Interim Head of Finance
2 month contract
Cambridge - Hybrid
£450 - £500 p/d (umbrella)
Overview
This Head of Finance role sits at the centre of the business, helping to steer performance, inform key decisions, and maintain strong financial discipline. Reporting into the CFO, you'll combine commercial insight with hands-on financial oversight and performance analysis.
Working closely with teams across the organisation, you'll turn financial data into clear, actionable insight, support core reporting cycles, and play a key role in shaping future growth through effective planning and analysis.
About You
You're a commercially aware finance professional who enjoys playing an active role in business performance. You're comfortable switching between detailed analysis and big-picture thinking, and you take a proactive, hands-on approach to getting things done.
You're confident working both independently and cross-functionally, using insight to influence decisions, challenge assumptions, and highlight both risks and opportunities. You bring energy and ownership, helping to push key initiatives forward and deliver tangible results.
Key Responsibilities
Act as a trusted partner to commercial, operational, and marketing leaders to improve financial outcomes and drive accountability
Deliver meaningful analysis and reporting, highlighting trends and key drivers across revenue, cost, and profitability
Build and enhance performance reporting tools, including dashboards and KPI tracking, to improve visibility across the business
Coordinate the month-end close in partnership with an offshore finance team, ensuring outputs are accurate, timely, and continuously improving
Present monthly results and variances to senior stakeholders, offering clear commentary and recommendations
Lead the end-to-end planning cycle, including budgets, forecasts, and longer-term financial outlooks
Drive efficiencies by identifying and implementing improvements across finance processes and reporting
Contribute to strategic initiatives such as investment cases, pricing decisions, tender support, and profitability analysis
Oversee the integrity of balance sheets across business units, working with the regional Financial Controller to investigate and resolve issues
Take ownership of payroll outsourcing arrangements
Manage and support a small in-house finance team (2 direct reports) across transactional and admin activities
Maintain strong oversight and governance over all work delivered by the outsourced accounting functionEssential Skills & Experience
Fully qualified (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent)
Background in Commercial Finance or Finance Business Partnering, supported by strong management accounting experience
Proven ability to analyse complex data, extract key messages, and build impactful reporting and tools
Experience spanning FP&A, analytics, and business-facing finance roles
Strong Excel capability and experience with visual reporting tools
Confident communicator with the ability to engage, influence, and challenge stakeholders
Well-organised and able to manage competing priorities effectively
Familiarity with Oracle systems is advantageous