Financial Controller

Job ID: 11604Location: Southampton, Hampshire, South East, EnglandSalary: GBP 80000 per yearPosted: 2026-10-28Company: The Niche PartnershipStep up from leading a finance team to leading the leaders who run it. This Financial Controller role gives you responsibility for three experienced managers and a wider team, with the freedom to set the direction rather than getting dragged into every detail. You’ll inherit a finance operation that works well, so this isn’t a turnaround.

The opportunity is to make a good function better: challenging established routines, improving processes and using automation and AI intelligently, while protecting the controls behind the numbers. You’ll have real influence over how finance evolves, backed by a salary of 85,000-89,000, up to 10% bonus and hybrid working with three days a week in Southampton. The emphasis on candidate benefit, concise requirements and curiosity follows recruitment-advert principles that an advert should persuade rather than read like a job descriptionReporting to the Finance leadership team, you will be responsible for:Leading three managers across technical accounting, management reporting and financial operations, with a wider team of around 22Setting clear expectations and giving your managers the autonomy to lead their own teamsOverseeing financial control, the annual report, statutory reporting, year-end and external auditBuilding strong relationships with senior leaders, auditors and the Audit & Risk CommitteeChallenging established processes and identifying opportunities for smarter automation and AIEnsuring improvements make finance easier and more efficient without compromising financial controlHelping shape the finance systems roadmap, working alongside technology specialists and delivery teamsWhat you will need:Previous experience in a similar senior finance role, such as Financial Controller, Group Financial Controller, Head of Financial Control, Head of Finance or senior Financial Reporting roleA recognised professional accountancy qualification, preferably ACA, ACCA or CIMAExperience leading managers who themselves lead teams, rather than only directly managing individual contributorsEnd-to-end ownership of annual reporting, statutory accounts and external auditExperience working with an Audit & Risk Committee or board and building effective relationships with external auditorsEvidence of leading finance transformation or process improvement through your management teamStrong financial control and technical accounting knowledge, combined with the judgement to know when to challenge and when to delegateThe ability to bring people with different roles and levels of technical expertise behind the same visionWhat you will get:Up to 10% performance-related bonus28 days’ annual leave plus bank holidays, increasing with serviceHybrid working, with three days per week in the Southampton officeFlexible working optionsEnhanced family leave, including paid partner leaveLearning and development support, coaching and mentoringWellbeing supportVolunteering leave and matched fundraisingIf you would like to find out more about this role, please apply with your CV or LinkedIn PDF.

We look forward to hearing from you! We take your application seriously and WE RESPOND TO EVERY APPLICATION…because getting a job is hard enough. The Niche Partnership is acting as a recruitment business in relation to this role.

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