Commercial Finance Manager

Background

Foundry is a market-leading developer of visual effects software that is used globally by leading artists, designers and creative professionals. Our products are used to create breath-taking visual effects sequences on a wide range of media – including films, episodic, games and commercials.

Our software has been used by every Oscar-winner for best VFX and every Emmy-winner for best drama in the past decade. High profile examples include Succession, Game of Thrones, The Crown, Avatar, Dune, Star Wars, Inception and Gravity, amongst many others.

Headquartered in Soho with operations worldwide, Foundry is owned by Roper Technologies, a leading US-listed diversified technology company with ~$60bn market cap. Roper manages 28 portfolio companies under a long term buy and hold model (similar to PE ownership model but without plans to exit). Under Roper’s ownership, there is an ambitious organic growth agenda that will take the business from ~$70m ARR to ~$100m ARR over

the next few years, with potential for M&A to further accelerate growth.

The role

This is an opportunity for a bright and ambitious individual to play a major role in supporting the business through its next phase of growth.

The Commercial Finance Manager is a direct report to the Head of Commercial Finance, and as befits the role, a high-profile member of the finance team in the eyes of the broader organisation.

As a member of the Commercial Finance team you will provide financial guidance, challenge and insight to the wider business through sound and informed financial projections and commercially robust business plans. You will take ownership of detailed financial models and lead the production of clear and informed reporting of progress against these plans to drive high levels of commercial awareness across the business.

This is a fast-paced, demanding environment, particular to a business which has seen three rounds of Private Equity investment and which retains an aspiration for rapid growth.

Experience

The successful candidate is likely to be a qualified accountant, having trained with one of the “Big 4” firms (a Transaction Services / Corporate Finance background is desirable), with 2-4 years PQE either in practice or in a Commercial Finance / FP&A focused role in industry.

Strong academic credentials and a clear track record of progression are essential.

Successful candidates must also demonstrate a strong interest in technology and the media & entertainment industry. Understanding key software metrics including ARR movement drivers would be beneficial but not essential.

Job requirements

The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate the following:

• High intellectual capacity to quickly get up to speed with the business and add value
• Excellent attention to detail, but also able to take a step back to understand the big picture and present complicated financial information / scenarios in a simplified, digestible format, tailored to the audience.
• Comfortable working with large datasets and presenting back impactful analysis, leveraging business systems as appropriate. Experience of using Salesforce and data visualisation & business intelligence tools such as PowerBI will be an advantage
• Strong communication skills and the ability to build strong working relationships both within the finance function and with broader stakeholders across the business (i.e. Exec / Sales / Marketing / Product / Engineering / IT)
• Gravitas to earn trust from senior stakeholders (for the right candidate, opportunity exists for significant C-Suite exposure)
• Inquisitive and proactive, with the ability to anticipate future risks / opportunities, participate in strategic discussions and work autonomously on key projects / analysis
• Exceptional modelling (Excel) and reporting (PowerPoint) capabilities
• Passionate about their work, open to new ideas and focused on delivering consistently high quality results that enrich our business
• Positive attitude, with good sense of humour. Hard-working but balances this successfully with interests outside of work
• Committed to working in the office more often than not (Company policy is minimum 2 days per week, but Finance leadership team are in 3 days per week)

Job responsibilities

Broad commercial finance role covering forecasting, reporting, commercial analytics, business partnering and strategic projects. Key deliverables include:

• Lead and manage the production of monthly reports to Foundry’s Executive team and the Board of Roper
• Partner with budget owners and key stakeholders across the business, as well as the broader finance team, in order to provide key insights / analysis in relation to performance against budget, and support future investment decisions
• Manage and continuously improve detailed financial models (profit and loss / balance sheet / cash flow). Ownership of financial modelling for monthly reforecasts, annual budget and strategic plans (three year and five year financial models)
• Own and develop key PowerBI dashboards that focus the business on critical leading indicators and KPIs that appraise new customer acquisition, retention and ongoing customer management; whilst implementing low-effort / highly-repeatable processes to ensure they are accurately measured and monitored
• Business partnering with sales, product and operations to build value add, insights and drive operational improvements
• Recent examples of strategic projects include: transition to a subscription based revenue model, develop best-in-class automated ARR reporting, bolt on M&A appraisal, pricing analysis, launch of new products, corporate reorganisation, sales targeting

Job benefits

• 25 days holiday + bank holidays
• Pension scheme & life assurance
• Health cash plan & medical insurance
• Season ticket loan
• Company’s social events
• Gym Discounts
• Personal Annual Development Time
• Passion Days
• Anniversary Day off

THE COMPANY.

Foundry has a heritage of more than 25 years, developing creative software for the Media and Entertainment industry. Its portfolio of award-winning products solves complex visualization challenges to turn incredible ideas into reality.

Working with creative leaders around the globe, Foundry products are used to create breathtaking visual effects and animation and have been integral in the making of every VFX Academy Award-winning film for the past decade.

For more information visit www.foundry.com

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We know that creating an inclusive environment that values and encourages different perspectives is critical for our success, and the success of our people. We are learning, listening and taking action to be better and foster trust in our community. Our goal is to ensure every person working at Foundry feels safe and free to be themselves, to share their ideas or concerns and that there is equal access to opportunities for all.