What are the responsibilities and job description for the Head of Finance / Finance Director position at Ellaway Blues Consulting?
We are working with a high-growth advanced materials business entering a pivotal phase of its development. The company is building a vertically integrated platform across multiple entities and is now preparing for significant institutional funding, with the potential for major government-backed investment.
As a result, they are looking to appoint a Head of Finance / Finance Director to bring structure, rigor, and credibility to the finance function at a critical inflection point. This is not a steady-state role. The business is moving quickly, and there is a clear need for someone who can step in, assess what’s there, fix what isn’t working, and build a finance foundation that can support scale, audit readiness, and future investment activity.
The position sits as the most senior finance role in the business. There is no CFO in place, and the expectation is that this individual operates with full ownership of finance, with a clear pathway to CFO as the company grows.
Key areas of focus include:
- Establishing financial structure across multiple entities, including potential parent/holding company setup
- Drive commercial and strategic direction across the group
- Owning GAAP compliance and preparing the business for audited financials
- Leading budgeting, forecasting, and financial modelling to support growth plans
- Reviewing and correcting historical tax filings, with a strong focus on US tax compliance
- Supporting broader commercial decision making as the business scales and explores funding options
- Bringing discipline to processes, controls, and reporting in what is currently an evolving environment
This role will suit someone coming out of a strong accounting foundation, ideally Big 4 trained, who has since moved into industry and is looking for a broader, more hands-on leadership position in a scaling business. The expectation is not a fully formed CFO, but someone with the technical grounding and mindset to take ownership and grow into that position over time.
You will need to be comfortable operating in ambiguity, making decisions with incomplete information, and working closely with founders who are moving at pace. There is a real opportunity here, but also a requirement to deal with legacy issues, particularly around tax and historical financials, which will need to be addressed early.
On the flip side, this is not a role for someone who wants a fully built-out finance function or clearly defined processes from day one. There is work to do, and that needs to be something you’re willing to take ownership of.