Finance Manager

We are seeking a reliable Finance Manager to take full ownership of critical reporting and analysis, reporting directly to the Director of Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A). You will be instrumental in ensuring the accuracy and integrity of our financial planning, working in partnership with budget holders to manage performance. If you are detail-oriented and want to deliver essential financial control, we encourage you to apply.

This is an exciting opportunity to join an award-winning big-five publisher in a fast-paced, dynamic and supportive finance team. The Finance team works with each department in the business on budgeting and forecasting revenues and costs, tracking performance against these targets by producing management information and analysis, and helping teams with cost control. We support all commercial decisions such as acquiring the rights of the books we publish and negotiating our contractual terms with our customers and suppliers.

Your role: Reporting to the Director of Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A), the Finance Manager position is key to the Pan Macmillan Finance team as you will be the main point of contact for several areas of the business. You will have exposure to the whole business at all levels, from assistants to the leadership team, and will have the opportunity to work with brilliant, creative people who are passionate about making a difference. This is a high-profile role with a key focus on financial control, management and analysis of Pan Macmillan UK’s overheads and capex spend, Promo Business partnering, International Finance support of Pan Macmillan subsidiaries in India, South Africa and Australia, and supporting the Director of FP&A in key projects. The work you will undertake has a direct impact on key business decisions both in the short and the long term.

Your key responsibilities:

• Financial control, management and analysis of Pan Macmillan UK’s overheads and capex spend: Manage accurate overheads reporting, cost control and ROI analysis.
• Business partnering with the People team to update models, headcount management and KPIs reporting.
• Prepare overhead analysis for the CFO and Director of FP&A.
• Work closely with the Leadership team in providing reports and supporting them during budget and forecast.
• Promo Business partnering: Work with budget holders in Comms and Sales to ensure costs are managed in line with budgets.
• Supervise the Commercial Financial Analyst in preparing, maintaining and reconciling the promo grids.
• Find ways to streamline the process.
• International Finance Support (Pan Macmillan subsidiaries in India, South Africa and Australia): Review full P&L statements, ensuring key assumptions and profitability are managed effectively.
• Support financial consolidation and reporting for Pan Macmillan subsidiaries.
• Financial Planning & Analysis and key projects: Support the Director of FP&A with AI for Finance projects and any other key projects.
• Assist with monthly and quarterly reporting, budgeting and board presentations.

Essential experience, abilities and knowledge you’ll need to succeed:

• Technical expertise: Fully qualified accountant (ACA, CIMA or ACCA or international equivalent), preferably with substantial post-qualification experience, ideally gained within a relevant industry.
• Analytical skills: Analytical and financial modelling experience with excellent Excel skills.
• Process improvement: Proven ability to proactively review existing financial workflows and investigate opportunities for efficiency gains.
• Organizational skills: Organized, with a proven ability to meet multiple deadlines.
• Commercial Acumen: Commercially minded and adaptable to change.
• Communication: Effective oral and written communication skills.
• Community and integrity: Ability to build strong, effective relationships and collaborate successfully with colleagues across both Finance and non-financial teams, serving as a reliable partner and trusted point of contact.
• Curiosity: Demonstrated interest and ability to explore new technologies (e.g., AI and automation tools) to drive significant time savings and enhance the effectiveness of financial control and reporting.

Desirable skills we’d love you to have:

• Systems and tools: Knowledge of SAP, Tableau, and Biblio.

What you’ll get in return: In return we can offer you a range of great projects, a supportive and collaborative working environment as well as a competitive salary and benefits package.

Some of the benefits we offer:

• 28 days’ annual leave increasing with years of service + bank holidays
• Generous pension scheme
• Discounted private medical insurance
• Group income protection scheme
• Flexible working hours and summer hours (early finish on a Friday during summer months)
• 2 Volunteer Days per year
• 75% off all Pan Macmillan books and regular staff book sales (highly reduced rates)
• Season ticket loan/advance
• Cycle to work scheme
• Discounts on shopping and gym memberships; Christmas club savings
• Daily free breakfast and monthly company lunch

This is a full-time, 14-month fixed-term role, based in our offices in Farringdon, London, with some flexibility to work from home each week. All applicants must be able to demonstrate the right to live and work in the UK in order to be considered for this role. At Pan Macmillan, we are highly committed to promoting diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) at every level of our organisation. We welcome applications from all individuals, including any age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic background, religion and/or belief. Our efforts to promote DEI are ongoing, and we continually strive to learn and improve our policies and practices.