Regional Chief Financial Officer — Managed-Services Unit

The mandate

The planning cycle has revealed that a London managed-services unit is allocating capital and explaining performance with less discipline than the enterprise standard. Forecast revisions arrive after operating conditions have changed, investment cases use inconsistent baselines and a platform reliability gap is consuming cash without a single view of economic consequence. The board now needs one finance leader to connect service choices with value.

The Regional Chief Financial Officer will steward approximately £1,850 million in annual recurring revenue and lead around 475 employees and material partners. The perimeter includes financial planning, control, commercial finance, treasury interface, tax, capital allocation, performance, procurement economics, reporting and finance talent. Reporting is to the Group Chief Executive and the relevant board committee.

The first requirement is an economic baseline that management can act upon. Contract revenue, service credits, labour, cloud, third parties, backlog, capitalised development and remediation cost should reconcile at customer and service level. Finance must expose whether margin pressure comes from pricing, reliability, scope, productivity or accounting treatment rather than allow explanations to shift between reporting periods.

Forecast confidence will be rebuilt from operating drivers. Customer demand, renewals, incident recovery, hiring, utilisation, supplier consumption and project milestones should translate into revenue, cash and margin with named assumptions. Ranges and triggers are preferable to artificial precision. A forecast change must identify the new fact, accountable response and decision required.

Reliability investment needs financial architecture. The CFO will distinguish containment, structural remediation, resilience and enhancement, showing cash timing and customer impact for each. Capital should be released through gates linked to technical proof and service outcomes. Benefits cannot be counted merely because a programme says work is complete; cloud consumption, incident cost, credits or labour must actually change.

Regional capital choices should meet a common hurdle. Product commitments, customer exceptions, site capacity and suppliers compete for the same resources, yet may arrive through different forums. The CFO will establish comparable business cases, opportunity cost and downside scenarios. Material proposals need independent challenge before commercial momentum makes them irreversible.

Cash deserves direct operational attention. Billing accuracy, collection, advance commitments, supplier terms and remediation outflows can create a profile different from reported earnings. The Regional CFO will identify which customer or service actions release cash sustainably and which simply move timing. Treasury and the board need visibility before a liquidity consequence becomes urgent.

Control must remain effective through the reliability programme. Emergency purchasing, manual credits, accelerated access and vendor changes create exposure when speed is high. Finance should design proportionate controls into the response rather than add retrospective paperwork. Exceptions need authorised owners, expiry dates and evidence of removal.

The finance organisation will operate as a regional decision partner, not a reporting factory. The CFO will assess leaders for commercial judgement, service literacy, control ownership and the courage to surface an adverse outlook. Automation and standard data should reduce reconciliation work. Succession should cover every critical direct report and specialist dependency.

Why this seat is open

The appointment was not in the approved hiring calendar. It became urgent when the platform reliability gap exposed the weakness of divided financial ownership. Interim cover protects mandatory decisions, but the board seeks to move from qualified shortlist to offer within four to six weeks.

What you will own

• Create a decision-grade economic baseline for the managed-services unit.
• Steward finance across approximately £1,850 million of annual recurring revenue.
• Connect reliability remediation to cash, margin and customer outcomes.
• Rebuild forecasts from explicit operating drivers and intervention triggers.
• Apply consistent capital hurdles to services, customers, suppliers and sites.
• Lead approximately 475 employees and partners across the finance perimeter.
• Protect control quality during urgent operational remediation.
• Strengthen finance leadership, automation and critical-role succession.

The first 12 months

The opening 90 days should reconcile reported and operational performance, meet the 30 stakeholders central to capital discipline and evaluate the finance team. Review major contracts, reliability spend, supplier commitments, cash conversion and forecasts. Agree decision gates, data ownership and immediate controls with the board.

During months four to nine, install driver-based forecasting and one capital framework. Rework priority investment cases, address contract or service leakage, rationalise low-value reporting and fill leadership gaps. Early outcomes may include cash release, avoided spend, lower credits, improved supplier terms or a more credible remediation profile.

At year end, cash, forecast confidence and investment governance should operate to a stable cadence. The value case should remain inside 10% of approval, with three consecutive forecasts reconciling recurring revenue, liquidity, customers, reliability and people. Material adverse movement must reach its decision forum before the period closes.

What the board will measure

• Forecast accuracy explained through visible operating drivers and ranges.
• Cash conversion, working capital and supplier commitments by service economics.
• Reliability funds released only after technical and financial gates are met.
• Comparable returns and downside cases across regional investments.
• More than 90% retention of critical finance talent and ready cover for 70% of direct reports.
• Control exceptions retired on time with independently accepted evidence.

The person

You are a Regional CFO, Divisional CFO or Finance Vice President with 22–28 years in technology or an adjacent recurring-services business. Your record includes personal sign-off or direct accountability for board financial statements, funding choices and investment submissions of comparable consequence.

Your accountable P&L, book, budget or portfolio has been at least £1,050 million, and you have led 325 or more people. Examples should show how you corrected a forecast or capital system and sustained the resulting performance for two reporting periods.

Experience may come from software, cloud services, digital platforms, IT services or technology-enabled business services. You will understand service contracts, recurring economics, cash and reliability investment, while remaining sufficiently independent to challenge regional executives and sponsors.

Compensation and terms

The base range is £290,000–390,000 plus annual incentive and LTI. The permanent appointment is onsite in London, with international relocation supported and no remote design. Candidates may serve notice of up to six months.

Confidentiality

The institution, interim arrangements, contracts and reliability economics are confidential. Identifying particulars will follow only after both sides choose to proceed under formal confidentiality; published figures are intentionally rounded.