Director of Finance Business Partnering in London

Established in 2004, OLIVER is the world's first and only specialist in designing, building, and running bespoke in-house agencies and marketing ecosystems for brands. We partner with over 300 clients in 40 countries and counting. Our unique model drives creativity and efficiency, allowing us to deliver tailored solutions that resonate deeply with audiences.

As a part of The Brandtech Group, we are at the forefront of leveraging cutting-edge AI technology to revolutionise how we create and deliver work. Our AI solutions enhance efficiency, spark creativity, and drive insightful decision-making, empowering our teams to produce innovative and impactful results.

About the role:

The Director of Finance Business Partnering is a senior leadership role within our marketing agency, responsible for delivering best-in-class financial support across the client lifecycle. This role leads the finance business partnering and analyst teams, acting as a trusted advisor to Managing Directors and senior stakeholders. You will drive financial insight, portfolio performance, and commercial decision-making, ensuring sustainable growth and strong client profitability. This is a high-profile role within our business and as such will require a candidate that is comfortable to operate at all levels within the business at a fast pace.

What you will be doing:

• Team Leadership & Development
  • Lead, mentor, and develop the finance business partnering and finance analyst teams.
  • Improve and strengthen a high-performing, commercially focused team with deep understanding of agency economics and client journeys.
  • Embed a culture of continuous improvement, upskilling team members to deliver proactive, high-quality financial support.
• Ownership of Complex Client Portfolios
  • Take ownership of complex portfolios of client accounts, ensuring robust financial management, governance, and oversight.
  • Ensure accuracy and integrity of financials across revenue recognition, costs, margins, and working capital.
  • Proactively identify risks and opportunities within portfolios and drive corrective actions.
• Senior Financial Support & Strategic Partnering
  • Act as a senior financial advisor to Managing Directors, providing insight on revenue forecasting, growth strategies, and portfolio profitability.
  • Support strategic decision-making around client investment, pricing, resourcing, and contract structures.
  • Partner with new business to ensure a clear and robust pipeline, testing the nature and rigour around potential opportunities.
• Client P&L Management
  • Equip client-facing teams with the tools, frameworks, and financial knowledge to confidently manage their client P&Ls.
  • Drive accountability for financial performance at client and portfolio level.
  • Ensure consistent understanding of profitability drivers across the business.
• Collaboration with Operations
  • Partner closely with Operations to ensure delivery against agreed client gross profit margin targets.
  • Align financial forecasts with resourcing, delivery models, and operational plans.
  • Support continuous optimisation of delivery efficiency and margin performance.
• Forecasting & Planning
  • Design and own an efficient, accurate weekly P&L forecasting process (bank and stretch).
  • Lead budgeting and reforecasting processes, delivering clear, timely insights to the CFO and CEO.
  • Ensure forecasts are well understood, credible, and actionable.
• Reporting & Month-End Ownership
  • Own and deeply understand month-end results for client portfolios.
  • Ensure accurate management of key working capital accounts, including deferred and accrued income and costs.
  • Provide clear explanations of variances to forecast, budget, and prior periods.
  • Key point of contact managing interim and year-end audit having overall responsibility for revenue through gross profit as well as corresponding client-related balance sheet items.
• Relationship Building & Communication
  • Build strong, trusted relationships with Managing Directors and senior stakeholders across the agency.
  • Deliver high-quality financial advice with confidence, clarity, and commercial focus.
  • Present and analyse financial performance clearly, highlighting gaps, risks, and actions required to deliver targets.

You must be very hands-on with the ability to work effectively with globally distributed teams and take responsibility to get things done on time even when systems and processes are stretched or insufficient. You must be able to partner closely with and collaborate effectively with the client leadership team, various internal departments and the clients. You must be an excellent communicator and able to expertly convey data, abstract concepts, points of view and escalations to senior management efficiently and effectively.

You will be open and willing to attend sustainability training relevant to your role and soak up recommended research and reading about sustainability issues.

What you need to be great in this role:

• 8 years of finance experience.
• Significant senior finance leadership experience, ideally within a marketing, media, or professional services environment.
• Strong background in finance business partnering, portfolio management, and client P&L ownership.
• Proven ability to lead and develop high-performing teams.
• Excellent commercial acumen with the ability to influence senior stakeholders.
• Deep understanding of forecasting, budgeting, and working capital management.
• Exceptional communication skills with the ability to translate complex financial information into actionable insight.
• You can be the change - you prioritise environmental responsibility, social equity, and economic viability and how that translates into your day-to-day role.

Our values shape everything we do:

• Be Ambitious to succeed
• Be Imaginative to push the boundaries of what's possible
• Be Inspirational to do groundbreaking work
• Be always learning and listening to understand
• Be Results-focused to exceed expectations
• Be actively pro-inclusive and anti-racist across our community, clients and creations

OLIVER, a part of the Brandtech Group, is an equal opportunity employer committed to creating an inclusive working environment where all employees are encouraged to reach their full potential, and individual differences are valued and respected. All applicants shall be considered for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, neurodivergence, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by local laws.

OLIVER has set ambitious environmental goals around sustainability, with science-based emissions reduction targets. Collectively, we work towards our mission, embedding sustainability into every department and through every stage of the project lifecycle.