1. Job title: Interimmercial Finance Manager – German Speaking
2. Contract: 6 months initially (February 2026 start)
3. Context: SME scale-up, PE-backed / PE-ready
4. Bristol-based role (Hybrid / flexible working available) – with occasional travel abroad
Role purposeThe Interimmercial Finance Manager will support the leadership team through a critical scale-up phase, improving financial visibility, forecasting accuracy andmercial decision-making. The role is hands-on and delivery-focused, ensuring the business has robust, investor-grade financial insight and is well-prepared for future PE or exit activity. This is a short-term, high-impact role focused on clarity, control and value creation.
Essential skills & experience
5. Qualified accountant (ACA / ACCA / CIMA or equivalent)
6. Proven experience in SME scale-ups, PE-backed or fast-growth environments
7. Strongmercial finance / business partnering background
8. Able to simplifyplexity and move quickly without over-engineering
9. Strong stakeholder management skills at leadership level
10. German language skills (written & verbal)
Key responsibilities
11. Act as the primary finance partner to senior operational andmercial leaders
12. Provide clear, actionable insight into revenue, margins, costs and profitability drivers
13. Support pricing, investment and resource decisions with robust financial analysis
Forecasting, budgeting & planning
14. Own and improve short-term and medium-term forecasting (monthly, quarterly, annual)
15. Reduce forecast volatility and improve confidence in numbers
16. Build or refine simple, scalable models suitable for a growing SME
Management reporting & KPIs
17. Design and deliver concise management reporting packs focused on key value drivers
18. Define and standardise KPIs across revenue, margin, cash and operational performance
19. Ensure consistency between management accounts, forecasts and board reporting
EBITDA quality & cash focus
20. Improve understanding and transparency of EBITDA performance and movements
21. Identify and implement margin improvement and cost control opportunities
22. Support working capital optimisation and cash flow forecasting
Exit readiness / PE hygiene
23. Ensure financial information is well-structured, explainable and diligence-ready
24. Support preparation of financial narratives and data for investors or advisors
25. Improve documentation, assumptions and controls to reduce key-person risk
Interim delivery & handover
26. Deliver tangible improvements within the 6-month period
27. Upskill internal teams where appropriate and leave clear tools, processes and documentation
28. Ensure a smooth handover to permanent or extended finance leadership
What success looks like after 6 months
29. Forecasts are reliable, explainable and trusted
30. Management reporting is concise, consistent and decision-useful
31. Clear visibility of EBITDA drivers and cash performance
32. Leadership is better equipped to makemercial decisions.
33. The business is materially more “investor-ready” than at day one