Chief Financial Officer (Payroll & Operations Focus)
Remote – UK
Fully Remote | SME / Scale-Up Environment
We’re working with a group of high-growth, operationally complex businesses to appoint a hands‑on CFO with direct responsibility for payroll, cashflow, and financial operations .
This role is suited to a CFO who doesn’t just report numbers — but owns the mechanics of paying people accurately, on time, and at scale .
The opportunity
Our clients operate in sectors where payroll is high‑volume, time‑critical, and operationally complex, including:
Telecoms & Utilities
Retail / E‑commerce
Education & Training
Recruitment & Staffing Services
Energy
Automotive / Used Car Leasing
Transport & Logistics
As CFO, you’ll be responsible for ensuring payroll runs cleanly, predictably, and without drama, while maintaining strong controls over spend and cashflow.
Key responsibilities
Direct ownership of payroll oversight (monthly / weekly / multi‑entity)
Managing payroll funding, approvals, and cashflow timing
Oversight of finance operations, payments, and controls
Working closely with People / Ops teams on payroll changes
Ensuring accuracy, compliance, and audit‑ready processes
Improving systems and workflows around payroll and outgoing payments
Providing leadership with clear visibility on payroll‑related spend
This is a commercial CFO role, not a pure reporting position.
Who we’re looking for
We’re keen to speak with CFOs or Finance Directors who:
Have directly overseen payroll (not delegated entirely)
Have worked in operationally intensive sectors
Are comfortable in SME / scale‑up environments
Understand payroll funding, not just payroll processing
Have experience managing cashflow under time pressure
Enjoy improving systems, controls, and efficiency
This role suits someone who has:
Run payroll for 50–500+ employees
Managed contractors, variable pay, or multi‑entity payrolls
Worked closely with Ops and People teams
Implemented or improved payroll and finance systems
What’s on offer
Performance‑related bonus
Fully remote (UK)
High autonomy and trust
Direct influence on operational and financial strategy
Opportunity to shape scalable finance and payroll infrastructure
Long‑term progression within a growing business
Why this role is different
Payroll is treated here as a core operational risk, not an afterthought.
Our clients care deeply about:
Payroll certainty
Cashflow predictability
Clean approvals and controls
If you take pride in payroll that just works, this role will resonate.
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