Job Description
Business Manager - Finance Commercial Operations
Wilkinson & Associates is delighted to be exclusively engaged on behalf of a highly regarded Edinburgh-based professional services business to appoint a Finance Commercial Operations Manager.
This is a rare opportunity to join an established boutique business in a broad, high-trust role sitting close to the centre of the organisation. Working directly with senior decision-makers, the successful individual will play an important part in bringing greater clarity, control and commercial insight to the business, while also supporting the effective day-to-day running of core financial and operational activity.
It is a hybrid opportunity for a commercially minded individual who wants to combine financial oversight, operational support and business insight in a high-performing professional services environment. This is not a pure finance role, nor is it a pure operations post - it is a position for someone who enjoys breadth, visibility and influence, and who is motivated by improving how a business runs.
Company Profile
Our client is a respected boutique professional services organisation with an established presence and a long-standing reputation for quality, credibility and trust. It operates in a high-value, people-led environment where judgement, delivery and attention to detail matter. The culture is professional, high-performing and collaborative. This is not a business driven by noise or fluff - it is one where capable people are given ownership, encouraged to use their judgement and expected to make a meaningful contribution.
The Opportunity
The role is designed for someone who can combine financial competence with commercial awareness and operational grip.
You will oversee the day-to-day financial and operational running of the business, while also helping leadership make better use of data, systems and management information. There is already support around some of the transactional processing and external accounting input, so the emphasis here is less on being a traditional hands-on finance manager and more on bringing sharper insight, stronger cadence and better decision support to the wider business.
The role is likely to include:
* Ownership and development of MI, BI and dashboards
* Budgeting, forecasting, cashflow oversight and financial control
* Revenue reporting, pipeline visibility and commercial performance analysis
* Improving the use of CRM and other systems to generate better insight
* Payroll, banking and handling sensitive financial information
* Process improvement across finance, operations and business support
* Helping create a stronger weekly, monthly and quarterly operating rhythm
* Supporting leadership with practical, data-backed recommendations
It is a role for someone who enjoys moving between the detail and the bigger picture - someone who can deal with the numbers properly, but who also wants to ask better questions, spot trends earlier, and help the business act on them.
The Person
We are interested in speaking with individuals who bring a blend of financial capability, commercial instinct and operational common sense.
You might be qualified, part-qualified or qualified by experience. More important is your ability to operate effectively in a smaller professional services environment where breadth, initiative and adaptability matter more than title. This role is unlikely to suit someone who has spent their career in a large, heavily layered finance function and now wants a narrow remit. It is much more likely to appeal to someone who enjoys being close to the engine room of a business and can add value in multiple directions.
Relevant backgrounds could include professional services, consulting, legal, accountancy, architecture or other people-and-fee-based environments where time, utilisation, pricing, client delivery and commercial performance all matter.
Character Profile
The successful person is likely to be:
* sharp and numerate, with strong attention to detail
* commercially aware and naturally curious about how the business makes money
* confident using data to generate insight, not just produce reports
* proactive enough to spot issues and opportunities before being asked
* comfortable working closely with senior stakeholders in a fast-moving environment
* adaptable in style, with the judgement to know when to dive into detail and when to step back
* practical, grounded and credible - someone who brings solutions, not noise
This role will suit someone who likes being useful. Someone who enjoys getting under the bonnet of a business, improving how things work, and bringing clearer thinking to both the numbers and the wider operation. It needs a person who can think for themselves, build trust quickly and operate with a healthy balance of independence and collaboration.
Why Join?
This is an opportunity to step into a visible and genuinely broad role within a respected professional services firm, working closely with senior decision-makers and contributing across finance, insight and operations.
For the right person, it offers the chance to make a tangible impact in a business that values judgement, initiative and continuous improvement - while avoiding the narrowness of a pure finance role or the ambiguity of a purely operational one.
For a private and confidential discussion, please contact Jack Ramage at Wilkinson Associates.