Finance Director

Job Title: Finance Director

Reporting to: Chief Executive Officer

Location: UK & US Group

Role Brief

This is a pivotal Board-level leadership role for a commercially minded Finance Director who wants to influence the direction of the business, not simply report on it.

Working closely with the CEO, Founders and wider leadership team, you will be a genuine business partner: interpreting the data, bringing the numbers to life, challenging thinking and helping translate opportunity into sustainable, profitable growth. You will lead the Group finance function across the UK and US, with particular ownership of cash, working capital, credit control, forecasting, financial insight and commercial decision-making.

Orean has built a significant cross-border business and a strong order book. The next challenge is to convert that demand into consistent performance, stronger liquidity and managed scalability. The Finance Director will sit at the heart of that journey.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic & Commercial Leadership

· Act as a close strategic partner to the CEO, Founders and leadership team, providing constructive challenge and clear financial insight to support better decisions.

· Turn financial and operational data into meaningful commercial insight, identifying trends, risks, opportunities and actions rather than simply reporting historic performance.

· Lead financial planning for the Group, ensuring growth plans are profitable, appropriately funded and operationally sustainable.

· Stress-test decisions against cash, margin, capacity and working-capital requirements.

· Bring a strong financial lens supporting the CEO, Head of Commercial and Heads of Procurement to customer and supplier decisions, including pricing, payment terms, margin, cost-to-serve and return on investment.

· Help drive consistent month-on-month business performance across the UK and US.

Cash Flow, Working Capital & Credit Control

· Take ownership of Group cash management, including robust weekly and monthly cash-flow forecasting and scenario planning.

· Build and maintain a disciplined working-capital framework that converts profitable sales and the order book into cash.

· Provide strong leadership of credit control, ensuring receivables are proactively managed to agreed terms and overdue debt is escalated and resolved quickly.

· Use customer payment behaviour, credit exposure and commercial risk to inform decisions on terms, limits and future trading.

· Maintain close control of inventory, purchasing commitments, payables and other major working-capital drivers.

· Ensure sufficient liquidity is available to support operations and planned growth without allowing unnecessary cash to become trapped in the business.

Financial Management & Control

· Own the preparation, analysis and presentation of accurate and timely monthly management information for the UK and US entities.

· Maintain tight visibility of gross margin, cost of sales, overheads, profitability and cash conversion, with clear ownership of variances and corrective actions.

· Lead budgeting, forecasting and longer-term financial planning, producing models that are practical, dynamic and decision-focused.

· Ensure strong financial controls, balance-sheet integrity and appropriate governance across the Group.

· Oversee accounts receivable and accounts payable through a lean finance team, while remaining willing to work at ledger and model level when required. Work closely with the HR team to ensure the accurate and timely delivery of payroll across the business, maintaining strong financial oversight, controls and reconciliation while ensuring clear ownership and collaboration between Finance and HR.

· Manage intercompany accounting and transfer-pricing processes appropriately across the UK and US.

Systems, Data & Insight

· Ensure financial data is accurate, accessible and capable of supporting timely commercial decisions.

· Drive continued integration and data integrity between Sage and Orean’s bespoke ERP platform across the UK and US.

· Build clear dashboards, models and reporting that make complex information easy for non-finance leaders to understand and act upon.

· Continuously improve financial processes, controls and reporting as the business grows in scale and complexity.

Leadership, Governance & External Relationships

· Lead, develop and support the Group finance team, creating clear accountability while retaining a hands-on approach.

· Provide financial leadership to the US manufacturing operation, including regular quarterly visits to Indiana to review performance and align processes and controls.

· Manage key banking, working-capital and credit-insurance relationships and ensure facilities remain appropriate for the Group’s needs.

· Take a proactive role in the review, negotiation and ongoing management of key business contracts and overhead expenditure, including insurance, utilities, professional services, banking and finance arrangements, software and other significant service providers. Work closely with relevant functional leads to ensure contracts remain commercially competitive, appropriately controlled and aligned with the needs of the business.

· Lead relationships with auditors and tax advisers in both the UK and US, alongside relevant legal and insurance relationships.

· Present clearly and confidently at Board level, providing balanced analysis, recommendations and appropriate challenge.

· To follow and embed the core company values – Collaboration, Ambition, Expertise, Agility & Integrity.

· Any other duties as required.

Experience & Expertise

ACA, CIMA or ACCA qualified, with strong post-qualification experience.

Significant finance leadership experience within manufacturing, ideally in a fast-paced, operational environment.

Demonstrable strength in cash-flow management, working capital and credit control.

Strong commercial and strategic capability, with experience using financial insight to influence operational and Board-level decisions.

Excellent modelling and Excel capability, combined with the ability to interrogate detailed data when required.

Experience of ERP/accounting systems and improving the quality and connectivity of financial information.

International or US experience is advantageous, but not essential where the candidate demonstrates the capability and appetite to operate across both entities.

Skills & Behaviours

Commercially curious and naturally interested in what sits behind the numbers.

Confident enough to challenge, pragmatic enough to collaborate and credible enough to influence at Board level.

Hands-on and comfortable moving between strategy, modelling, management accounts and operational detail.

Calm, resilient and analytical, particularly when working through complexity or pressure.

Clear communicator who can make financial information relevant and understandable to non-finance colleagues.

High integrity with strong judgement and a genuine sense of ownership.

Comfortable in an entrepreneurial, fast-moving environment where agility and pace matter.

We are committed to equality of opportunity for all staff and applications from individuals are encouraged regardless of age, disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief and marriage and civil partnerships.

A note to recruitment agencies: We have our own dedicated internal recruitment team who manage our hiring directly. If we need support from an agency, we’ll be in touch with you directly.

Benefits:

• Additional leave
• Bereavement leave
• Casual dress
• Company events
• Company pension
• Cycle to work scheme
• Enhanced maternity leave
• Enhanced paternity leave
• Free parking
• Life insurance
• On-site parking
• Paid volunteer time
• Private medical insurance
• Sick pay

Work Location: In person