Portfolio Finance Director - 12 month fixed term contract

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Job Description

This is a senior, high-visibility finance role at the centre of our global software business on a 1 year interim basis. You will be the coordination, control and governance hub for the finance function, making sure reporting is consistent across all units, deadlines are met, controls hold, audits pass, and executives receive a single, reliable view of performance from one source.

Leading a global finance team of around 20 people across the UK and offshore locations, you will own the numbers end to end, from month-end close and consolidation through to Business Review, revenue recognition judgement, audit and M&A integration. You will work across our Hosting, Health, Digital, Housing and International businesses, and you will be the person the wider organisation turns to as a sounding board and problem solver.

To succeed you will be as comfortable reviewing a consolidated balance sheet as you are approving a credit note, and you will bring the judgement to make complex revenue recognition calls and the leadership to keep a distributed team delivering through peak cycles.

Financial reporting and control

• Own monthly, quarterly and annual financial reporting for the global software business
• Lead month-end close and financial governance, including resolution of system anomalies across SAP, TM1 and Kimble
• Review the consolidated P&L, balance sheet and cash flow, plus Risks & Opportunities, ageing and the pre-audit preview
• Sense-check results across all business units, providing the “birds eye view of the whole piece”
• Set reporting standards, materiality thresholds and review expectations for finance outputs
• Provide crisis management and issue resolution when reporting, controls or operational issues arise

Planning, budget and MTP

• Lead the annual budget, rolling forecast and long-range (MTP) planning processes
• Decide the MTP route and take the final call on the Budget route from execs down to units
• Raise and specify structural change requests in TM1 to align models with business change
• Own the group budget billing forecast for all units and the consolidated monthly billing forecast
• Own the budget and MTP order intake forecast across all business units
• Challenge assumptions and analyse risks, opportunities and variances versus plan

Business review and executive reporting

• Coordinate production of the Business Review pack each cycle
• Create and maintain the shared TM1 finance slide template used by all Finance Business Partners
• Review every BR pack before it is issued and proofread for anything needing review
• Produce the revenue cover, debtors, order intake, risks and operations summary slides
• Provide Board and Executive stakeholders with a single point of contact for financial insight
• Lead exec presentations, respond to urgent requests and cover senior leadership analysis

Revenue recognition and commercial accounting

• Oversee revenue recognition, contract accounting and complex commercial arrangements, including CCNs, splits and project closure
• Provide revenue recognition guidance and policy interpretation to the wider business
• Maintain consistent revenue recognition interpretation across all business units
• Engage Legal to review contract templates so they facilitate the revenue recognition process
• Set up catalogue codes and Kimble configurations for complex contracts
• Deliver revenue recognition training to Project Managers and Sales

Controls and approvals

• Run CREM (Cost and Resource Estimation Model) sign-on / sign-off calls and approve CREMs
• Provide independent review across CREM approvals and OAM sign-on / sign-off, preserving segregation of duties
• Approve credit notes
• Establish controls, standard operating procedures and consistent working practices
• Clear the month-end and year-end authorization bottleneck for billing and order processing

Audit, statutory and compliance

• Act as the single point of contact for internal and external audit
• Lead the UK audit across all units and act as primary contact for the named entity audits
• Coordinate statutory accounts, audit requests, walkthroughs and supporting evidence
• Triage audit questions to the offshore team, sense-check the answers and escalate only when needed
• Lead control walkthroughs

Systems, data and automation

• Act as the business owner and sounding board for TM1 model changes and improvements
• Originate the automations that remove double keying from MTP and budget production
• Review and test systems and processes before implementation
• Hold and apply end-to-end knowledge of how the finance systems integrate and who manages them
• Drive adoption of systems, reporting tools, automation and continuous improvement

M&A and integration

• Work with Finance Director - M&A on taking acquired businesses and integrating them into our ‘Business As Usual’ finance reporting activities within your area

Leadership

• Lead a global finance team of approximately 20 people across UK and offshore locations
• Set objectives, conduct PDRs and career development conversations, and manage development plans
• Coach Finance Controllers, Business Partners and analysts
• Balance workload, deadlines and capability across onshore and offshore resource
• Manage the offshore relationship, including trips to India to represent Finance
• Act as the single point of contact directing and delegating to the Mumbai team
• Act as the escalation point for team issues and review key finance outputs before executive submission

Partnering and coordination

• Partner Sales and Operations on opportunities, pricing, business cases, deal approvals and contract profitability
• Work with operational leaders on delivery margins, efficiency and financial performance
• Maintain visibility across Hosting, Health, Digital, Housing and International
• Interface with Legal, Central Finance and Bids
• Act as the organisation's sounding board and sanity check, with the authority to make the change
• Act as the central coordination, control, governance and communication hub for finance and the wider business

Qualifications

Essential

• Fully qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA or CIMA)
• Significant post-qualification experience in a group or multi-entity finance environment
• Strong revenue recognition judgement on complex contracts (30+ CCNs, project closure, splits)
• Proven experience leading external audit end to end, including walkthroughs, audit calls and responses
• Experience leading a distributed team, including offshore resource
• Comfort working at both consolidated and transactional level
• Excellent written and verbal communication, strong attention to detail, and the ability to challenge constructively

Desirable

• Knowledge of IFRS and current UK GAAP (FRS 102) and their impact on financial statements
• TM1 experience as a business owner, not just a user, able to specify and sponsor model change
• M&A integration experience from a finance perspective, from data migration to first actuals
• Familiarity with the named systems in use: SAP, TM1, Kimble, Power BI
• Experience in a software, technology or public sector environment
• Practical experience using AI within a finance function, for example to improve forecasting, reporting, variance analysis, commentary drafting or process automation

Additional Information

We pride ourselves in offering an excellent benefits package. When you join the team at NEC Software Solutions, you are provided with the following:

• 25 days paid holiday with the option to buy/sell (FTE)
• 4 x basic salary life assurance cover (with the option to increase cover at an additional cost)
• A Group Pension Plan 
• A selection of flexible benefits to suit your individual needs 

OTHER INFORMATION

• Candidates must be able to demonstrate a pre-existing right to work and travel within the UK. Documentary evidence will be required.
• All offers are subject to satisfactory vetting, references and occupational health checks. 
• Depending on the nature of the role a Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check may also be required.

NEC Software Solutions is an equal opportunities employer, welcoming applications from all communities. If you require any reasonable adjustments or have specific accessibility needs during the recruitment or interview process, please feel free to share these with us. We are committed to ensuring an inclusive and accommodating experience for all candidates.

Who We Are:

We’re NEC Software Solutions (part of global tech giant NEC Corporation). While you read this ad, our software is helping to dispatch ambulances, support families, keep trains on the move, locate missing people and even test the hearing of newborn babies.

Working with us, you’ll be helping our 3,000+ employees push the boundaries of what’s possible and support amazing public services.

We work with governments, hospitals, police forces, housing providers, local authorities and more. We help them pay financial support faster, speed up treatments for patients and respond to emergencies in the right way. The more we do, the more our customers can do for others. And together, we make a world of difference.

We’d love your help. And we’ll support you all the way.