Financial Manager

SUMMARY:
If you love dissecting numbers, challenging cost drivers, and sitting at the nerve centre of a logistics operation, this role is for you! This is a hands-on Financial Manager position (a Senior Cost and Management Accountant at heart) for a confident, commercially astute finance professional who thrives in fast-moving freight and logistics environments.

POSITION INFO:
You’ll be the financial gatekeeper, cost analyst, and strategic buffer between senior leadership and operational cost centres with real influence, not just reporting responsibility.

Fully on-site. High accountability. High impact.

Our client is a well-established, growing business in the freight forwarding and logistics sector, operating in a complex, transaction-heavy environment where cost control, margin visibility, and financial discipline are critical.

Reporting directly to the Financial Director, the Financial Manager will play a pivotal role in stabilising and strengthening the finance function during a period of system migration and operational pressure.

This role requires someone who is deeply comfortable in the details, confident engaging with cost centre managers, and able to translate numbers into clear commercial insight, while leading a capable finance team.

This is a front-line finance role embedded in the business, not a back-office position.

Key Responsibilities:

• Full ownership of cost and management accounting across multiple operational cost centres
• Detailed interrogation and analysis of cost drivers, margins, variances, and transactional data
• Review, challenge, and sign-off on trial balances at the cost centre level
• Act as the financial bridge between the Financial Director and cost centre managers, providing clarity, control, and accountability
• Manage, mentor, and develop the finance team, ensuring accuracy, deadlines, and strong internal controls
• Oversee credit limit approvals, customer exposure, and working capital risk
• Review and maintain balance sheet reconciliations and financial integrity
• Oversee asset registers and depreciation, ensuring accurate treatment aligned to operational usage
• Analyse and support pricing structures and rate build-ups to protect margins and ensure cost recovery
• Lead the budgeting process, including detailed cost centre budgets and ongoing forecasting
• Deliver cash flow forecasting, providing visibility on liquidity, funding, and operational requirements
• Support the business through system migration and process change, ensuring financial continuity and control

• BCom in Accounting or Finance (essential)
• CIMA qualification (highly preferred)
• 10+ years' experience as a Cost and Management Accountant
• 5+ years in a finance managerial position successfully managing a team
• Freight forwarding, logistics, or supply chain background
• Strong background in cost and management accounting within a transactional environment
• Confident, assertive communicator able to challenge operational stakeholders
• Comfortable working fully on-site in a fast-paced logistics business
• A genuine passion for dissecting numbers and driving commercial insight

• Financial Manager
• Group Finance Manager
• Financial Director
• Group Accountant
• Financial Accountant
• Management Accountant
• Cost Accountant
• Financial Controller
• Bookkeeper