Finance Director

Zilch · Zilch UK · posted today ago

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About this role

Who we are:

We're one of Europe's fastest-growing fintech companies – on a mission to create the world's most empowering way to pay.

We launched the product in 2020 and achieved double unicorn status, valued at $2 billion, and since then have taken on more than 6 million customers.

Our mission is to become the best way to pay for anything, anywhere and say goodbye to credit costs for everyone. This is huge. Want to join us?

About the role.

Zilch is seeking an experienced Finance Director to operate as a senior leader within the Finance function, working closely and reporting into the SVP of Finance to ensure the integrity, accuracy and timeliness of financial information across the business.

The role combines strategic oversight with hands-on ownership of complex technical, audit and cash management matters, ensuring both strong governance and practical execution. It ensures that financial outputs are aligned, decision-useful and supported by robust governance, with particular focus on the quality, clarity and control of information presented to senior leadership and the Board.

The Finance Director operates at a broad level of senior accountability - acting as the senior integrator and principal escalation point across reporting, supporting the SVP of Finance in maintaining oversight and control - while remaining appropriately close to operational detail in a scaling FinTech environment. The role combines strategic oversight with hands-on involvement in complex technical, audit and cash management matters, ensuring both strong governance and practical execution.

Day to day responsibilities.

Leadership & stakeholder management

Act as a senior finance partner to ExCo, working closely with the SVP of Finance to ensure aligned messaging, clear financial ownership and high-quality decision support, ensuring financial information is accurate, delivered at pace and framed appropriately for decision-making
Provide leadership and coherence across Internal Reporting, External Reporting and Treasury, ensuring clear accountability and alignment across specialist teams
Serve as the senior escalation point for complex financial, technical and stakeholder matters
Support the SVP of Finance in maintaining high standards of governance, control and financial discipline

Transaction readiness & corporate activity

Lead finance preparation and execution support for major corporate transactions, including capital raises, acquisitions and other significant corporate transactions.
Ensure appropriate financial controls, documentation, reconciliations, policies and governance frameworks are in place and continuously strengthened to meet transaction and governance standards.
Act as senior finance lead during due diligence processes, coordinating across reporting, treasury and operational finance teams
Embed a culture of audit readiness and control discipline across the Finance function, strengthening sustainable control and documentation standards that enhance the business irrespective of transaction timing

Internal reporting oversight

Provide senior review and challenge over monthly management accounts, MI and Board reporting produced by the Internal Reporting team and Financial Controller
Ensure reporting is accurate, timely and decision-useful, with clear linkage between performance metrics and financial outcomes
Elevate the clarity and consistency of financial narratives presented to senior stakeholders
Ensure alignment between internal performance reporting and external disclosures

External reporting & audit

Act as the senior finance lead for statutory accounts and the annual report, providing oversight and final review of outputs prepared by the External Reporting function
Play a key role in onboarding and working with the new external auditor, ensuring a smooth transition and strengthening audit processes and documentation standards
Lead senior engagement with external auditors and advisors, supporting key technical judgements and ensuring smooth, efficient audit processes
Provide technical insight into complex accounting areas (including IFRS 9, IFRS 2 and other material judgements), ensuring robust documentation and governance
Hold the pen on internal technical accounting notes (IFRS), providing guidance on complex accounting matters
Drive continuous improvement in audit readiness and external reporting quality

Treasury & capital management

Provide senior oversight, governance and strategic direction across treasury activities, working closely with the Treasury lead
Provide senior financial oversight and challenge in relation to capital management, liquidity risk and funding discussions, ensuring alignment with broader financial reporting, control and governance priorities, while working in close partnership with those leading Treasury and Capital Markets.
Provide senior oversight and challenge in respect of treasury controls, processes and reporting frameworks, supporting their robustness, scalability and alignment with regulatory and governance requirements.
Support optimisation of balance sheet efficiency and funding structures, ensuring clear integration between treasury, reporting and audit requirements

Governance, controls & risk

Maintain strong financial control frameworks across reporting and treasury, aligned with FCA expectations and best practice
Oversee development and maintenance of accounting policies and financial governance standards
Ensure key processes (including audit and annual reporting) run smoothly, with clear ownership and disciplined execution
Ensure that financial processes deliver both accuracy and speed, enabling high-quality decision-making without compromising control
Identify and mitigate financial and operational risks, escalating appropriately to the SVP of Finance and Board where required

Systems & Finance Transformation

Provide senior sponsorship and oversight of finance systems architecture, ensuring reporting, control and treasury systems are scalable and fit for purpose.
Champion automation and process improvements to enhance the speed, accuracy and resilience of financial reporting.
Ensure documentation, reconciliations and control frameworks are effectively embedded within systems to support audit and governance standards.
Support ERP optimisation and continuous improvement of the month-end close process.

What we’re looking for...

Fully qualified Chartered Accountant (ACA [ICAEW or equivalent body] / ACCA)
Strong technical accounting knowledge (IFRS essential; US GAAP advantageous).
Significant post-qualification experience in senior finance leadership or controllership roles.
Strong experience across external reporting, audit and cash management within a regulated environment.
Demonstrable experience supporting or leading finance workstreams for corporate transactions (e.g. M&A, fundraising)
Proven ability to influence and challenge senior stakeholders, operating effectively at senior leadership and Board level.
Strong understanding of finance systems, data architecture and reporting pipelines, with experience working effectively alongside data and engineering teams to improve automation and reporting integrity.
Experience working effectively with and across specialist finance functions, providing senior oversight, integration and judgement rather than duplicating operational delivery.
Background in FinTech, Financial Services or regulated lending products is preferred
Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, scaling environment with evolving requirements

Benefits.

Compensation & Savings:

Pension scheme.
Death in Service scheme.
Income Protection.
Permanent employees enjoy access to our Share Options Scheme.
5% back on in-app purchases.
£200 for WFH Setup.

Health & Wellbeing:

Private Medical Insurance including;
GP consultations (video, telephone or face-to-face).
Prescribed medication.
In-patient, day-patient and out-patient care.
Mental health support.
Optical, dental & audiological cover.
Physiotherapy.
Advanced cancer cover.
Menopause support.
Employee Assistance Programme including:
- Unlimited mental health sessions.
- 24/7 remote GP & physiotherapy.
- 24/7 helpline for emotional & practical support.
Savings & discounts on everyday shopping.
1:1 personalised well-being consultations.
Gym membership discounts.