Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
Reports to:
Chief Executive Officer
Direct Reports:
Finance team (including financial planning, analysis and control & compliance, and risk)
Location: Brighton/Hybrid
Introduction & Context
Our organisation is in a growth and transformation phase as we become a platform-based, technology-enabled benefits provider. We need a CFO who can drive pace, be a thought partner to the CEO, enable strategic investment, and embed accountability, while ensuring financial control, FCA compliance, and governance.
Role Purpose
To provide strategic financial leadership, governance oversight, and regulatory compliance, enabling:
- Financial control and integrity.
- Forward-looking FP&A and business partnering to support strategic growth.
- High standards of governance and FCA compliance.
- Integrated risk reporting to the Board.
Key Responsibilities
Strategic Finance & Growth Enablement:
- Partner with CEO and Board to shape and challenge strategy.
- Lead investment appraisal and capital allocation, particularly for technology and platform initiatives.
- Drive forecasting, scenario planning, and forward-looking risk assessment.
- Embed OKR-driven reporting linking financial performance to strategic outcomes.
Financial Control & Leadership:
- Ensure strong financial control and integrity of reporting.
- Oversee statutory reporting, audit, tax, treasury, and operational finance processes.
- Build the finance team into a high-performing, insight-driven FP&A and business partnering function.
- Coach and mentor finance professionals to deliver higher standards.
Governance & Company Secretary Duties:
- Act as principal advisor to the Board on governance and statutory compliance.
- Ensure timely, accurate Board and committee reporting.
- Maintain statutory registers and filings in compliance with Companies Act and other regulations.
FCA Compliance & Risk Management:
- Lead FCA compliance across the Group.
- Maintain a comprehensive risk framework covering financial, operational, and compliance risks.
- Provide integrated risk reporting to the Board.
- Advise CEO and Board on emerging regulatory and financial risks.
Cultural & Organisational Leadership:
- Support the embedding of a culture of accountability, transparency, and high performance.
- Enable finance, compliance, and risk functions to be strategic enablers
Person Specification
Essential:
- Qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent).
- Senior finance leadership experience in comparable organisations.
- Demonstrable experience of having contributed to profit and loss growth in a business or business unit.
- Has delivered process change and proven efficiency gains while maintaining pace and team engagement.
- Proven ability to develop finance teams into high-performing, insight-driven functions.
- Strong skills in financial control, capital allocation, and scenario planning.
Desirable:
- Experience in membership, benefits, or consumer-facing sectors.
- Knowledge of retail and B2B business models.
- Experience in digital or platform-led business transformations.
- Experience in regulated environments, with FCA compliance and risk management.
- Previous Company Secretary experience or equivalent governance leadership.
Attributes:
- Commercially astute, pragmatic, and delivery focused.
- Constructively challenging, yet collaborative.
- High integrity, resilience, and independence of judgement.
- Strong communicator capable of influencing the Board and executive team.
Our Values
1. Create Value for Members.
Looking at things from the member’s perspective.
☑ The CFO ensures financial decisions (e.g., investment, pricing, partnerships) always consider the ultimate value for members, not just short-term gain.
Adapting the way you work to provide more value to our members.
☑ By building flexible financial models that allow investment in digital and platform initiatives which improve the member experience.
Recognising what members value most; to focus on that and remove barriers and friction.
☑ Ensuring resources are allocated to the benefits, services, and experiences members value most, and challenging spend that doesn’t contribute to that value.
2. Innovate and Experiment
Actively looking for ways to improve processes and ways of working.
☑ Streamlining finance, compliance, and reporting processes so the business moves faster without losing control.
Making time for learning and for development conversations.
☑ Coaching finance professionals, building an insight-driven FP&A team, and fostering learning around new tools and technologies.
Keeping open and adaptive to change.
☑ Being flexible as the organisation shifts to a platform-led model, adapting governance and financial planning accordingly.
Building experimentation and testing new approaches into your projects. Sharing what works and what didn’t to continually learn.
☑ Less central, though the CFO can encourage pilots for investment initiatives or new reporting tools.
3. Keep it Simple and Lean
Prioritising action over perfection. Doing what is necessary to achieve a goal on time to the standard required.
☑ Driving timely reporting and decision-making, balancing thoroughness with pace so growth opportunities aren’t missed.
Being clear on your goals and focusing on prioritising the right things that add value.
☑ Setting clear OKRs linking financial outcomes to strategy, and focusing on value-added analysis rather than overengineering reports.
Investing time, effort, and resources proportionately. Starting with a small project team and expanding to involve others if needed.
☑ Using a phased approach to investment appraisal — piloting tech or platform initiatives before full rollout.
4. Take Ownership
Taking responsibility for your own actions. Doing what you say you will and delivering what you said you would.
☑ Providing the Board with accurate, timely reporting and following through on commitments around compliance and risk management.
Keeping people informed. Clearly communicating on progress and calling it early if something is not working.
☑ Ensuring transparency in financial performance and risks, and escalating issues to the CEO/Board quickly.
Considering the time and resources available and managing them effectively with a ‘can-do’ attitude.
☑ Embedding a culture of accountability across finance, compliance, and risk — focusing on solutions, not blockers.
5. Be Considerate and Supportive
Demonstrating trust in others and working to maintain trust. Treating everyone with respect and consideration.
☑ Building trust with the CEO, Board, and team by being reliable, open, and collaborative.
Looking for those that need extra support and lending a hand (or ear) to help them get the right support.
☑ Coaching finance team members and supporting leaders across the business with financial insight to make better decisions.
Considering the feelings of other people before you comment.
☑ Providing constructive challenge at Board level with respect and diplomacy, ensuring debate remains professional and forward focused.
To apply for this position, please email me a short precis: stephenr@alexanderrhodes.co.uk
C.250 words is fine, be as concise as you like, and please attach your CV in word or pdf format.
If you need to speak with me or want immediate feedback don't hesitate to call on 07834 585199.
I appreciate that applying for jobs can be frustrating or difficult and I want to deliver as human a service as possible.
Please try to ensure you have read the complete job description and can comfortably work 2-3 days a week from the Brighton HQ.
Kind regards
Stephen Rhodes
