Financial director

Job Description

About MY Gift Group

My 1st Years is a leading UK-based personalised baby and children’s gifting brand, operating primarily through eCommerce with a growing retail and international footprint. Alongside sister brands Made Yours and MY Kids, the business forms part of MY Gift Group.

Role Overview

We are seeking an experienced, commercially minded Finance Director who goes beyond traditional reporting and control. This role is intended to be a close partner to the Founder/CEO, with responsibility to:

• Deeply understand the Group’s business model and unit economics
• Support the CEO in executing the 3-year strategic plan
• Provide insight, challenge, and commercial acumen across every part of the business
• Act as a trusted confidante with the ability to course-correct strategy and execution

This role is designed for an existing Finance Director who wants broader responsibility across financial strategy, commercial performance, operational efficiency, and exit preparation. The FD will manage the existing Head of Finance/Finance Manager and Head of FP&A, focusing on output quality, insight, and delivery — while personally concentrating on decision-making, structure, and value creation.

Key Responsibilities

1. Financial Strategy, Control & Governance

• Own the Group’s financial strategy aligned to growth, profitability, and exit objectives
• Lead budgeting, forecasting, cashflow, and working capital management
• Ensure robust financial controls, audit readiness, and compliance across UK and international entities
• Manage external advisors: audit, tax, banking, legal
• Produce investor-grade board packs, KPIs, and performance reporting

2. FP&A Leadership & Commercial Insight

• Oversee FP&A through the Head of FP&A, ensuring high-quality insight and analysis
• Ensure financial models focus on customer cohorts, CAC, and customer lifetime value
• Interrogate multi-touch marketing attribution — not just last-click — to assess true channel contribution and marketing efficiency
• Act as a commercial challenger to Marketing and Commercial leadership on ROAS, contribution margin, pricing, promotions, and margin mix
• Drive net contribution from c.25% to c.35% through disciplined, data-led decision-making

3. International Expansion & Scalability

• Support financial planning and modelling for international growth (USA, GCC, Europe)
• Ensure international entities are scalable, tax-efficient, and investor-ready
• Model and assess new market entry, capex requirements, and growth initiatives including risk-adjusted return analysis
• Support the CEO in assessing international market dynamics, risk, and return — including when to scale, pause, or exit a market

4. Overhead & Productivity Transformation

• Lead a structured audit of all white-collar overheads, with a focus on productivity and value creation
• Identify opportunities to reduce overheads from c.20% to c.15% of revenue
• Drive cost efficiency through role redesign, output-based KPIs, process simplification, and automation and AI adoption
• Work closely with the CEO to ensure cost discipline without harming growth capability

5. AI, Automation & Offshore Operating Model

• Champion the use of AI and automation across finance, eCommerce operations, marketing support, and admin functions
• Support or lead the build-out of an offshore support capability (e.g. Philippines / Cebu)
• Identify roles suitable for offshore execution at materially lower cost
• Ensure governance, SOPs, data security, and output quality are maintained

6. Exit Planning, Investors & Shareholder Value

• Prepare the business for a strategic exit or fundraise within 2–3 years
• Own 3–5 year financial models, scenario planning, and valuation drivers
• Demonstrate a strong understanding of market dynamics, buyer expectations, and KPI requirements to maximise shareholder value
• Manage relationships with existing VC / PE investors and other key shareholders, acting as a senior financial and commercial interface
• Ensure clean data rooms, KPI consistency, and due diligence readiness
• Act as a senior partner to the CEO/ CCO and Chairman in exit discussions
• Provide narrative to investors in board meetings and quarterly investor update calls

Key Requirements

• Qualified accountant (ACA / ACCA / CIMA)
• Currently operating as a Finance Director or CFO in an eCommerce, DTC, retail, or consumer business
• Strong commercial and strategic mindset — not a purely technical accountant
• Proven ability to interrogate multi-touch marketing attribution and channel contribution in a DTC or eCommerce business — candidates must demonstrate fluency beyond last-click metrics
• Proven experience in FP&A and commercial modelling; scaling businesses with financial discipline; improving operating leverage and profitability
• Comfortable working in founder-led, fast-moving environments
• Experience with AI, automation, or offshore / shared-service models is desirable
• Experience with fundraising and / or exits is advantageous but not essential

Personal Attributes & Character

• A team player with the ability to influence and align other senior managers
• Strong EQ as well as IQ — able to challenge constructively and build trust
• Commercially curious and confident challenging assumptions
• Pragmatic, hands-on, and delivery-focused
• Motivated by equity upside and long-term value creation
• Proactively surfaces risks and bad news — does not wait to be asked

Why Join Us

• Opportunity to act as a genuine partner to the Founder and Chairman
• Ability to materially influence profitability, structure, and exit outcome
• Broad remit with genuine influence across the business
• Competitive salary, bonus, and meaningful equity participation aligned to exit