Job Title: Finance Manager
Location: Canterbury, Kent
Salary: Negotiable (Dependent on experience)
Job Type: Full time/Permanent
We are seeking an experienced Finance Manager with manufacturing industry experience to lead financial operations, drive performance improvements and support strategic decision-making. This is an excellent opportunity for a hands-on finance professional to take ownership of finance processes within a fast-paced manufacturing environment.
Key responsibilities
*Lead month-end and year-end close activities, ensuring accurate and timely financial reporting and statutory compliance
*Prepare management accounts, budgets, forecasts and long-range financial models
*Own manufacturing cost accounting, production costing, standard costing, inventory valuation and variance analysis
*Provide commercial business partnering to operations, supply chain and production teams to improve margin and operational efficiency
*Manage cash flow forecasting, working capital optimisation and capital expenditure planning
*Oversee audit, tax and regulatory processes in conjunction with external advisors
*Implement and optimise finance processes, controls and ERP-related finance functionality (e.g. SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics or similar)
*Produce KPI reporting and present financial performance to senior management
Skills and experience required
*Proven experience as a Finance Manager or senior finance role within the manufacturing industry (essential)
*Strong technical skills in cost accounting, inventory management and production costing
*Hands-on experience with ERP systems and advanced Excel skills; experience with BI tools an advantage
*Solid understanding of budgeting, forecasting, cash management and statutory reporting
*Experience leading month-end and year-end close, and supporting external audits
*Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills; able to translate financial data into actionable insight for non-finance audiences
*Experience managing and developing finance teams
*Professional accounting qualification (ACCA, CIMA, ACA or equivalent) or relevant degree preferred