Head of Finance - Audio Gross Margin
You New Role: Head of Finance
The Head of Finance, Audio sits at the heart of Global's Audio business, acting as a core member of the Audio leadership team.
This role is accountable for gross margin performance across the Audio portfolio, working in lockstep with Commercial leadership to drive our business forward.
As a trusted partner and constructive challenger, you will be in the room for the decisions that matter — influencing strategy, challenging trade-offs and ensuring financial discipline and commercial ambition are fully aligned.
You will combine strategic insight, financial rigour and commercial judgement to drive better decision-making, delivering sustained improvements in profitability, revenue quality and margin efficiency.
As the Head of Finance at Global, you will:
Key Responsibilities
- Operate as an embedded member of the Audio leadership team, shaping commercial strategy and influencing key business decisions
- Own Audio gross margin performance, driving accountability across revenue, pricing, cost of sales and investment decisions
- Lead performance planning and forecasting, setting robust budgets, forecasts and long-range plans that underpin strategic decision-making
- Lead the development and evolution of pricing strategy, using data and market insight to optimise yield and strengthen market positioning
- Play a leading role in shaping commercial trading deals and commission models, ensuring incentive frameworks align with Global's strategic and financial objectives
- Lead financial evaluation and rigorous challenge of revenue initiatives and investment decisions, influencing decision-making to drive the best business outcomes
- Drive cost optimisation across the revenue-linked cost base, embedding strong cost discipline and value for money
- Ensure high-quality financial governance and data integrity, establishing a single source of truth for Audio performance and performance metrics.
- Partner with Group FP&A to ensure consistency of targets and performance tracking
- Establish a seamless partnership with the Reporting Hub with clear RACI and efficient delivery of core financial reports and processes
- Lead and continue to develop a high-performing finance team, maintaining strong capability across modelling, analytics and commercial decision support
What You'll Love About This Role
Think Big: Shape the future of Audio by driving pricing innovation, trading strategy and market leadership
Own It: Take accountability for gross margin performance and the financial outcomes of one of Global's most strategic business areas
Keep it Simple: Translate complex commercial and financial dynamics into clear, actionable insights that drive better decisions
Better Together: Work at the centre of a highly collaborative ecosystem across Commercial, Operations, Finance and external partners
What Success Looks Like
In your first 6-12 months, you'll have:
- Established yourself as a core member of the Audio leadership team, consistently influencing key commercial and investment decisions
- Shaped trade-offs between revenue, pricing, cost and investment, ensuring decisions are both commercially ambitious and financially disciplined
- Established a clear, data-led view of Audio gross margin drivers
- Delivered enhanced forecasting and performance visibility, enabling faster, better-informed commercial decisions
- Strengthened trading deal frameworks and commission structures, improving alignment with Global's commercial objectives
- Established a robust pipeline of value-accretive revenue and investment decisions, with clear governance over deals and initiatives
- Improved data quality, governance and accessibility, creating a single source of truth for Audio financial and commercial metrics
- Maintained a high-performing, engaged team aligned to Audio priorities, delivering consistent, high-impact insight
- Incrementally strengthened team capability and bench strength, raising the bar on analytical rigour and commercial influence
What You'll Need
- Proven experience in a senior finance leadership role, ideally within a similarly commercial, subscription or advertising-led environment
- Credibility to operate as a peer to senior commercial leaders, influencing high-impact decisions with confidence and authority
- Clear and confident communication style, able to distil complex concepts into compelling, outcome-focused narratives
- Excellent stakeholder management skills, with proven ability to influence at Executive and Board level
- Strong track record of driving financial performance, margin improvement and value creation
- Advanced financial modelling and analytical capability, able to translate complex financial and operational data into strategic insight
- Deep understanding of pricing strategy, commercial models and cost optimisation levers
- Experience evaluating revenue initiatives, trading deals and commission structures
- Strong strategic thinking capability, comfortable operating in complex and ambiguous environments
- A collaborative leadership style, with the ability to build high-performing teams and work cross-functionally
- Commercial awareness of media, advertising and audio / podcasting markets
Skills Required
- Proven experience in a senior finance leadership role, ideally in a commercial, subscription, or advertising-led environment
- Ability to operate credibly as a peer to senior commercial leaders and influence high-impact decisions
- Clear and confident communication skills, including distilling complex concepts into outcome-focused narratives
- Excellent stakeholder management skills with experience influencing at Executive and Board level
- Strong track record of driving financial performance, margin improvement, and value creation
- Advanced financial modeling and analytical capability
- Deep understanding of pricing strategy, commercial models, and cost optimization
- Experience evaluating revenue initiatives, trading deals, and commission structures
- Strong strategic thinking and comfort operating in complex and ambiguous environments
- Collaborative leadership style and ability to build high-performing teams cross-functionally
- Commercial awareness of media, advertising, and audio or podcasting markets
Global Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about Global and has not been reviewed or approved by Global.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — 25 days’ annual leave plus an extra work‑anniversary day, with the option to buy up to five additional days, points to broad time‑off flexibility. Enhanced family and accessibility leave further expand coverage.
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Healthcare Strength — Access to a 24/7 virtual GP, health and dental discount programs, long‑term sickness insurance, and life assurance at 4x salary indicate robust health protection. Free Headspace membership and nutrition coaching complement the core offering.
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Wellbeing & Lifestyle Benefits — Discounted gym memberships, cashback benefits, discounted travel insurance, and access to company‑sponsored music events contribute lifestyle value. Feedback suggests these extras add to a fun, wellbeing‑oriented culture.
Global Insights
What We Do
The UK and Europe’s largest Radio & Outdoor company, Global is home to respected, national market-leading media brands broadcasting across the UK on DAB & FM and around the world on Global Player, including Heart, Capital, LBC, Capital XTRA, Capital Dance, Classic FM, Smooth, Radio X and Gold. Global Player allows listeners to enjoy all of Global’s radio brands, award-winning podcasts, and expertly curated playlists, in one place in app, on web and on smart speakers. Global is also one of the leading Outdoor companies in both the UK & Europe, with over 253,000 sites reaching 95% of the UK population. Global’s extensive and diverse outdoor portfolio encompasses Transport for London’s Underground network, almost all major UK airports including Gatwick, the UK’s largest portfolio of roadside posters and premium digital screens in prime locations, as well as the UK’s largest network of buses including all major cities. On-air, on Global Player and with our outdoor platforms combined, Global reaches 51 million individuals across the UK every week, including 26.3 million on the radio alone.
