Transactional Financial Controller

OUR MISSION

To become the car-changing destination of choice. By combining technology, media and deep automotive expertise, we've turned how people buy, sell, advertise and lease cars on its head.

What started as a simple reviews site is now one of the largest online car-changing destinations in Europe. Last year alone we grew over 50% with nearly £3bn worth of cars bought on site, while £1.8bn of cars were listed for sale through our Sell My Car service.

In 2024 we went big and acquired Autovia - creators of AutoExpress and Evo magazines - doubling our audience overnight. Together we now have one of the biggest YouTube channels in the world with almost 10m subscribers and over 1.1 billion annual views, while we sell 1.2 million print copies of our magazines and have an annual web content reach over 350million.

And we’re a long way from done!

THE ROLE

The Transactional Financial Controller owns the full Accounts Payable, Billing function, Credit control, working capital management, and banking operations across the group, while also leading the ongoing automation and optimisation of the finance systems that underpin transactional finance. This is a hybrid role based in London combining hands-on operational leadership of AP, Billing and credit control teams and processes with responsibility for driving system-led improvement, control, and efficiency across the wider finance systems landscape along with the Finance transformation team.This role has line management responsibility for a team based in London and Porto, working under hybrid and remote arrangements

WHAT YOU'LL BE DOING

Transactional Finance (AP, Billing and Credit control) Management

• Full management of the Accounts Payable and Billing and Credit control functions, including team leadership, prioritisation and quality control.

• Oversight of all banking and expense transactions, ensuring accuracy, timeliness and appropriate controls.

• Own working capital management, including planning and execution of payment runs.

• Implement and manage the Purchase Order (PO) system end-to-end, liaising with stakeholders across the business to ensure compliance and efficient processing.

• Act as the escalation point for AP, Billing and Credit control queries, both internal and external, ensuring timely and professional resolution.

• Oversee & drive DSO performance improvement, setting and monitoring cash collection targets and driving corrective action where collection is behind plan by using escalation channels with various business stakeholders

• Overseeing the review AR ledgers regularly, identifying and escalating aged debt in line with credit control policy.

• Line-manage direct reports based in Portugal & London, while providing day-to-day supervision and quality oversight of AP, Billing and Credit Control activity across the UK, Portugal, Germany and Spain.

• Partner with the Director of Financial Control and wider Finance team on reporting, audit requirements and process governance.
  

Finance Systems & Process Improvement

• Support along with Finance Transformation the finance systems automation roadmap, driving the elimination of manual processes and delivering scalable, efficient finance operations.

• Own the optimisation of the finance systems landscape, reviewing and enhancing NetSuite integrations with Moss, Precoro, Abacum, Salesforce and QV to ensure scalability, data integrity, and accurate revenue recognition.

• Drive continuous improvement of finance system integrations and workflows, proactively identifying and resolving issues to enhance performance, reliability, and user experience.

• Lead the transformation of Billing and AP processes through enhanced controls, automated workflows, invoice validation, credit management, supplier remittance optimisation, and customer communications.

• Drive continuous improvement of transactional and billing processes, with a focus on automation and efficiency gains.

• Supporting with Finance Transformation the rollout of a unified Source-to-Procure (S2P) solution - consolidating procurement, support ticketing, contract management, and expense reimbursement into one platform to improve control and user experience

• Ensure alignment between NetSuite financial reporting (Profit & Loss and Balance Sheet) and Abacum planning and forecasting models to provide consistent financial insights across the business.

• Establish and maintain effective finance systems governance through the optimisation of user roles, permissions, access controls, and segregation of duties.

• Partner with Finance, Technology, and Business stakeholders to ensure finance systems effectively support commercial growth, operational excellence, and evolving business requirements.
  
  

COMPETENCIES

• Team management: Experience managing a team, delegating effectively and developing (5) direct reports.

• Stakeholder management: Able to build relationships and influence across Finance, Technology & product and the business stakeholders.

• System expertise: Strong proficiency with NetSuite, Salesforce, Moss, Precoro, Abacum and Banking tools.

• Finance foundations: Solid grounding in financial operations, accounting and finance principles.

• Problem-solving: Able to troubleshoot system issues and implement effective solutions.

• Attention to detail: High accuracy in managing data integrity and financial records.

• Technical & analytical skills: Understanding of databases and being able to analyse processes and data flows to optimise system performance.

• AI: High level of proficiency in Claude, Gemini

• Communication: Strong written and verbal communication with technical and non-technical stakeholders.

• Project management: Experience managing system implementations, upgrades or process improvement projects.

• Prioritisation: Ability to manage competing priorities between multiple scopes.

• 'Professional qualification: ACA/ACCA/CIMA (or equivalent) qualified accountant, with strong grounding in financial controls and reporting.'
  
  

INTERVIEW PROCESS

• Step 1: People Team Screening Call (30 min)

• Step 2: Hiring Team Call: Experience (60 mins)

• Step 3: Technical Task In-Person (60 mins)

• Step 4: Exec Call (60 mins)

• Step 5: Values Interview (45 min)
  
  

WHAT'S IN IT FOR YOU

• Hybrid working

• Competitive salary to fund that dream holiday to Bali

• Matched pension contributions for a peaceful retirement

• Share options - when we thrive, so do you!

• Vitality Private Healthcare, for peace of mind, plus eyecare vouchers

• Life Assurance for (even more) peace of mind

• Monthly coaching sessions with Spill - our mental wellbeing partner

• Enhanced holiday package, plus Bank Holidays

• 28 days annual leave

• 1 day for your wedding

• 1 day off when you move house - because moving is hard enough without work!

• For your third year anniversary, get 30 days of annual leave per year

• For your tenth year anniversary, get 35 days of annual leave per year

• Option to buy 3 extra days of holiday per year

Diversity and inclusion is an integral part of our culture. We know that diverse teams are strong teams, so we welcome those with alternative identities, backgrounds, and experiences to apply for this position. We make recruiting decisions based on experience, skills and potential, so all our applicants are treated fairly and equally.