Head of Commercial Finance

The Head of Commercial Finance is a senior finance leadership role that acts as the primary financial partner across Business Development, Product, Delivery, and Sales teams. This position provides critical commercial finance support throughout the deal lifecycle, helping evaluate opportunities, develop detailed financial analyses, and guide commercial decision-making to ensure project profitability. The role also contributes to strategic investment decisions by preparing business cases and financial models, while advising on commercial structures, pricing, contracts, and related financial matters. Embedded within the commercial and delivery organization, the Head of Commercial Finance maintains a direct reporting line to Finance leadership and the COO Office, working closely with Sales, Delivery, Product, and Accounting teams to enhance financial governance, improve commercial outcomes, support revenue recognition, and contribute to strategic initiatives including FP&A and Business Management activities.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Business Cases & Investment Analysis
- Develop and maintain business cases for strategic initiatives such as market expansion, mergers & acquisitions, product investments, and major technology projects.
- Prepare financial models and investment appraisals using metrics like NPV, IRR, payback, and sensitivity analyses to support executive decision-making.
- Collaborate with business leaders to evaluate initiatives, validate assumptions, and recommend investment priorities.
- Conduct post-investment reviews comparing actual results against approved business cases.

Commercial Finance Support: Deal Analysis, Contracting & Project Profitability
- Lead financial evaluations in the commercial deal review and governance process, ensuring thorough analysis and documentation throughout the deal lifecycle.
- Prepare and maintain financial analyses including cash flow projections, profitability metrics, and investment returns to support commercial decisions.
- Act as the finance contact for commercial contracting, advising on deal structures, taxation, revenue recognition, costing, and margin expectations.
- Partner with Sales and Delivery to develop financially sustainable and competitive proposals through detailed financial modelling.
- Provide guidance on internal charge-out rates and commercial policies to ensure consistent and profitable deal structuring.
- Monitor post-award project profitability, highlighting risks, variances, and improvement opportunities.
- Track financials related to commercial engagements such as sales commissions, marketing costs, and investments to maintain visibility on deal profitability.
- Collaborate with cross-functional teams to provide financial insights throughout opportunity and project lifecycles.

Support on Revenue Recognition & Capitalization Matters
- Assist Accounting teams by providing commercial input on revenue recognition and capitalization, anticipating accounting implications early in deal structuring.

Finance Business Partnering
- Serve as the embedded finance point of contact within Delivery and Sales, delivering timely and actionable financial insights.
- Build trusted relationships with commercial and delivery leadership, translating complex financial data into clear guidance for non-finance stakeholders.

Cross-Functional & Strategic Contribution
- Engage in multiple strategic projects across teams and stakeholders.
- Support broader priorities including FP&A and Business Management activities as needed.
- Lead, mentor, and develop team members assigned to the commercial finance function.

Required Qualifications
- Professional accounting or finance qualification such as ACCA, CA, CFA, or MBA with a finance focus.
- Extensive post-qualification experience in commercial finance, strategic projects, deal reviews, FP&A, or finance business partnering, preferably within technology, software/SaaS, fintech, or technology services sectors.
- Proven track record in deal review governance, business case development, pricing, and commercial contract analysis.
- Experience supporting accounting teams on revenue recognition and capitalization matters.
- Strong ability to partner with senior stakeholders across sales, product, and delivery functions.

Key Skills & Competencies
- Strong commercial acumen balancing growth, margin, and risk considerations.
- Advanced financial modelling, business casing, and commercial analysis expertise.
- Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills across finance and non-finance audiences.
- Solid understanding of revenue and cost recognition principles and their commercial impact.
- Clear and structured communication skills, capable of simplifying complex financial concepts.
- Self-motivated with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a matrixed, embedded environment.

Indicative Success Measures
- Adoption of a consistent, well-governed, and timely deal review process across the business.
- Enhanced quality, consistency, and reliability of business cases and commercial decisions.
- Recognition of finance as a trusted single point of contact by Delivery and Sales teams.
- Effective collaboration with accounting on revenue recognition and capitalization.
- Valuable contributions to FP&A, Business Management, and strategic initiatives as required.