Finance Director
Meet Our Recruiter
About the Role
Harper May is working with a founder-led consumer non-durables business in London. Over the past five years, the company has scaled from start-up to a profitable, multi-channel operation with a strong brand presence across retail and direct-to-consumer. Growth has accelerated in the past 18 months, and the finance function is now a critical lever for the next phase of expansion. The business is now seeking a Finance Director to lead the function and sit on the executive team.
The Role
Reporting to the CEO with Board exposure, the Finance Director will own all aspects of financial leadership. You'll be responsible for building financial capability that keeps pace with commercial ambition-managing investor relationships, ensuring robust controls, and translating data into clear commercial insight for the exec team and founders.
- Develop and communicate financial strategy aligned to business growth and market opportunity
- Lead budgeting, forecasting, and monthly reporting; challenge variance and guide corrective action
- Work closely with sales and operations teams to optimise margin, pricing, and product mix
- Manage cash flow, working capital, and funding relationships with clarity and discipline
- Build and lead the finance team; define systems, processes, and controls to support scale
- Support M&A activity, investment decisions, and fundraising where relevant
- Provide honest, commercial advice at Board level; hold the business to account on financial discipline
What we are looking for
- ACA, ACCA, or CIMA qualified with 8+ years in senior finance roles
- Hands-on experience in consumer goods, retail, or similar high-volume, margin-sensitive environments
- Proven track record building finance teams and embedding systems in growing businesses
- Commercial mindset-comfortable challenging senior stakeholders and influencing without authority
- Ability to operate both strategically and operationally; detail-oriented but not detail-obsessed
- Experience with fundraising, investor management, or working in founder-led businesses a plus