Assistant Vice President Finance in London

Our client is a market leading global private equity firm investing across a range of sectors.

The opportunity

This is a pivotal and highly visible role responsible for leading finance operations for the UK and overseeing accounting activities across multiple European offices. This person will serve as the regional finance lead, ensuring accurate and timely financial reporting, statutory compliance, payroll accounting precision, and strong partnership with global stakeholders. This role sits at the intersection of finance operations, cross-border payroll, audit management, and regulatory compliance. You will work closely with senior leadership, the global payroll and accounting teams, external advisers, and office managers across the region to ensure consistent accuracy, compliance, and high-quality delivery.

Key responsibilities

• Lead finance operations for the UK and support oversight of accounting activities across European offices, ensuring timely close, statutory compliance, and management reporting.
• Serve as the regional finance lead and primary liaison to the US payroll team, ensuring payroll inputs, funding, reconciliations, journal entries, and cross-border reporting are accurate and aligned.
• Oversee month-end, quarter-end, and year-end close activities for UK and European entities, including accruals, prepaids, payroll accounting, balance sheet reconciliations, and variance analysis.
• Manage the relationship with the firms external accounting provider, to ensure accurate bookkeeping, statutory accounts preparation, local filings, and timely resolution of accounting issues.
• Lead the annual audit process with the firms external provider, including planning, PBC coordination, issue resolution, and delivery of audited financial statements and supporting schedules.
• Review financial results and reporting packages under applicable UK GAAP, IFRS, and US GAAP reporting requirements, ensuring consistency, completeness, and strong supporting documentation.
• Support VAT, payroll tax coordination, intercompany accounting, cash management, and multi-currency reporting across the region, partnering with in-country advisors as needed.
• Drive process improvement, internal controls, and systems enhancement initiatives across finance and payroll workflows to improve accuracy, efficiency, scalability, and audit readiness.
• Prepare monthly and quarterly reporting packs for US leadership, including flux analysis, payroll cost analysis, headcount reporting, working capital movements, and ad hoc management reports.
• Partner with the global payroll and accounting teams on systems implementations, process redesign, and testing related to payroll feeds, general ledger interfaces, and close and reporting workflows.
• Develop and maintain calendars, control schedules, and process documentation for close, audit, payroll accounting, and statutory reporting deadlines across the UK and Europe.
• Act as the day-to-day point of contact for Jeff Vosnak and the broader international payroll and accounting organization, escalating issues and communicating status, risks, and deliverables clearly.
• Collaborate with HR, office managers, tax advisers, payroll vendors, and local service providers to gather data, resolve issues, and support business needs across all covered offices.
• Respond to auditor, regulator, and internal stakeholder requests promptly and professionally while maintaining strict confidentiality over employee and financial information.
• Partner with the US payroll team and regional stakeholders on employee movements, entity changes, benefits matters, and other issues affecting payroll accounting and local compliance.
• Support special projects, new entity setups, restructurings, and control initiatives affecting finance, payroll, and reporting across the European platform.

Professional experience

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business, or a related field required; professional accounting certification required (ACA, ACCA, CIMA, CPA, or equivalent).
• 7-10 years of progressive finance and accounting experience required, including UK statutory accounting, audit coordination, and multi-entity close responsibilities; international experience strongly preferred.
• Strong knowledge of UK accounting and reporting requirements, with familiarity across European entities and working knowledge of IFRS and US GAAP reporting concepts.
• Experience managing external accounting providers and leading annual audits with major audit firms required; prior Big Four experience is a plus.
• Experience partnering with payroll teams and strong understanding of payroll accounting, accrued compensation, benefits accounting, and related reconciliations.
• Advanced Excel skills required; experience with Workday, ERP and general ledger systems, and similar finance or workflow tools preferred.
• Proven ability to work effectively across UK, European, and US stakeholders in a matrixed environment, with strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong attention to detail, sound judgement, discretion, and ability to manage multiple deadlines in a fast-paced private equity or financial services environment.
• Experience with VAT, intercompany accounting, multi-currency reporting, and additional payroll, tax, or controls certifications (e.g., CIPP, CTA, CIA) is a plus; foreign language skills (French, Spanish, or Italian) are also a plus.

Preferred candidate profile

• Relationship building – effectively builds relationships inside and outside the organisation, relating openly and comfortably with diverse groups of people.
• Client focus – values strong client relationships and focuses on delivering customer-centric solutions.
• Business judgement – must maintain a good understanding of the business and all existing projects to ensure proactive, hands-on support. Thinks about issues and develops solutions that thoughtfully take the broader context into account. Effectively prioritises competing objectives and urgent deadlines.
• Flexibility – demonstrable experience of working under fast-paced and high-pressure conditions in a thoughtful and courteous manner. A positive, flexible, delivery and solutions-focused attitude.
• Ownership and initiative – self-starter who takes ownership for and “rolls up sleeves” to meet objectives. Ability to drive a process to completion. Proactively identifies opportunities for continuous improvement.
• Presentation – clearly and confidently communicates and presents complex concepts, analysis, ideas, and information internally and externally. Able to interact and adapt effectively and professionally to all levels of employees and work styles.
• Teamwork – collaborative, team-oriented approach, providing support to all team members as required. Seeks and is open to give and receive suggestions to develop better solutions and to make the team stronger; experience working as part of a global team.
• Balancing stakeholders – anticipating and appreciating the varying needs of all parties invested in outcomes.
• Cultural awareness – demonstrates ability to work across geographies and cultures, collaborate with colleagues in different geographies from different cultures.
• Ensures accountability – holding self and others accountable for meeting commitments. High standard of integrity and ability to maintain the highest degree of confidentiality.