Head of Finance - Projects
Application Deadline: 20 June 2025
Department: Finance
Employment Type: Temporary
Location: EPUKI Leeds Office
Reporting To: Group Head of Finance
Description
An opportunity has arisen to recruit a Head of Finance for Projects, initially for a 12-month period, which is driven by the launch of the EP UK Construction business to deliver high value and large-scale construction projects across the group, including a mixture of new build and refurbishments in various locations across the Great Britain and Irish markets.
The role is responsible for providing financial expertise, direction and challenge across these projects and will be a key business partner to the Project Director. This will involve attending and presenting at Project Board meetings on the financial status, providing commercial support and challenge to the Project Director and Project Managers, indirectly managing others in the Finance team involved in projects, and full ownership of the management reporting for EP UK Construction.
This will be a challenging and evolving role, requiring flexibility from the role holder to meet demands of the job, and represents an exciting opportunity to join a rapidly growing part of the EPUKI business.
Key Responsibilities
Reporting to the Group Head of Finance, the key duties and responsibilities will be:
Business Partnering
* Working closely with Project Director, Project Managers and non-finance teams local to each project, to understand wider aspects and impacts of any proposals and challenge financial assumptions where necessary.
* Leading, influencing and challenging the various stakeholders involved, to ensure decisions taken on each project are cost effective and maximise value.
* Consideration of commercial implications of any finance proposals made, with detailed knowledge and understanding of key contracts and closely working alongside the Procurement team.
Forecasting / Budgeting
* Identifying key financial modelling/analysis requirements and ensure that these are carried out in a timely and accurate manner, with direct line management of the Finance Manager for Projects (another new role) and with support from across the wider Finance team.
* Overseeing the monitoring of spend against project budget/forecast, ensuring investigation of variances and flagging of risks and opportunities to finance leadership and non-finance project members, and provide cost challenges to Project Managers.
* Working with the business to track and accurately reforecast against project budget on a regular (e.g. monthly) basis.
* Detailed and up to date understanding of any ongoing liquidated damages and any disputed amounts under key contracts for each project, and act as a key point of contract for Senior Management as to the status of these.
* Ensuring robust cash forecasting and controls are in place, particularly regarding major milestone payments on both internal and external contracts.
Financial Reporting
* Reviewing and optimising the financial performance of the project, including flagging of any risks and opportunities to the Project Director and senior management.
* Presenting the latest spend and forecasts at monthly Board and senior management meetings.
* Providing the framework to be used for SAP data entry and influencing the business to ensure information is recorded accurately and maximising efficiency both in terms of input and reporting outputs.
Other
* Proactively identify tax risks and opportunities, in particular VAT and construction industry specific tax legislation, and other statutory requirements (including but not limited to maximising / timing of capital allowances), working closely with the relative team experts to confirm impacts.
* Being a Board representative for relevant projects and attend weekly project calls.
* Ensuring that all potential billing issues are identified early and resolved, including overseeing and reflecting the correct intercompany treatment, where applicable.
* Providing any other project related support to senior stakeholders as required.
* Providing recommendations on costing of construction costs as required, to support the most cost-efficient approach which minimises risk of delay to project delivery.
Skills, Knowledge and Expertise
Background
* Experience in a supporting and/or leading role in delivery of large-scale projects - essential.
* Experience in a similar Finance leadership role - essential.
* Experience in a similar business partnering finance role - essential.
* Knowledge of accounting standards and their appropriate application - essential.
* Basic understanding of UK taxation - essential.
* Experience with SAP - desirable.
Behaviours
* Commercially astute and driven to achieve with clear results of delivering in other senior Finance positions - essential.
* Highly credible and able to quickly build effective working relationships within and outside of finance function - essential.
* Can engage, challenge and influence others at a senior stakeholder level through verbal and written communication - essential.
* Pragmatic and flexible in approach, but with strong time management and the ability to prioritise - essential.
* A strategic, diligent and analytical thinker with the ability to interrogate data and create commercial solutions - essential.
Qualifications
* Qualified Accountant with significant post-qualification experience (or proven post-qualification experience) - essential.
* Qualified to Degree level or equivalent - desirable.
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