Finance and Commercial Manager

Annual salary: up to £60,000.00

Finance and Commercial Manager

Dover, Thanet, Folkestone, and Eastbourne

This position will be a hybrid role with 3-4 days based in our operational branches in the East Kent Region and 1-2 days working from home. 

Paying a competitive salary of £60,000, plus £4,500 car allowance, mileage paid whilst travelling to and around branches and great company benefits.

Due to company growth and contract expansion, we are looking for a Finance and Commercial Manager to join our team.

The primary purpose of this role is to take full responsibility for providing Commercial and Financial support to the operational branch leadership team in ensuring they fully understand the commercial model, take ownership of the financial performance and profitability of the contract.

Mears Group provides and manages 17,000 homes for local and central Government and are also responsible for keeping 750,000 social housing homes in the UK in good repair.

Do you want to work for one of the UK’s leading housing management providers in the UK? Are you somebody who is open to new opportunities, works to achieve high standards and is results orientated?

This Finance and Commercial Manager role might be for you!!

The role offers a great opportunity to work alongside our operational branch leadership teams, providing Commercial and Financial support to deliver the contract requirements and group targets.

About the role:

The Finance & Commercial Manager role is a key business partnering role in building understanding of the branches operational process, building relationships with the operational teams, understanding the commercial contract drivers and being able to challenge branch on delivery of the commercial and financial targets. 

You will deliver first class Commercial and Financial management information and analysis including monthly financial performance reviews and insightful commentary and analysis including understanding risks and opportunities to annual targets, producing rolling forecasts and annual budgets.

You will also be involved in any commercial contract requirements including repricing and tendering opportunities.

This role will require you to be an excellent communicator when delivering complex financial and commercial data to non-financial teams. You must have a proactive hands-on approach ability to work on own initiative.

What you'll be doing:

• Ensure timely and accurate production of all financial and commercial information in line with company standards and guidelines to ensure that all branch commercial targets are met.

• Chair monthly commercial reviews with branch leadership teams to review monthly performance to targets, review and understand current financial risks and opportunities, challenge the team of variances to target.

• Produce accurate and timely commercial models based on client tender documentation and Mears internal cost models including forecast and budget models.

• Fully understand and be able to communicate to branch leadership, the commercial model and price framework, ensuring branch adhere to commercial requirements.

• Ensure effective controls are in place, ensuring branches risk and opportunities are accurately reported

• Drive cost control (and ownership) with branch, ensuring branch accurately log costs in Mears internal job management system (MCM) to be able to a report and understand profitability of workstreams.

• Produce annual budgets and monthly forecasts, using internal cost models, in line with branch and contract targets

• Drive working capital improvements, working with branches to ensure improved management of jobs within MCM system to ensure jobs are paid in timely manner.

• Produce ad hoc commercial analysis to support branch in commercial performance

Role Criteria:

• Commercial understanding, in particular working with Schedule of Rates, subcontractors, job pricing, final accounts

• Extensive knowledge of P&L

• An ability to work in the detail of low value/high volume job data.

• Demonstrable experience of engaging with and developing collaborative working relationships

• Have a demonstrable experience in preparing and presenting financial reporting.

• Experience in interpreting commercial contracts.

• The ability to communicate with people at all levels from varying backgrounds including those from a non-financial background, in particular, Branch Operational Managers.

• Demonstrable experience of working well under pressure and of working flexibly to manage competing priorities. 

• Strong Excel skills. 

• Have a proactive and robust approach to work with excellent time management skills

Desirable Skills:

• Experience in Social Housing and Housing Maintenance

All our roles require candidates to have the entitlement to work within the UK, Mears does not currently offer visa sponsorship

Some of our great benefits are:

• £4,500 Car Allowance and travel mileage paid

• Enhanced Pension Scheme

• 33 Days holiday per year (includes 8 days bank holidays)

• Enhanced Sick Pay

• Family friendly policy to include enhanced maternity/paternity leave and much more.  

• Refer a friend scheme (total award £1000)

• Share saver scheme

• Eye test vouchers

• Employee Assistance Programme (Access to Free counselling service)

• Wellbeing service (Access to trained mental health & wellbeing advisors)

• Volunteering Leave – Mears supports employees to undertake volunteering in the community, in support of our social value commitment.

• Mears Annual Family Fun Day for you and your family to places like Blair Drummond Safari Park, M&Ds Theme park, fully paid for including lunch

• Mears Rewards - A performance recognition platform whereby you can be rewarded in high street vouchers

Apply below or to discuss your application further; contact:

Vickie Rudge ([email protected])

If you need any help with your application process, we are here to support you. We will be accessible every step of the way.

At Mears Group, we are committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone can thrive, we are a Disability Confident employer, valuing individuality and ensuring equal opportunities for all.

We proudly support the Armed Forces Covenant and are honoured to have achieved the Gold Award in the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) to coincide with this, we hold an Endorser Award for the Career Transition Partnership, recognising our commitment to veterans transitioning into civilian careers.

In our continued effort to promote social mobility, we invite applicants to voluntarily share their background information during the application stages to help us better understand the diverse experiences of our candidates. This is to ensure we are committed to improving social mobility. We use the Social Mobility Index to assess and enhance opportunities for individuals from diverse backgrounds. These questions are optional and will not impact your ability to apply.