Head of Finance – one day travel to London per week

Swoon

Head of Finance overseeing finance function including FP&A, treasury, and reporting at Swoon. Leading finance team and supporting strategic initiatives with a focus on financial governance.

Posted 6/22/2026full-time🇬🇧 United KingdomLeadWebsite

ATS Keywords

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Applicant Tracking System Keywords

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Hard Skills

financial planningforecastingreportingfinancial modellingcash flow managementbudgetingstatutory reportingtreasury managementinventory managementrisk mitigation

Soft Skills

leadershipbusiness partneringcommercial acumenstrategic thinkingcredibility buildingteam coachingconstructive challenginghands-on approachcross-functional alignmentproblem-solving

Tools & Technologies

SigmaBI toolsfinancial control systemspayment systemsforecasting softwarereporting toolsaccounting softwaredata analysis toolsERP systemsfinancial dashboards

Certifications & Qualifications

ACAACCACIMA

Industry Keywords

FP&Amanagement accountinge-commerceretailDTCmulti-channel businessmerchandising financestock investment economicsfurniture sectorhomeware sector

About the role

Key responsibilities & impact

Financial Planning, Forecasting and Reporting: Own the annual budget, quarterly reforecasts, and three-year strategic plan. Build robust, ground-up models that connect commercial drivers to financial outcomes.
Reporting: Manage the monthly management accounts, board packs, investor reporting and FP&A reporting.
Trading Cadence: Oversee the weekly trading rhythm with marketing and merchandising; challenge plans and ensure every promotional or marketing spend has a clear business case.
Cash Flow: Maintain weekly direct/operational cash flow forecasts and three-way model. Galvanise the internal team to execute the cash roadmap.
BI & Insights: Develop an FP&A reporting suite within Sigma to ensure the business stays on track against targets.
Operational Finance, Treasury and Day-to-Day: Oversee the monthly close, balance sheet reconciliations, and the integrity of all board-level data.
Treasury: Run payment run, manage banking relationships, debt facilities, covenant reporting, and lender communication.
Compliance: Oversee VAT, payroll, and statutory filings; manage the year-end and external audit processes.
Operations & HR: Oversee business insurance and annual renewals. Bring financial rigor to people-related decisions, including payroll, compensation, and benefits.
Leadership: Lead, coach, and prioritise the finance team, building capabilities to scale alongside the business.
Payment stack: own statutory reporting and relationship with payment providers
Strategic Finance and Business Partnering: Serve as a strategic partner to the co-founders, providing analysis and guidance on major commercial decisions, partnerships, new ventures, and CAPEX investments.
Merchandising Controls: Uphold guardrails for inventory management, including budgets, stock investment, intake margin, clearance pricing, and markdown strategies.
Working Capital: Set and enforce rules-based working capital frameworks, including CM3 floors, discontinuation thresholds, and cash recovery targets.
Margin: partner with the B&M and operations teams to drive continuous improvements in the "Margin Stack" from factory to front door.
Funding: Lead funding discussions with existing and prospective lenders.
CAPEX Governance: Evaluate all tech CAPEX projects against projected ROI and rigorously review the tech roadmap budget.
Controls, Governance and Risk: Continuously evolve the financial control environment, including payment authorisation, segregation of duties, and procurement controls.
Planning Cycle: Support the co-founders with the quarterly OKR-based planning cycle to ensure cross-functional alignment with profitability and cash targets.
Risk Mitigation: Proactively identify, model, and mitigate financial risks, such as supply chain disruption, pricing pressure, partner concentration, FX volatility, and working capital seasonality.

Requirements

What you’ll need

Qualifications: Qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA, or equivalent) with 7+ years of experience.
Breadth: Proven track record leading or working within the full finance function, encompassing FP&A, management accounting, treasury, and statutory reporting.
Commercial Acumen: Strong instincts developed in a consumer-facing, high-growth environment (e-commerce, retail, hospitality, or DTC).
Controls & Governance: Demonstrable experience in designing, implementing, and managing robust financial controls.
Business Partnering: Ability to build credibility with non-finance functions and challenge leadership constructively.
Technical Proficiency: Advanced financial modelling and forecasting skills; comfortable building complex models from scratch and comfortable with 3 way financial modelling.
Hands-on Leadership: A strategic thinker who is unafraid to "roll up their sleeves" during month-end; comfortable working directly with the numbers.
Strongly preferred
Experience in a multi-channel business (Direct-to-Consumer + Wholesale).
Familiarity with retail / merchandising finance, including stock investment economics and markdown management.
Proficiency with modern BI tools (e.g., Sigma).
Experience working with or reporting to a strategic board—specifically understanding the standard required by institutional partners.
Prior experience in the furniture, homeware, or interiors sectors.

Benefits

Comp & perks

Competitive salary
Share options programme
Profit share scheme
Wellbeing allowance
Pension scheme
Private medical cover for you and your family
27 days holiday rising to 30 with tenure
4 months of summer hours finishing at 1 PM on a Friday (we’re currently trialling rolling this out permanently!)
Free furniture on each anniversary of employment
Friends & family discount of 20%
Remote working 4x days per week