Finance Manager | VC-Backed AI SaaS Scale-Up in London

Harmonic are delighted to be partnering on an exclusive basis with a fast-growth, VC-backed technology business in the search for a Finance Manager to become their second dedicated finance hire. Reporting into a strategic finance lead, this is a rare, ground-floor opportunity for a hands-on, commercially curious finance professional to build a finance function from the ground up, and to grow into a broader, more senior remit as the business scales.

The Business:

Our client is an AI-native B2B SaaS business, founded around eight years ago and built on the belief that applying frontier AI to a large, everyday professional workflow can fundamentally change how work gets done. Having spent its early years developing the product, the business has grown exponentially as AI models have matured, and is now one of the more talked-about names in its category. With headcount doubling in the last 12 months, the business is boasting annual revenue of around £20 million, and year-on-year growth of approximately 3x. The business recently completed a significant Series B round led by a top-tier venture investor, giving it the backing and the ambition to keep scaling at pace. With a genuine transatlantic footprint and its headquarters in London, this is a business firmly in build mode, with all the energy, pace and ambiguity that comes with a company scaling this quickly.

The Role:

With a recently appointed Head of Finance with a fantastic international background, this is a newly created role offering real ownership of a finance function that is currently supported by an outsourced provider. Over time, the successful candidate will bring these activities in-house, establish the right processes and systems, and build the platform on which the wider finance function will be built. Reporting into a commercially and analytically minded finance leader whose background sits in strategic finance, the successful candidate will need to operate with real independence, take ownership of the numbers, and be genuinely comfortable working in an ambiguous, fast-moving, build-from-scratch environment. This role will suit genuine builders rather than pure processors, people who are excited by the opportunity to design smart, AI-enabled finance processes rather than simply run the ones they inherit.

Main Duties:

• Lead the selection and implementation of the finance systems stack, ensuring tools are fit for purpose and integrated so that systems talk to each other cleanly.
• Establish finance processes, controls and documentation that can scale with the business.
• Act as a trusted, independent pair of hands across the finance function, identifying and driving improvements as the business grows.
• Take ownership of accounts receivable, including designing and building an AI-enabled process to recover outstanding balances and establishing a robust go-forward collections workflow.
• Own the accounts payable process end to end, ensuring vendors are paid accurately and on time.
• Deliver month-end reporting that brings clear cost and revenue visibility to the business and its leadership.
• Support payroll, commissions, tax compliance and treasury / cash optimisation.

What we need to see (essential):

• Fully qualified (ACCA / ACA / CIMA).
• Strong, hands-on experience gained within a growth-stage or scaling business.
• The ability to operate independently and take full ownership, with limited day-to-day direction.
• Genuine comfort with ambiguity and a fast-changing environment.
• A builder's mindset, with a track record of improving or designing finance processes (ideally including AI-enabled or automation-led improvements).
• Strong technical grounding in core finance and bookkeeping fundamentals.

What we'd like to see (bonus):

• Experience gained within a VC-backed, high-growth SaaS or technology business.
• Experience using Xero.

Salary: up to £85,000 (potential flex for ideal candidate).

Location: London (4 days in office).

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.