Finance Manager

We're looking for a Finance Manager who excels in a fast-moving, private equity-backed environment and delivers accurate, timely and insightful financial reporting. You'll be someone who works proactively and independently, brings a naturally curious mindset, and is always looking for opportunities to improve processes and add value. Comfortable engaging with stakeholders across the business, you'll embody our values through integrity in the numbers, vision in enhancing reporting, dedication to quality and deadlines, and a passion for getting the detail right.

This is a hands-on leadership opportunity for a technically strong and commercially astute accountant who enjoys operating at the heart of the business. You'll take ownership of the month-end close across our project-based entities, leading key areas including work-in-progress (WIP), deferred income and long-term contract revenue recognition.

You’ll translate financial information into meaningful commercial insight that supports decision-making across the organisation. You'll also play a key role in strengthening financial controls, driving continuous improvement initiatives, and delivering measurable value to the business.

Just as importantly, you’ll lead and develop a small finance team, supporting junior colleagues through their professional qualifications and helping them build the confidence, skills and experience to become the next generation of capable accountants.

Key Responsibilities:

• Manage the accounting for work-in-progress (WIP), ensuring costs are recognised appropriately against project stage and status.
• Account for deferred income and revenue recognition on long-term contracts, applying percentage-of-completion / stage-of-completion principles in line with FRS 102.
• Prepare and review contract cost accruals, provisions and margin recognition, and reconcile project positions to the general ledger.
• Produce/review robust balance sheet reconciliations and ensure the integrity of the entire balance sheet.
• Prepare monthly management accounts, variance analysis and supporting commentary for review.
• Support the preparation of Board packs, operating KPIs, and financial commentary.
• Deliver variance analysis vs budget, forecast and prior period, explaining movements clearly.
• Full responsibility for VAT and CIS tax collation, submission and wider compliance
• Work closely with the senior commercial team to ensure monthly reporting is accurate and reflective of the true in-month position, ensuring clear and proactive communication between Finance and operational teams.
• Own the end-to-end process of the D&I quarterly and rolling forecast process.
• Act as a finance business partner to project managers, operational leads and senior stakeholders, providing clear, commercially relevant analysis.
• Review project performance, margins and cost-to-complete positions, challenging assumptions and flagging risks and opportunities early.
• Support the wider business on pricing, tendering and commercial decision-making with well-grounded financial insight.
• Translate technical accounting into plain language that non-finance colleagues can act on.
• Prepare or support both entity and group statutory accounts (UK GAAP / FRS 102 typically).
• Account for complex areas such as deferred income, work in progress, applications and retentions.
• Working with the Group FC, liaising with external auditors, responding to queries and managing deliverables.
• Maintain strong financial control, documentation and audit trails.
• Identify and remediate control weaknesses.
• Support internal reviews, audit findings and remediation plans.
• Support process improvement and documentation.
• Improve systems, controls and processes as the group scales.
• Support finance transformation or system implementations where required.

Experience Required:

Essential

• ACA / ACCA qualified.
• Strong technical accounting background, with hands-on experience of WIP, deferred income and long-term contract accounting - ideally gained in a project-based, construction, engineering, installation or similar environment.
• Hands‑on month‑end delivery mindset; comfortable working to tight PE deadlines.
• Excellent Excel and financial modelling skills.
• Able to challenge, influence and support subsidiary finance teams.
• Commercially minded and outcomes‑focused.
• Comfortable with ambiguity and change.
• Confident and personable.
• The ability to learn quickly and adapt is essential in a fast-moving, high-growth environment
• Strong attention to detail with the ability to step back and “tell the story”.
• Resilient, organised and able to operate calmly under pressure.
• Trusted partner to senior stakeholders.

Highly desirable

• Experience in a private‑equity‑backed or highly leveraged environment.
• Team leader and mentor for junior team members, supporting professional career development and qualification support.
• M&A or integration experience, new ERP implementation.
• Systems experience Sage Intaact, Hansa and Exchequer.

The Airedale Group is expanding rapidly, employing circa 750 people across multiple locations in the UK. This is a fantastic time to be joining the business, with opportunities for career progression.