Location:
London, GBCondé Nast is a global media company, home to iconic brands including Vogue, GQ, Glamour, CN Traveller, Vanity Fair, Wired, The World of Interiors, House & Garden and Tatler, among many others.
We are headquartered in New York and London and operate in 32 markets worldwide, with a footprint of more than 1 billion consumers across print, digital, video and social platforms.
Condé Nast thrives on collaboration, and our teams come together in the office four days a week (Monday - Thursday).
We value diversity of background, views and cultures. We celebrate people for their personal qualities, skills and contributions, recognising the power our brands have to influence and shape culture.
The Role
Reporting to the Executive Director, EMEA Controller (London), the Senior Director, UK Financial Controller will take full ownership of all UK Controllership activities, leading financial excellence across the market.
Based in our London office, this role is a hands-on role accountable for delivering a robust month-end close under US GAAP, ensuring full compliance with UK GAAP (FRS102) for statutory and regulatory reporting, and driving best-in-class financial control standards.
As a key member of the local finance leadership team, the UK Financial Controller will champion process improvement, strengthen balance sheet management, and elevate finance operations through efficiency, accuracy, and insight. This role requires strong partnership across Finance, including FP&A and Finance Business Partnering, as well as close collaboration with the Controlling Operations team and offshore colleagues in Bangalore.
Leading a London-based team of 5-6 (including two direct reports), the Senior Director will inspire high performance, foster collaboration, and build a culture of accountability and continuous improvement across the UK finance function.
What will you be doing?
Financial Reporting & Compliance & Accounting:
Support the EMEA Controller in the preparation and coordination of month-end-close (MEC) for purposes of management accounts, including variance analysis.
Review monthly profit & loss, balance sheet, and related key balance sheet reconciliations.
Monitor agreed Controlling activities to ensure they are delivered according to country regulatory reporting requirements and according to CN Global standard processes, policies and controls (including US GAAP)
Review of statutory financial statements under UK GAAP (FRS 102), including UK Consolidated financial statements, and any associated regulatory filings, for Board approval.
Responsible for supporting and executing the UK GAAP (FRS102) statutory audit process, including engaging with KPMG in order to secure the process, timelines and consistency of the audit process.
Manage and support any (other) external audit engagements (e.g. VAT, Tax) and internal audits (GIA)
Responsible for reviewing and approving tax computations and VAT returns and liaising with tax advisors, as required.
Review of the cash flow forecast, including monthly variance analysis.
Review and approve any Low / Medium value manual journals and any judgment-based manual journals.
Management:
Overall responsibility for the UK Market Controlling function activities, working closely with Corporate Finance, FP&A, and Commercial Controlling Ops.
Line management responsibility for the market Controlling function (incl. OTC and Financial Reporting team); manage and lead the local Controllership team to meet both Global and local objectives and goals, as well as develop the team.
Oversight and support of the Bangalore team (dotted line) to resolve queries and ensure timely MEC.
Participate with the Global Controlling team to share opportunities to standardise and enhance service delivery wherever they are delivered.
Liaison with Heads of Department and commercial teams to support the FCF target and maintain a lean AR Ageing profile.
Creation and production of accounts receivable and payable management reports.
Maintain and manage the process for establishing and communicating expense reimbursement.
Manage the OTC Team with specific cash collection, including with 3rd party collection agencies where appropriate.
Manage and supervise tax compliance, intercompany operations, transfer pricing policies, etc.
Collaborate with the Treasury team and manage local Banking relationships.
Process Improvement:
Monitor operational KPIs and service delivery, working collaboratively with the Senior Director of Controlling Operations and the Bangalore Controlling Ops team to ensure actions are taken to address key risks and identify opportunities for improvement across the team.
Review the Balance Sheet reconciliation process performed by the Controlling Operations team, assessing the quality of reconciliations, contributing to action plans to address unreconciled items and providing approvals for agreed Low or Medium priority reconciliations.
Drive initiatives to improve Free Cash Flow and take ownership of the cash flow forecasts, contributing to the development of opportunities in the market and influencing stakeholders to support the achievement of cash flow targets. Identifying and implementing improvements to the balance sheet and cash flow forecasting, and reporting processes.
Provide input on the definition of reporting standards, policies, processes and internal controls with stakeholders, including Controlling Operations and Corporate Finance, Tax and Treasury.
Input to any Global and Market-specific projects that are assigned, helping to ensure projects are successfully delivered and embedded in the organisation.
Support the Bangalore Controlling Ops team to identify and implement opportunities to enhance and standardise processes and technology, including taking part in initiatives that will lead to being able to retire legacy applications by moving to our global process and systems.
Provide inputs and guidance to the Bangalore Finance team to ensure that activities are performed in a timely and accurate manner.
About You:
Qualified accountant (CCAB, ACA, ACCA, CIMA) with at least 10 years PQE, ideally from Big 4 Global Accountancy Firm
Previous experience as a Financial Controller or equivalent
Technically strong and analytical finance professional; strong knowledge and expertise of both US GAAP for month-end close reporting as well as UK GAAP (FRS102) for statutory financial statements.
Comfortable operating at a senior level while maintaining a consistently hands-on and engaged approach.
Able to manage and influence change and deal effectively with change management initiatives
Strong understanding and practical experience in internal and external audit.
Good working knowledge of direct and indirect tax, including corporation tax, VAT and WHT.
Practical and hands-on experience implementing and/or monitoring internal control systems; internal
Audit experience is highly desirable.
Team player with strong communication skills
Focused on delivering and pushing projects forward
Able to work under pressure and respect deadlines
Does this sound like you?
Please submit your CV, which highlights why you'd love to take on this role and why you're a great match for what we're looking for.
We value the time and effort behind every application. All submissions are reviewed by a member of our talent team - we don’t use AI-assisted technology to review applications.
What benefits do we offer?
25 days holiday (plus bank holidays) and extra days of annual leave if you move house or want to volunteer.
You’ll have access to a competitive pension scheme, Bupa Private Healthcare, Season ticket loans and eye tests.
We offer a range of tools to support your wellbeing, including core hours, 10 remote days (from home or a country with a Condé Nast office location), access to our Employee Assistance Programme, corporate gym membership and cycle to work scheme.
We’re a dog-friendly office, plus you’ll enjoy discounts and magazine subscriptions, keeping you up to date with all things Condé Nast.
We encourage personal and professional growth through the Condé Nast Learning Hub, where you’ll find an extensive portfolio of learning courses and training, available in local languages.
Our Employee Resource Groups provide a platform for employees to identify shared objectives, exchange ideas, and work on community priorities for our global workforce.
If you are interested in this opportunity, please apply below, and we will review your application as soon as possible. You can update your resume or upload a cover letter at any time by accessing your candidate profile.
Condé Nast is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, veteran status, age, familial status and other legally protected characteristics.
