finance manager in food retail in London

M&S is a modern retailer whose Food business serves millions of customers every week with a focus on quality, innovation, and trusted customer experiences.

Responsibilities:

• Lead risk management across the Food business, partnering with risk leads to identify, assess, and monitor risks and controls, drive mitigation plans, and support quarterly and bi-annual reporting to the Group Risk team for external disclosures.
• Act as the Governance, Risk & Control subject matter expert for the Food business, advise on new business processes, projects, and control frameworks, and lead process reviews to improve controls, strengthen the control culture, shape risk awareness, and support confident decision-making.
• Manage governance and assurance activities with Internal and External Audit teams, support audit planning and delivery, ensure timely closure of audit actions, support the GSCOP compliance programme, and contribute to annual testing of material controls for UK Corporate Governance Provision 29 reporting.
• Drive accountability through reporting and stakeholder management, track open Risk, Audit, and Change & Control actions, report regularly to senior stakeholders, chair quarterly Food Leadership Team risk updates and monthly risk reviews with the Food Finance Director, and influence stakeholders to deliver agreed actions.
• Support strategic control and compliance initiatives across M&S Food, present annually to the Audit & Risk Committee, partner across Finance and the wider Food business on control environment projects, and provide ad hoc support on Group Change & Control programmes such as non-financial reporting assurance.

Requirements:

• Qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, or CIMA).
• Strong experience in Governance, Risk, Internal Audit, Compliance, Controls, or Strategy within a large international organisation or Big 4 environment.
• Proven track record of designing, implementing, and improving risk management frameworks and internal controls.
• Strong project management, analytical, and problem-solving skills, with the ability to drive change and implement new ways of working.
• Confident communicator able to influence, challenge, and build credibility with senior finance and non-finance stakeholders.
• Highly organised self-starter with intellectual curiosity, a continuous improvement mindset, and the ability to work effectively in a fast-paced, evolving environment.

Desirable:

• Experience in Retail, Consumer, FMCG, or Food retail.

Benefits:

• 20% Colleague discount on M&S products and many third-party brands for the employee and someone in their household after probation.
• Competitive holiday allowance, with the option to buy more.
• Discretionary bonus schemes linked to individual and company performance.
• Pension and life assurance.
• Tailored induction and training.
• Exclusive perks and savings through the M&S Choices portal.
• Family policies, including parental, adoption, and neonatal leave.
• 24/7 Wellbeing support, including virtual GP access and mental health services.
• One paid volunteer day per year.
• Support and reasonable adjustments are available during any stage of the recruitment process upon request.