Financial Controller in Carlisle

With over 150 years of engineering heritage and recent recognition through the King’s Award for Innovation, we design, manufacture, and install specialist door systems for some of the most prestigious organisations across the world. From acoustic and fire rated doors to high security, temperature controlled and nuclear applications, our products protect people, assets and operations in some of the most complex environments on the planet. As we continue to grow and strengthen the way we operate, reliable financial reporting, strong controls and accurate manufacturing data are critical to our decision making.

We are looking for an experienced Financial Controller to strengthen our financial reporting, accounting controls and manufacturing finance processes. This is a hands‑on finance role with a strong focus on inventory, work in progress, cost accounting, financial control and audit readiness. The successful candidate will help ensure that our financial data is accurate, traceable, compliant and commercially useful. Working closely with the Head of Finance, Finance Team, Operations and other stakeholders, you will support the production of timely management information, financial reports, budgets and forecasts, while helping to improve the quality and reliability of financial reporting across the business.

What you will be doing

• Supporting accurate and timely financial reporting across a manufacturing environment.
• Preparing monthly, quarterly and annual financial reporting in accordance with UK GAAP.
• Ensuring accounting accuracy for work in progress, finished goods, raw materials and manufacturing variances.
• Maintaining strong balance sheet control, including WIP reconciliations, inventory roll forwards and ageing reviews.
• Supporting month end close processes, particularly around cost of sales, production variances and inventory valuation.
• Ensuring accounting entries relating to manufacturing operations are properly understood, justified and documented.
• Reviewing and improving the accuracy of cost structures in partnership with Operations.
• Supporting the preparation of company forecasts and annual budgets, including P&L and capital expenditure.
• Preparing audit support, including cost build ups, inventory testing and WIP valuation schedules.
• Maintaining documentation of inventory and WIP controls, including evidence trails aligned with audit expectations.
• Supporting inventory counting procedures, including cycle counting, annual stocktakes and root cause analysis of discrepancies.
• Supporting overseas compliance, including accounts for a USA-based entity and reporting requirements relating to the Middle East branch.
• Improving controls relating to inventory, WIP, costing and production accounting.
• Monitoring key manufacturing financial KPIs, including production efficiency, yield, labour utilisation, stock accuracy and manufacturing variances.
• Supporting capital investment processes, including financial evaluation, fixed asset control and tracking of project spend.
• Overseeing accounting transactions and purchase ledger payments, including invoices, bills, accounts payable and accounts receivable, both UK and international.
• Working with Operations to align financial and operational data.
• Providing clear reporting and commentary on manufacturing performance, highlighting risks, inefficiencies and improvement opportunities.
• Helping non-finance stakeholders understand and follow financial policies and good manufacturing accounting practices.
• Improving data integrity, including accurate cost flows and stock movements.
• Supporting improvements to finance and operations system integration to reduce manual adjustments and increase traceability.
• Supporting system upgrades relating to production, inventory or costing modules.
• Contributing to continuous improvement initiatives that improve the speed, accuracy and quality of financial reporting.
• Ensuring financial data is handled in line with GDPR requirements and company confidentiality standards.

What we are looking for

• Strong technical finance experience, excellent attention to detail and the ability to work effectively with both finance and operational stakeholders.
• Fully qualified accountant status, ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent.
• A minimum of five years’ experience in a similar role in industry.
• Strong experience of WIP, inventory accounting and cost accounting.
• Experience supporting internal and external audit processes.
• A proven ability to improve financial controls and costing processes.
• Strong Microsoft Excel skills, including pivot tables and VLOOKUP or XLOOKUP.
• Excellent attention to detail and the ability to identify financial discrepancies.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• The ability to explain complex financial information clearly to a range of audiences.
• Good organisational skills, with the ability to manage competing deadlines and priorities.
• A credible, professional approach, with tact, confidentiality, honesty and integrity.
• A practical, proactive and improvement-focused mindset.
• Manufacturing experience would be advantageous, as would experience dealing with international transactions, export-related finance processes or ODBC.

What we offer

• Compensation - Up to £60,000 D.O.A
• Career Development – Grow with us through structured training, development pathways, and clear career progression opportunities.
• Generous Annual Leave – Enjoy 33 days of annual leave, inclusive of bank holidays, to rest and recharge.
• Birthday Off – Celebrate your special day with an extra day off, no annual leave required.
• Loyalty Reward Scheme – Earn an additional day of annual leave after 3 and 5 years of continuous service, recognising your dedication.
• Life Assurance – Peace of mind with life cover at 4x your basic salary.
• Financial Benefits – Company pension contributions and employee discounts to support your financial wellbeing.
• Family-Friendly Policies – Enhanced maternity and paternity leave designed to support you through life's big moments.
• Health & Wellbeing – Stay active with our cycle-to-work scheme and benefit from additional store discounts.
• Employee Referral Scheme – Recommend great people and earn bonuses through our referral rewards programme.
• Sick Pay Support – Company-funded sick pay provides security when you need it most.