Hertfordshire - Office-Based
Up to £75,000 + potential bonus + excellent benefits
The Animal People Recruitment Company is delighted to be supporting a fast-growing, award-winning business in the search for a Finance Manager to join its high-performing team in Hertfordshire.
This is a rare opportunity for an ambitious, people-focused finance professional to step into a broad and highly visible Finance Manager role within a growing SME operating in a purpose-led, customer-focused environment.
This is not a standard Finance Manager job.
It is a career-defining opportunity for someone who wants to lead, coach and develop a finance team, take ownership of a key management accounts function, improve systems and processes, and play an active role in shaping the future of a growing business.
If you are a qualified accountant looking for a Finance Manager role where you can combine leadership, management accounts, process improvement, business partnering and commercial finance exposure, this could be exactly what you have been waiting for.
The Opportunity
As Finance Manager, you will join a successful and expanding business at an exciting stage of growth and transformation. Reporting into a senior finance leader, you will take day-to-day ownership of a capable finance team while helping the business bring more of its finance activity in-house.
You will play a central role in leading and developing a team of four, ensuring deadlines are met, standards remain high, and individuals are supported to grow in confidence and capability.
Alongside team leadership, you will take ownership of the management accounts process and help transition key responsibilities from an external contractor into the internal finance function. You will also have the chance to improve the way finance operates by embedding a newly implemented finance system, streamlining processes, increasing automation, and reducing inefficient manual work.
Over time, this role will grow further into budgeting, forecasting, commercial decision support, stakeholder partnering and wider strategic finance projects.
For the right person, this is an exceptional opportunity to build real influence and progress your career within a growing business.
Key Responsibilities
- Lead, coach and develop a team of four finance professionals across varying levels of experience
- Support the team with prioritisation, time management, delivery and day-to-day challenges
- Ensure finance deadlines are consistently met with a high level of accuracy
- Take ownership of the management accounts process and support the transition of work from an external contractor into the in-house team
- Review current bookkeeping and finance processes, identifying opportunities for improvement, delegation and efficiency
- Help embed and optimise a newly implemented finance system
- Drive process improvement, automation and stronger financial controls
- Review outputs, challenge numbers, improve reporting quality and support better decision-making
- Work closely with stakeholders across the business on budgets, forecasts, performance and financial insight
- Support the wider business with commercial analysis, new initiatives and operational finance input
- Contribute to the continued development of a scalable, efficient, high-performing finance function
We are keen to speak with qualified accountants who bring a strong blend of technical finance capability, people leadership and commercial awareness.
You may already be working as a Finance Manager, Management Accountant, Financial Controller or Senior Finance Business Partner and be looking for a role with more scope, visibility and progression.
To succeed in this role, you will need to be someone who genuinely enjoys leading people. This business is looking for more than someone who has simply "managed" a team on paper. They want someone who takes real pride in coaching others, creating structure, driving accountability and helping people perform at their best.
You will also need to be comfortable being hands-on when needed, particularly in the early stages, as you get close to existing processes, understand how the team operates, and help bring a key finance function fully in-house.
We are looking for:
- Fully qualified accountant - ACA, ACCA or CIMA
- Proven experience in a Finance Manager, Management Accountant, Financial Controller or similar finance leadership role
- Strong management accounts experience
- Experience leading, coaching or developing finance team members
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills
- Strong understanding of finance processes, controls and reporting
- A proactive, improvement-focused mindset
- Confidence working in a changing, growth-focused SME environment
- Experience with systems implementation, finance transformation, process improvement or automation would be highly advantageous
- Experience in a regulated, insurance, financial services or similar environment would be beneficial, but is not essential
This opportunity offers far more than a typical Finance Manager position.
It is ideal for someone who wants to:
- Lead and develop a team
- Own and improve the management accounts process
- Be part of bringing outsourced finance activity in-house
- Help shape systems, processes and reporting in a growing business
- Gain broader commercial and strategic exposure
- Join a business where finance is visible, valued and involved
- Build a long-term career with real progression potential
Salary and Benefits
- Salary up to £75,000
- Potential bonus
- 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays
- Annual leave increases with service up to 28 days
- Free parking
- Pension contribution
- Employee Assistance Programme
- Buy and sell annual leave
- Long service recognition scheme
- Additional leave to settle in a new cat or dog after probation
- Additional leave for moving house after probation
- Discounted pet insurance
- Optional healthcare support contribution through Vitality after probation
This role is office-based in Hertfordshire.
The business offers a collaborative, team-focused office environment, and this role is particularly well suited to someone who enjoys being present, building relationships in person, and leading from the front.
Apply Now
If you are an ambitious, qualified finance professional looking for your next Finance Manager job in Hertfordshire, and you are excited by the chance to lead a team, improve systems, own management accounts and help shape a growing finance function, we would love to hear from you.
