Finance Director | DTC Beauty & Cosmetics | Scaling Consumer Brand | London

Harmonic is working alongside a fast-growing beauty and cosmetics business, looking to appoint a Finance Director at a pivotal stage of growth.

This is a broad, high-impact role that sits at the centre of the business. You'll take full ownership of finance: setting financial strategy, driving commercial performance, managing cash and working capital, and putting in place the reporting, systems and controls needed to support the next phase of growth.

You'll lead a small team while remaining close to the commercial detail, partnering directly with the leadership team across growth, marketing, operations, product and international expansion. This is an opportunity for a commercially minded Finance Director to have genuine influence over a high-growth DTC consumer business.

Strategic Finance & Commercial Partnering

• Shape and deliver the financial strategy behind the company's growth plans
• Give the leadership team the forecasts, analysis and insight they need to make fast, informed decisions
• Own and interrogate the long-range forecast model, translating it into clear commercial insight
• Partner with the CEO and leadership team on growth initiatives, investment decisions and international expansion
• Own the financial view of DTC performance, including CAC, LTV, retention, conversion, AOV, payback and contribution margin
• Partner closely with Marketing to understand customer acquisition economics and assess marketing efficiency and return on investment
• Analyse customer, channel and product economics, including SKU-level profitability and contribution
• Assess new products, markets and channels, modelling their impact on revenue, margin, working capital and cash
• Evaluate pricing, promotions, bundles and customer acquisition offers, ensuring the impact on gross and contribution margin is understood
• Benchmark performance against the wider beauty, cosmetics and consumer market

Financial Operations & Governance

• Take ownership of the budgeting, forecasting and reporting cycle
• Build reporting that gives the business clear visibility of revenue, gross margin, contribution, DTC customer economics, inventory and working capital
• Develop meaningful reporting across DTC, e-commerce, wholesale and international channels
• Lead and develop a lean finance function, building capability as the business scales
• Ensure financial statements are accurate and delivered on time, coordinating external advisors where required
• Own the financial control environment and improve systems, processes and reporting
• Spot and manage financial and commercial risk before it becomes a problem
• Ensure the business remains audit- and compliance-ready
• Build a finance function that gives the leadership team the data and insight required to make better commercial decisions
• Take ownership of cash flow forecasting and working capital management
• Optimise inventory investment and the cash conversion cycle as the business scales
• Work closely with Operations and Supply Chain on demand planning, stock levels, stock cover, lead times, supplier terms and inventory investment
• Analyse the working capital implications of new products, launches, markets and growth initiatives
• Balance investment in inventory, marketing, product development and international expansion against cash generation and profitability
• Manage relationships with lenders, investors and other key financial stakeholders where required
• Ensure the business has the appropriate funding and liquidity to support its growth plans

Experience & Requirements

• Qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent)
• Significant DTC experience is essential, you must have operated within a consumer business where the direct-to-consumer channel is a meaningful part of the growth model
• Experience in beauty, cosmetics, personal care, food & bev, wellness or another high-growth consumer category is highly relevant
• Strong e-commerce experience, with a genuine understanding of the economics of a DTC business
• Strong commercial FP&A background, with experience in modelling, scenario planning and translating data into actionable insight
• Deep understanding of DTC customer economics, including CAC, LTV, retention, conversion, AOV, payback and contribution margin
• Experience analysing product/SKU economics, pricing and promotional activity
• Experience managing inventory, working capital and gross margin in a product-led consumer business
• Comfortable partnering closely with Marketing, Commercial, Operations and Supply Chain
• Experience supporting a business through significant growth and increasing organisational complexity
• Commercially minded and comfortable operating in a fast-moving, entrepreneurial environment
• A hands-on leader who can build and develop the finance function while remaining close to the detail

Location: London

At Harmonic, we are dedicated to fostering an inclusive and equitable workplace. We actively welcome applications from individuals of all backgrounds and assure you that every candidate will be thoughtfully considered for the roles we represent, without regard to race, religion, gender expression, disability, or sexual orientation.

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