomes.
• Experience leading and developing a transactional finance team.
• Experience supporting AP automation, finance transformation or ERP implementation.
• Confidence using data and KPIs to prioritise issues and measure improvement.
• Strong stakeholder management, judgement and attention to detail.
• Experience in a large international business is desirable, bringing a clear understanding of what good looks like in scalable finance operations and controls.
• A recognised accounting or finance qualification is desirable, or equivalent relevant experience.

What We Offer In Return

• Discretionary Bonus Scheme
• Volunteering Leave
• Life Assurance
• Pension Scheme
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• Healthcare Scheme
• 28 days of annual with an option to buy or sell an additional 5 days per year
• Electric Vehicle Leasing Scheme
• Grandternity Leave
• Appreciation & Festive Reward
• Social events and much more

AerFin is an equal opportunities employer, which cultivates opinion, listens to all views with respect, recognises people based on their merits without bias and embraces diversity.