Finance Director in Manchester

The Finance Director plays a strategic leadership role with full accountability for financial strategy, management reporting, regulatory reporting, capital management, and safeguarding governance within a regulated financial services business. As a key member of the senior leadership team and a board-level executive, the Finance Director works closely with directors and senior stakeholders to ensure strong governance, effective oversight, and robust financial systems and controls that protect customer funds and support regulatory compliance.

This role is pivotal in overseeing financial operations, supporting customers, and ensuring the organisation continues to meet the expectations of its regulatory authorities as a regulated business. The Finance Director will also hold a regulated senior management responsibility under relevant payment services legislation, subject to regulatory approval where required.

• Lead budgeting, forecasting, and financial planning processes across the business, ensuring alignment with commercial strategy and regulatory requirements.
• Develop and maintain the business financial plan and long-term financial strategy to support growth, resilience, and compliance.
• Provide strategic financial analysis to the Board and senior leadership team, highlighting emerging risks, opportunities, and key performance indicators.
• Partner with senior business leaders to support delivery of both short-term priorities and long-term strategic objectives.
• Own the month-end close process for relevant business areas, working collaboratively across finance and commercial teams to ensure timely and accurate reporting.
• Lead financial performance review processes, supporting senior leaders to deliver against targets through clear analysis, action planning, and remediation where required.
• Develop meaningful financial insights, reporting, and performance metrics to support decision-making and investment priorities.
• Support commercial teams with pricing models, financial modelling, and business case development for new opportunities and complex customer arrangements.
• Lead specialist finance teams to ensure accurate reporting, strong controls, and high-quality analysis that supports decision-making at both business and customer level.
• Support commission-related financial processes and wider reporting requirements as needed.
• Deliver high-quality stakeholder reporting, including quarterly business reviews and senior leadership presentations.
• Lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team through effective people management, succession planning, and a strong focus on engagement and development.

Safeguarding, Operational and Financial Resilience

• Hold executive accountability for the design and effectiveness of the safeguarding governance framework, ensuring compliance with regulatory rules and guidance relating to the protection of customer funds.
• Oversee the practical implementation of safeguarding controls across the wider organisation, ensuring strong governance, effective monitoring, and clear accountability.
• Provide formal assurance to the Board on the adequacy of safeguarding arrangements, including outcomes from internal monitoring, independent reviews, and external audit activity.

Prudential Risk Management including Capital Management, Stress Testing and Wind-Down Planning

• Hold accountability for accurate, timely, and reliable regulatory reporting relating to capital adequacy and financial resilience.
• Develop and maintain a robust capital planning framework, ensuring sufficient financial resources and liquidity are maintained in line with regulatory requirements.
• Own and maintain the organisation's wind-down plan, ensuring it remains credible, practical, and regularly reviewed and tested.
• Develop and oversee stress testing and scenario analysis frameworks, including reverse stress testing, to assess resilience under adverse conditions and support capital and liquidity planning.

Governance and Financial Control

• Ensure timely and accurate financial reporting to the Board and senior leadership team, with a strong focus on governance, control, and risk management.
• Oversee the preparation and submission of all finance-related regulatory reporting, ensuring compliance with relevant regulatory reporting and deadlines.
• Maintain and strengthen a robust internal control environment within the finance function, ensuring adherence to policy, governance standards, and regulatory expectations.
• Oversee outsourced and shared service finance activities, ensuring service quality, effective oversight, and compliance with agreed obligations.
• Monitor changes in the regulatory environment and assess potential impacts on financial operations, controls, and reporting requirements.

Treasury and Liquidity Management

• Oversee treasury-related activities, including cash flow management, liquidity planning, and banking relationships.
• Ensure effective financial resource allocation and compliance with internal funding and transfer pricing arrangements.

Professional Requirements

• Professional accounting qualification (e.g., ACCA, ACA, CIMA) is required.
• Proven experience in leading and managing teams, fostering a collaborative and high-performance environment.
• Experience in a senior finance role leading commercial and accounting teams.
• Experience within a UK-regulated financial services environment, ideally in an E-Money Institution (EMI) or Payment Institution.
• Proven expertise in capital management, safeguarding, stress testing, and regulatory reporting under the FCA regime.
• Prior experience holding a Senior Management Function (SMF) role, particularly SMF2, is highly desirable.

Skills and Competencies

• Common sense: Take accountability for the role of finance as well as the initiative to explore more widely to make sure that there are no surprises.
• Insight and commentary: develop standardized budgeting and forecasting tools; support global partners plan and advise Corporate on strategic risks and opportunities; offer context and conclusions based on financial results, trends and forecasts.
• Strategic Thinking: Ability to align financial strategy with business objectives and regulatory requirements.
• Leadership and Communication: Excellent leadership and communication skills, with the ability to engage and influence at the Board level and across the organisation.
• Analytical Capability: Strong financial analysis skills, with the ability to interpret complex data and make informed decisions.
• Integrity and Governance: Commitment to high ethical standards, transparency, and robust corporate governance practices.
• Regulatory Knowledge: Application of FCA regulations and guidance for EMIs, particularly safeguarding, capital planning and wind-down planning.

Other Requirements

• Must be based in the United Kingdom with the legal right to work in the UK.
• Appointment is subject to regulatory approval where required.
• Candidates will need to meet regulatory fitness and propriety standards, including relevant background and reference checks.
• Must comply with conflict of interest and governance standards appropriate for the role.

Highly competitive salary, annual company bonus, 40 hour week - Monday to Friday, hybrid working, industry leading pension scheme, private medical, 25 days holiday plus Bank Holidays - with the opportunity to purchase additional holidays, life assurance, income protection, gym flex membership, discounts & perks platform, employee wellbeing.