Assistant Controller

Job Description

Job Description

Key responsibilities Strategic leadership  

• Develop and deliver the company’s financial strategy in support of growth, profitability, acquisitions, and operational excellence.
• Act as a trusted adviser to the Executive team, providing clear insight on financial performance, risks, opportunities, and investment decisions.
• Lead annual business planning, forecasting, scenario modelling, and long-range financial plans.
• Assess and support acquisitions, new contracts, portfolio transfers, financing arrangements, and other strategic initiatives. ( Financial management and reporting )
• Own the end-to-end finance function, including accounting, financial reporting, budgeting, forecasting, treasury, tax, payroll oversight, and financial systems.
• Produce accurate, timely monthly management accounts, Board packs, KPIs, forecasts, and annual financial statements.
• Monitor revenue, margin, cost-to-serve, overheads, working capital, and cash flow at company, client, and property/portfolio level.
• Establish robust reporting that gives operational leaders meaningful visibility of financial performance by client, property, region, and service line.
• Lead the annual audit process and maintain effective relationships with auditors, tax advisers, banks, insurers, and other external stakeholders.

Property and client finance  

• Ensure effective oversight of service-charge budgets, reconciliations, year-end accounts, reserve funds, and client money processes.
• Maintain compliance with relevant property-management regulations, client money requirements, lease obligations, and accounting standards.
• Partner with operational teams to improve budget setting, expenditure control, procurement, recovery of costs, and financial communication with clients and residents.
• Oversee financial mobilization for new property-management instructions and portfolio transitions.
• Identify and resolve financial risks relating to arrears, cash collection, supplier exposure, service-charge deficits, and contract profitability. ( Governance, risk and compliance )
• Strengthening internal controls, delegated authorities, finance policies, and risk management frameworks.
• Ensure compliance with all applicable statutory, tax, regulatory, and client-money obligations.
• Maintain high standards of financial governance across a multi-entity and, where relevant, multi-jurisdictional organization.
• Lead fraud-prevention, financial-controls, and business-continuity activities within the finance function.

Team, systems and transformation

• Lead, develop, and retain a high-performing finance team, creating clear accountability, capability, and succession plans.
• Improve finance processes through automation, standardization, and scalable systems.
• Sponsor the selection, implementation, and optimization of ERP, property management, reporting, and planning tools.
• Build financial capability across the wider business, enabling operational leaders to make better commercial decisions.

The ideal candidate will have deep experience working in client-facing environments and will also serve as an escalation point for junior accounting personnel. This individual also needs strong experience in budgeting, compliance, process efficiency, regulatory and team management experience.    

Experience and qualifications Essential

• Certified Public Accountant License is REQUIRED . Other professional accounting certifications or licenses are not required but are preferred.
• Significant senior finance leadership experience, ideally as CFO, Finance Director, or equivalent.
• Proven experience client management, team management, in the Fortune 500 or Large Public Accounting (Big 6) firms.
• Strong knowledge of service-charge accounting, client money, budgeting, cash flow management, and statutory reporting.
• Experience in leading audits, managing external advisers, and working with senior executives and Boards.
• Demonstrable track record of improving financial controls, reporting quality, profitability, and operational decision-making.
• Strong commercial judgement, analytical ability, and communication skills.

Desirable

• Experience in a private equity-backed, acquisitive, or rapidly scaling business.
• Experience of multi-entity, multi-country, or regulated client-funds environments.
• Experience with property-management systems, ERP implementations, BI/reporting platforms, and finance transformation.
• Familiarity with relevant sector bodies and regulatory requirements in the operating markets.

Personal attributes

• Strategic thinker with a practical, delivery-focused approach.
• High integrity and sound judgement, particularly in matters involving client funds and governance.
• Clear and influential communicator who can translate financial detail into commercial action.
• Collaborative leader who builds strong relationships across operations, sales, technology, HR, and client-facing teams.
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, changing environment with competing priorities.
• Detail-oriented without losing sight of the bigger commercial picture.

Success measures

• Accurate, timely, and decision-useful financial reporting.
• Improved cash flow, profitability, and working-capital performance.
• Strong controls and consistently compliant client-money and service-charge processes.
• Reduced audit findings, errors, late reporting, and financial risk exposure.
• Improved budget accuracy and property/portfolio financial performance.
• A scalable finance function with effective systems, processes, and team capability.