What hiring models do you offer?

We offer a flexible range of models including executive search, retained recruitment, contingent hiring, and part-time fractional support tailored to your specific business lifecycle.

How do you ensure candidate quality?

Every candidate undergoes a rigorous screening process assessing technical skills against Official professional accounting standards and cultural alignment with your business environment.

Do you support interim requirements?

Yes, we provide experienced interim and fractional finance professionals to help businesses navigate periods of transition, system implementations, or rapid growth.

Can you help with salary benchmarking?

Yes, we provide real-time market insights and salary benchmarking based on current National financial market data to ensure your offers remain competitive.

What senior roles do you recruit for?

We specialise in board-level and senior leadership appointments including Strategic CFOs, Finance Directors, and Heads of FP&A.

How do I start the process?

You can start the process by contacting our executive search team to discuss your specific business challenges and long-term hiring goals.

Finance Hiring Solutions

Hiring the right finance professional is rarely just about filling a vacancy. More often, it’s about solving a wider business challenge. Whether that’s improving reporting, supporting growth, preparing for investment, or stabilising a team during change, the right hire can have a lasting impact across the business.

At Harper May, our Finance Hiring Solutions are designed to support businesses at every stage of their journey. We work closely with clients to understand not just the role, but the wider context behind it — what the business is trying to achieve, where the gaps are, and what success looks like after the hire is made.

Start the Conversation with our specialist team today to explore how our tailored hiring frameworks can solve your most complex human capital challenges.

A Practical Approach to Finance Hiring

No two businesses hire in the same way. A high-growth company preparing for investment will have very different needs to an established organisation focused on improving controls or reporting accuracy.

That’s why we don’t take a one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, we work with you to identify the most effective route to hire, whether that’s Strategic CFO executive search, retained recruitment, contingent hiring, or Part-time strategic finance search.

Our role is to bring clarity to the process. We help define what “good” looks like, benchmark the market using National financial market data, and ensure the role is positioned in a way that attracts the right level of candidate.

We also focus heavily on long-term fit. Technical skills matter, but so does commercial awareness, communication, and the ability to operate within your business environment. We ensure all candidates meet the Official professional accounting standards required to succeed in the London market.

Supporting Finance Leadership and Specialist Hiring

We support a wide range of finance roles, from operational hires through to board-level leadership.

For senior appointments such as CFO, Finance Director or Head of Finance, our search approach focuses on identifying individuals who can contribute beyond their immediate remit. Through our Strategic CFO executive search via CFO Recruitment, we find professionals who can influence strategy and help shape the direction of the business.

At the same time, we work closely with businesses to build out broader finance teams. This includes:

Financial Controllers: Ensuring robust Official UK reporting standards.
Operational FD executive search: Using Finance Director Recruitment to secure leadership.
FP&A Professionals: Delivering Financial planning leadership search through Head of FP&A Recruitment.

By connecting these hires within a wider strategy, we help businesses build finance functions that are not only technically strong but also aligned with their commercial goals.

Flexible Hiring Models

Different situations call for different hiring models, and flexibility is a key part of what we offer.

For planned, senior hires, a structured search approach allows for a more targeted and proactive process. This is particularly effective when confidentiality is important or when the candidate pool is limited.

For more immediate or mid-level requirements, contingent recruitment offers a faster route to market. Explore our candidate profiles to View professional finance talent currently available in our network.

We also provide interim and fractional support for businesses that need experienced finance professionals on a short-term basis. Our Part-time strategic finance search through Fractional CFO Recruitment is particularly valuable during periods of transition, such as system implementations or rapid growth.

Solving Real Business Challenges

In many cases, hiring is driven by a specific challenge rather than a straightforward vacancy. We regularly support businesses that are:

Preparing for investment or fundraising.
Improving financial reporting and controls.
Following Official UK reporting standards set by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC).
Strengthening forecasting and planning capabilities.
Managing change following a restructure.

In each case, the hire needs to do more than fulfil a job description. They need to bring the experience and judgement required to help the business move forward. By taking the time to understand the underlying issue, we are able to recommend candidates who are equipped to deliver real outcomes.

Market Insight and Candidate Quality

Access to the right talent is only part of the equation. Understanding the market is just as important. We provide guidance on salary levels and hiring trends using National financial market data from the Office for National Statistics.

Every candidate we introduce goes through a thorough screening process. This includes assessing:

Technical Capability: Verification against ICAEW specialist certificates.
Commercial Understanding: Ability to drive EBITDA and business value.
Cultural Fit: Alignment with your specific business environment.

This level of detail helps create a smoother process for both clients and candidates, leading to better outcomes overall. Verified executive placement results from our history of successful partnerships can be found on our View our Recent Case Studies page.

A Partnered Approach

We see ourselves as a long-term partner rather than a one-off provider. Many of our clients work with us across multiple hires, using our insight and network to support the ongoing development of their finance teams.

Our approach is straightforward: understand the problem, define the requirement, and deliver candidates who can make a genuine difference.

Contact executive search team today. Start the Conversation with our specialist team to explore how our finance hiring solutions can support your business.

Frequently Asked Questions

What hiring models do you offer? We offer executive search, retained recruitment, contingent hiring, and Part-time strategic finance search.
How do you ensure candidate quality? All candidates are vetted against Official professional accounting standards and specific technical requirements like ICAEW specialist certificates.
Do you support interim requirements? Yes, we provide interim and fractional support through our Fractional CFO Recruitment service.
Can you help with salary benchmarking? Absolutely. We use National financial market data to ensure your roles are positioned competitively.
What senior roles do you recruit for? We specialise in Strategic CFO executive search, Finance Directors, and Financial planning leadership search.
How do I start the process? Simply Start the Conversation with our team to discuss your specific business challenge.