Financial Controller

Salary: £60,000- £70,000 per annum dependent upon experience + car allowance + bonus

Location: Stansted Airport (hybrid working)

We are looking for an experienced Financial Controller to join our team. This role presents a fantastic opportunity to join a dynamic, fast-paced business. Aeropeople is a well-established specialist aviation business, supporting customers through recruitment, aircraft engineering services, aviation equipment hire, and aviation training. Established 25 years ago, the business has grown into a diverse and commercially dynamic organisation serving aviation, aerospace, engineering, motorsport, automotive, and defence markets.

With a multi-site, international operating model and complex multi-country, multi-currency payroll arrangements, Aeropeople offers an exciting environment for a finance leader who enjoys variety, responsibility, and the opportunity to make a visible impact. This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced finance professional to take ownership of financial control, reporting, and team leadership within a growing and multi-faceted business.

As Financial Controller, you will join the management team and will play a central role in strengthening the finance function, delivering accurate insight, maintaining robust controls, and supporting senior stakeholders across the organisation. The role is particularly well suited to someone who thrives in a complex operational environment, including oversight of financial processes linked to multi-country and multi-currency payroll.

As part of our strategic organisational succession planning, it is hoped that the successful candidate will step into the Head of Finance role in the future. This role will be largely remote working but there will be an expectation to attend management meetings in person and ad hoc attendance at our site in Stansted.

This is a fantastic opportunity to join an expanding specialist business where you can make a genuine impact, work closely with senior leaders, and help shape a finance function that supports a complex and evolving operation.

Key Responsibilities:

• Serve as a senior business leader, supporting and influencing strategic growth initiatives through fiscal and financial guidance for senior-level decision-making.
• Attend Board meetings producing and presenting financial reports to the current and projected financial status of the business.
• Provide day-to-day leadership to the finance team, setting clear priorities, supporting development, and fostering a high-performing culture.
• Own the production of accurate and timely monthly management accounts, including balance sheet integrity, reconciliations, and insightful variance analysis.
• Lead the budgeting, forecasting, and cash flow planning cycles, partnering with stakeholders to support effective commercial and operational decision-making.
• Maintain and continuously improve robust financial controls, governance, and compliance processes across the business.
• Take ownership of statutory reporting, audit preparation, and year-end activities, ensuring all deadlines are met to a high standard, to include Aeropeople Europe subsidiary.
• Act as a trusted finance business partner to senior leaders, providing clear financial insight, financial modelling for projects, challenge, and recommendations.
• Oversee payroll-related financial controls and reporting within Aeropeople’s complex multi-country, multi-currency operating environment.
• Support the ongoing development of finance systems, reporting capability, and process improvements to enhance efficiency and control.
• Ensure the finance function is well positioned to support Aeropeople’s multi-site operations, international workforce arrangements, and continued business growth.
• Manage and control the Company IT function.

Benefits:

• Negotiable salary dependent upon experience.
• Annual car allowance.
• Discretionary annual company bonus scheme.
• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays.
• Generous company pension scheme (5% employer/ 5% employee).
• Private Medical Insurance.
• Life Insurance (4x annual salary).
• Hybrid working arrangement.
• Free on site or subsidised parking (where applicable).
• Professional development and study support (where applicable).

About You:

Essential:

• Fully qualified accountant (CIMA, ACCA, ACA or equivalent).
• Proven experience in a Financial Controller, Finance Manager, or similar senior finance role.
• Strong track record of leading, developing, and motivating finance team members.
• Excellent technical accounting, financial control, and reporting knowledge.
• Experience managing complex payroll-related financial processes, ideally across multiple countries and currencies.
• Strong Excel, analytical, and financial reporting skills.
• Highly organised, detail-focused, and comfortable managing competing deadlines.
• Confident communicator with the ability to build credibility across finance and non-finance stakeholders.
• Strong IT and Systems knowledge.

Desirable:

• Experience within aviation, recruitment, engineering, or other project-based service environments.
• Experience working in multi-site, international, or multi-currency businesses.
• Exposure to payroll complexity involving multiple countries and currencies.
• Experience leading finance system enhancements or process improvement initiatives.