Finance Director
Countrywide Healthcare Services (part of PHS Group)
Barnsley
Full time, permanent position
Are you a commercially aware Qualified Accountant? Experienced in providing financial analysis and advice to senior management? Looking for a role where you can make a difference? Local to the Barnsley area? We’d really like to meet you…
We’re seeking a Finance Director to work directly for the Managing Director, providing commercial and financial challenge and support as part of the Countrywide Leadership Team. The role also has responsibility for financial reporting, and the customer billing and credit management functions. Other finance support functions are provided by our Group Finance function based at head office.
You’ll have a functional reporting line to the Group CFO, working collaboratively with other Business Partners within the Group Finance team. This role is varied and interesting and you will play a key part in the overall leadership, management, and growth of the business. In return, you’ll receive an excellent salary, with bonus, car allowance and additional benefits. It’s a role you’ll really enjoy with a company that is innovative and working towards helping our communities and the environment.
Purpose of the Role
- Commercial and Financial advice, challenge and support to the MD and Management team, including budgeting, forecasting and management of costs.
- Leadership, management and control of financial reporting, management accounting, customer billing and credit management for Countrywide Healthcare Supplies.
- Ensuring Countrywide Healthcare Supplies align with phs Group financial controls and reporting requirements.
- As a member of the Countrywide Healthcare Supplies (CHS) Leadership Team, contribute to the overall strategy, direction, growth, and profitability of the business.
Principal responsibilities – Leadership
- As a member of the CHS Leadership Team, contribute proactively and professionally to our overall performance and profitable growth.
- Leadership, management and motivation of the customer billing and credit management function.
- Development of talent and proactive management of performance.
- Setting and monitoring of key KPIs – rewarding success and addressing challenges.
- Recruitment of new team members.
Principal responsibilities – Finance
- Preparation and management of the annual budget, monthly forecast, and detailed reporting and analysis of any variances, including plans for addressing any negative variances.
- Preparation of monthly management accounts, including profit and loss account, balance sheet and cash flow.
- Providing guidance and support to the MD to secure the orderly and profitable development of the business within the framework of the CHS business plan.
- Providing proactive and meaningful financial analysis, input and advice on both operational issues and commercial decision-making; including commercial review of pricing policy, business cases and capex requirements, and the subsequent tracking of costs and benefits.
- Providing incisive and user-friendly management information to allow fact-based decision-making.Present management reports in a consistent, cohesive, and comprehensible way, both in written and formal presentations.
- Interpreting variances and trends in financial data and relating these to operational performance.
- Preparing the Company’s periodic trading reviews and board reports and presenting meaningful results to senior leaders.
- Co-ordinating the Company’s budget and periodic forecasting processes, providing meaningful analysis and commentary to the CHS Leadership Team and Group Finance department.
- Review business processes to improve both operational efficiency and company profitability.
- Ensure that a robust financial control infrastructure and environment always exists.
- Ensure that the business is operating to the highest standards and its financial systems and reporting are consistent with wider Group policies, guidelines, and compliance with all related legal requirements.
Principal Responsibilities – Customer Billing and Credit Management
- Provide support and guidance to the Billing and Credit Control Manager to ensure customers are billed correctly and that cash is collected.
- Produce high quality, accurate regular and ad hoc reports showing the performance of Credit Management in the Business.
- Manage cash collection to terms and consistently deliver budgeted DSO.
- Take personal responsibility for ensuring that the largest customer accounts are kept within terms and relationships maintained.
- Take personal responsibility for ensuring any bad debt is reviewed and action taken to improve DSO.
- Monitor the Accounts Receivable and Working Capital reporting for accuracy, trends, and warning signs.
- Determine and review credit limits and set and review credit-rating criteria.
Qualifications and Experience
- Qualified accountant.
- Broad financial management background in a business-to-business service organisation.
- Commercially astute and able to work effectively with a strong leadership team.
- Experience of sustaining profitability, quality and service standards using key performance indicators and ratios to identify potential issues before they materialise.
- Understands the key business drivers that contribute to value.
- Demonstrates commercial awareness and understanding, without compromising financial conduct.
- Ensures that business opportunities are appropriately evaluated to minimise risk and sustain/improve profit margins.
- Seeks opportunities to streamline administrative functions realising financial and operational benefits.
- Helps in setting stretch targets for the business whilst providing the right support and mentoring to attain them.
Communication and Information
- Provides incisive and user-friendly management information, meaningful financial analysis, input and advice to Company colleagues and senior management to assist with operational issues and commercial decision making.
- Contributes constructively and collaboratively towards the development of strategy and policy across the full range of business issues, not just its financial dynamics.
- Provides accurate and timely reporting to Group finance within prescribed guidelines, establishing effective communications with Group finance and other senior financial colleagues within the Group.
- Displays well developed presentation and communication skills, verbally as well as numerically, with good report writing skills.
Personal characteristics
- Strong leader and team player able to lead their own team and contribute to the wider Leadership Team.
- Works hard to deliver results personally, and through teams.
- Acts as subject matter expert.
- Takes ownership and gets things done.
- Displays honesty, openness, and integrity.
- Takes on board new ideas that will benefit the business.
- Identifies and implements ways of doing things better.
Countrywide Healthcare Supplies is based in Barnsley. Candidates are expected to live within easy travelling distance of the office. While we operate a hybrid working policy, the Finance Director should expect to spend most of their time in the office. The role will involve travel to other offices in the UK, most likely intermittently in the Tamworth, Hayes (near Heathrow) and Caerphilly areas.