The role of a Finance Director or Financial Director has steadily evolved as the World of Business has changed and developed, in 2019 the role is broader and more important than ever before. Here are some of the key duties and responsibilities together with notes, the exact specification depends on the business concerned, its product and market niche and if it is part of a group, floated on a stock market or trades internationally.

Close working with the Managing Director, Sales Director and Operations directors, the breaking down of traditional silos is a key part of the role as is supporting each of the senior team members.  It is important that a chemistry exists between the senior team as the staff will quickly pick up on any tensions and adjust their behaviours accordingly.

Note – A successful FD needs to understand the profitability of each business area and contract and be able to work with each Senior team member to address profitability and performance issues on a contract by contract and customer by customer basis. Good working relationships and communication skills are vital for this.   Once an issue is identified there needs to exist an easy channel for it to be communicated and for their to be confidence amongst the executives that suitable remedial action will be taken.

Cost challenge – having the ability to constantly review costs and facilitate the manager or Director responsible to find better and lower cost ways of achieving success.  Bouncing ideas around and sharing the experience gained from other industries or businesses is a great skill and is the key to turning around situations or indeed challenged businesses.

Note – Often costs are unchallenged due to protective managers who may or may not be able to justify the status quo, being able to motivate managers to take ownership of costs and drive their own profitability, a personality that engages and encourages others to rise to the challenge. Having obstructive managers who defend their areas irrespective of the appropriate business decision is an indicator of poor communication and is often an indicator of a loss making business or one that is heading in that direction.  A good Finance Director will work to improve relations and drive through improvements in both communications and profitability.

Communications – Good comminication skills at all levels, equally at easy with the Directors and shop floor, ability to overcome resistance and bring about change whilst keeping the team together is a key skill.

Note – Teams respond well to good communication whether it is at busy times such as the month or year-end when deadlines need to be met or thorough challenging times such as restructuring or loss making, keeping teams onside and in the loop whilst maintaining confidentiality.

Budgeting and Cash Flow – Producing reliable and accurate models which managers and Directors are able to buy into, and take responsibility for, whilst at the same time can drive better business performance and be used to support fundraising and working capital discussions with lenders.

Note – Budgets need the involvement of all levels in an organisation to be able to motivational to each team, there needs to be a balance between ambition and realism and a good level of accuracy.   Training and mentoring of managers with weaker financial understanding, then the ability to carry these team members along with a new direction is a really desireable attribute to develop and should be mentioned on the job description.

Personal Skills

Qualified Accountant – member of a recognised Accountancy body.

Strong IT skills in particular spreadsheets and the ability to present financial data in a clear and simply format.

Presentational skills – ability to present and articulate topics in a compelling way to differing user groups both internal and external, developing public speaking skills and media presentation skills is very desireable as well presented information is likely to create confidence and re-assure staff members that changes proposed or required are positive point to cover within the job description.

Networking – Good at developing external networks and relationship such as Auditors, banks and private equity houses.   Businesses need different skills and resources at different stages in their development so having an FD who constantly networks and develops useful business relationships is beneficial, so this should be in the job description.

If you are looking to Recruit a Finance Director for your business, then FD Capital is the perfect partner for you, reach out to us today and we will find you the perfect candidate.

To get an understanding of the areas we cover please review the following pages to see the disciplines currently on offer:-

• Part Time FD’s – This is our main focus covering the London and West Midlands areas.
• Portfolio FD’s – Part Time FD’s who work for multiple businesses.
• Private Equity FD’s – Finance Directors with experience of working with Private Equity Houses and Venture Capitalists.
• Interim FD’s – Finance Directors needed for short periods.
• Turnaround FD’s – Finance Directors with particular experience of distressed situations and turnarounds.
• E-Commerce FD – Finance Directors with expertise with E-Commerce website and Search marketing.
• Non-Executive FD – Non Executives or NED’s with finance expertise for boards.

Hopefully you can see that we are a niche agency and specialist / boutique finance house offering recruitment but also professional solutions through executive recruitment.

If you are a candidate with expertise in any of the above disciplines or an active interest in breaking into them, please reach out for a chat with us today, we are always looking for additional skills to add to our database.

We are always interested to hear from new businesses, if you are an SME based in London or the West Midlands then we are keen to speak with you, we have a lot of experience with PE Houses.  We specialise in Finance Director and CFO Recruitment.

FD Capital are a niche senior finance recruitment network of Finance Directors and CFO’s working together with professional recruiters, we have been active in the senior financial professional recruitment niche since 2018 and are based in Great Portland Street, London.   Our work is split between Part-Time, Interim and Permanent roles, around 50% of our portfolio is currently part-time, though interim and perm roles are growing faster currently.  We can help you prepare a job description if needed.  Keep an eye on our Jobs page as we advertise Finance Director roles there regularly.

We are always looking for new opportunities for our team, so if you need a Finance Director or Chief Financial Officer for your business either on a Part-Time, Interim or Full-Time basis, make sure to reach out to FD Capital Recruitment today.

Since 2021 we now have team members in Oxford, Leeds and Bristol, so we can now more fully support those and their surrounding areas.

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