Head of Finance & Operations – Premium Spirits Brand (Confidential)

Vauxhall (Hybrid) | Reporting to CEO

About the Company

Our client is a founder-led premium spirits brand growing fast in a category dominated by giants. Topline grew 50% last year, and the business is forecasting 70% this year.

Around 80% of sales come from bars and restaurants, with national listings at major UK premium grocers. The first export market has just launched, and the range is expanding across on-trade, grocery and RTD.

The business believes the next two years are a real window for challenger brands in spirits, and it intends to make the most of it.

The Role

This is a new leadership role. Until now, finance has been led by a founder with fractional support. Your job is to bring finance in-house, take ownership of operations, and become the person the CEO turns to for a straight answer on what the numbers mean.

This isn’t a traditional controller role. You’ll sit on the senior leadership team as a peer to the Heads of Sales and Marketing. Some things need fixing, and some need building from scratch.

What You’ll Be Doing:

• Build and own the financial model, and use it to advise on how to grow faster and more profitably

• Lead annual planning and budgeting, and keep forecasts current as the business changes

• Track channel and product economics across on-trade, grocery, RTD and export, so the business knows where every pound of growth comes from

• Support fundraising and investor reporting, including the model and due diligence

Reporting, Cash and Control

• Own monthly management accounts and a board pack that tells the story behind the numbers

• Own the cash flow forecast, and flag early when a decision will change the cash position

• Keep costs, controls and statutory accounts in order alongside external accountants on audit and tax

• Build a finance function that’s fast, reliable and fit for a business growing at pace

Operations

• Take ownership of supply, production, stock and logistics

• Manage key supplier relationships and terms

• Set up the operational and financial foundations for new export markets

Cross-functional Partnership

• Partner with Sales on commercial planning, pricing and trade terms, with clear ownership on each side

• Shape company strategy and OKRs as an active member of the senior leadership team

• Lead by influence across the business, not just within finance

How We’ll Know It’s Working

• A financial model and forecast the CEO and board trust and use to make decisions

• Clear visibility of cash, margin and channel economics, with no surprises

• Management accounts and board reporting delivered on a predictable timetable

• Operations that keep pace with 70% growth

What You’ll Bring

• A professional accounting qualification (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent)

• Experience in a fast-growing consumer business, ideally FMCG, drinks or another brand-led business

• Strong modelling, forecasting and cash management, used to drive commercial decisions

• Experience running operations alongside finance, or a clear appetite to take it on

• The judgement to give the CEO a straight answer, and the confidence to push back

• Strong interpersonal leadership: you build trust, influence peers and fit a close-knit senior team

• Comfort in a small, fast-moving team where you’ll help shape the process

Bonus points: Experience in spirits, drinks or on-trade led businesses, grocery retail or export markets, or supporting a fundraise or investor reporting. 🥃

Why This Role 🤔

• Join at a pivotal moment, with two years of opportunity ahead for challenger spirits brands

• Build the finance and operations functions outright, rather than inheriting someone else’s decisions

• Sit on the leadership team as a genuine peer, shaping strategy and OKRs from day one