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Head of Finance (1 year FTC)

Employer
ASCENTIAL PLC
Location
London, UK
Salary
Competitive
Closing date
May 26, 2019

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Job Role
Finance Director/Head of Finance
Sector
Finance
Contract Type
Permanent
Hours
Full Time
Reporting to the WGSN SVP Finance, we are looking for a high calibre candidate to join WGSN and become a key member of the finance team on a one year FTC basis. The primary responsibility is complete responsibility for producing accurate and timely financial and management accounting information, including actuals, forecasts and budgets. This role will business partner the EMEA Commercial Lead to help to develop and implement strategy to deliver the organisation's objectives, which are to provide long-term, sustainable business and profit growth. This role will challenge and support our business managers, providing detailed reporting, analysis, commercial insight and recommendations which in turn will influence key business decisions, consistent with the overall strategy. Key Responsibilities : Responsible for the entire WGSN EMEA finance function (5 direct reports) Identify and establish rigorous operating processes to maximise the effectiveness of the business Provide ongoing insightful analysis about business performance and underlying trends keep driving revenue and profit growth, and optimise margin improvement Provide decision support to the Commercial Lead team to ensure major decisions are properly evaluated, fact-based and measures of success pre-defined Ensure business models are fit for purpose, i.e. low cost but capable of supporting high growth Maintain clear governance and control Complete, accurate and timely financial records, customer information and records Ownership of budgeting and forecasting, full year view and 3 year plan Analysis of Billings of c£30.5m and accurate revenue recognition thereon (predominantly subscription revenue and small element of consultancy revenue) with multiple currencies Accurate legal entity reporting accounting, including payroll and VAT covering 7 EMEA regions Ownership and integrity of finance systems Ensure key underlying process - e.g. pricing, sales order process and billing - functional effectively Provide strong functional leadership to the Finance team. Set clearly defined performance objectives for team, and monitor performance against these agreed objectives to maximise individual performance Your Experience Qualified accountant with a proven track record of relevant experience. Strong commercial ability. Knowledge of how a subscription business operates and associated metrics. European financial accounting knowledge and controls. Experience of managing a team. High degree of numeracy with excellent analytical and problem-solving skills. Experience of producing monthly accounts and forecast/budgets within a similar size business. Highly personable and comfortable interacting with senior stakeholder and happy to work both operationally and strategically. Someone comfortable with managing multiple, completing deadlines and different personalities. Forward thinker who challenges the status quo and drives continuous improvement. Must be extremely comfortable building Excel models and interrogating large data volumes. Forward thinker who challenges the status quo and drives continuous improvement. Attention to detail, ability to spot opportunities and execute plans Experience of Essbase an advantage (not essential) What We Offer Our benefits package incorporates what we're passionate about - unlocking your future, overall well-being and sustainability - whilst giving you control over your benefits. 25 days of holiday per year - with the option to buy or sell between 1-5 days Great learning and development opportunities Bonus, Pension, Private Medical and Dental Insurance plans Life Assurance; Income Protection and Critical Illness covers Option to opt into the Ascential Shares Scheme Volunteering opportunities Season ticket loans In addition, we offer flexible benefit packages that include Childcare Vouchers; Cycle to Work; Retail Vouchers; Gourmet Card; Gym Flex; Gadget Insurance, Health Assessments and Will Writing. We also place great importance on health, lifestyle and wellbeing consistently, in which you will have the options to fuel up on free fruit, attend yoga sessions, join our running club, or perhaps taking up on a lunchtime massages. About WGSN. We offer insights and inspiration from around the globe. We help our customers stay ahead and informed through trend forecasting and data science. We believe inspiration comes from the monumental and the mundane. If you're passionate about fashion and lifestyle this is a great place to be, giving you the opportunity to work with the world's most creative trend experts, designers, editors, account managers, marketers, product developers, customer service experts and much more in a meritocratic, high performance company. WGSN is an Ascential brand. Ascential is a specialist, global, information company that helps the world's most ambitious businesses win in the digital economy. Want more info? Find out more on what our people say: Ascential YouTube Channel If we inspire you, why not join and inspire us? Apply for Job

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