Working Capital Improvement Lead - Fixed-Term Contract (6-9 months)

Location: Hybrid (approx. one office day pw)
Salary: £70,000 - £80,000 per annum equivalent
Contract: Fixed-term, 6-9 months
Start: ASAP

The opportunity

Our client, a leading UK business, is looking for a hands-on Working Capital Improvement Lead to deliver an existing improvement programme. The diagnostic work is complete and the priorities are agreed. Now they need someone to make it happen.

You’ll own individual interventions within a wider programme, releasing working capital, reducing overdue debt and getting completed work billed and collected faster. This is a delivery role, not an advisory one. Many of the issues start in operational processes rather than in Finance, so you’ll be required to work across both.

Key responsibilities

• Drive working-capital release and improvements in cash collection across the order to cash cycle
• Reduce DSO, overdue debt and aged unbilled balances, particularly items outstanding more than 30 days
• Identify and fix the operational causes of billing delays and uncollectable invoices
• Standardise processes and improve consistency across business units
• Make sure teams take ownership of problems at source
• Work across Finance, Operations, Supply Chain, Consulting and Compliance
• Monitor and report on DSO, aged debt, unbilled work in progress and cash collection
• Establish clear ownership, KPIs, dashboards and process documentation
• Embed changes and hand them back to the business so improvements last

About you

Essential

• Fully qualified chartered accountant: ACA (ICAEW), CA (ICAS) or CA (Chartered Accountants Ireland), with current membership
• Proven working-capital release and cash improvement, with measurable results you can talk through
• Finance transformation or operational improvement experience that made work more billable and cash more collectible
• Strong understanding of finance processes and the confidence to challenge accounting issues
• Experience working across Finance and non-finance functions
• Able to start at short notice

Desirable

• Experience in a multi-site or contract-based services business
• Restructuring or turnaround experience
• Experience improving billing, credit control, accrued income or debt collection
• Familiarity with ERP, billing and job management systems

Personal attributes

• Confident and comfortable challenging established practices and influencing at all levels
• Practical and delivery-focused, with evidence of implementing change
• Credible with both finance and operational colleagues
• Resilient and adaptable, able to make progress where priorities and problems shift