Head of Accounting UK/Europe in London

First UK finance hire | Greenfield consumer business, backed by one of the world's largest listed groups | Remote initially, London long term

The opportunity

I'm partnering with a fast-growing consumer products group — a subsidiary of one of the world's largest listed companies — on the first finance leadership hire for their new UK and European platform. It's a genuinely rare brief: greenfield, senior, and backed by the kind of parent balance sheet most start-ups can only dream of.

The European business spans two units: personal care and hair care brands, and a drinks business. My client is building it from the ground up, no legacy systems, no inherited processes, no established finance function. This role designs and builds the finance function from zero, working hand-in-hand with the CEO as one of the first permanent hires on the ground. The role is remote initially while my client sets up the London base, then London-based long term once the office is established.

The role

This is the single finance leader for the entire European operation, sitting across both business units and reporting to the UK & Europe CEO (with a dotted line into HQ). Transactional accounting and processing is delivered by India-based back-office teams, so the value of this hire sits in commercial insight, financial discipline, and the controls framework that lets a small business scale with the trust of a very large parent.

The remit covers three pillars:

• Commercial finance partnership. Acting as the financial conscience and commercial partner to the CEO and business leaders across both units, owning the consolidated P&L, protecting gross-to-net conversion, and providing the financial lens on pricing, trade spend ROI, promotional effectiveness, customer profitability, and the investment cases that go to HQ.
• Core process leadership. Owning or co-owning P2P, O2C, R2R, and S&OP support alongside Supply Chain and Commercial where it makes sense, outright where it matters. Monthly management accounts on time and to standard. Cash, working capital, and FX exposure across GBP, EUR, and INR.
• Controls, governance, and audit readiness. Designing the right level of control for the stage of the business not the control environment of a company ten times the size. UK statutory compliance, audit-ready at all times, a quarterly risk register with the CEO, and the financial track record that earns the next tranche of capital from the parent group.

Underneath all of it: the financial infrastructure itself. Chart of accounts. Cloud-based systems. Banking and signing authorities. The day-to-day working relationship with India finance, AP, AR, and the International Business Finance team. This hire sets it all up and makes it work.

Who my client is looking for

A commercial finance operator first and someone that spends their time with the business, not in the ledger, energised by building from nothing, comfortable challenging a CEO, and equally at home with an investment case and a VAT return. This is not a role for a pure statutory accountant.

Key requirements:

• Qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA, or equivalent). Non-negotiable.
• 12–15 years in finance, combining qualified accounting with strong commercial finance, FP&A, or business partnering, ideally within FMCG, consumer goods, or retail.
• A genuine track record of building finance functions or financial infrastructure from scratch. Start‑up, scale‑up, or new market entry.
• Monthly management accounts delivered on time and to standard.
• Debtor days and cash collection performance.
• Trade spend reconciliation accuracy and timeliness.
• Back‑office service provider SLA adherence.
• Statutory compliance.
• Audit readiness: clean audit with no material findings.
• Controls framework documented and operating.
• Risk register maintained and reviewed quarterly.
• Deep UK statutory knowledge: VAT, corporation tax, Companies House, payroll tax, and pension auto‑enrolment.
• Hands‑on experience with FMCG commercial dynamics, trade spend, promotional accruals, gross‑to‑net analysis, and customer profitability.
• Experience managing outsourced or back‑office finance operations.
• Comfort operating inside a subsidiary of a larger parent, with cross‑border reporting and matrix structures. Indian conglomerate experience is a plus rather than a requirement.
• A genuine fluency with AI tools as part of day‑to‑day working. My client runs a lean, AI‑forward model and expects every team member to use AI to lift their own productivity.
• Permanent right to work in the UK, with no restrictions.

Competitive Salary and bonus available for the right candidate.