German-speaking Project Accountant
2 days ago
Bristol
6-month interim role starting in February 2026 • Job title: Interim Commercial Finance Manager – German Speaking, • Contract: 6 months initially (February 2026 start), • Context: SME scale-up, PE-backed / PE-ready, • Bristol-based role (Hybrid / flexible working available) – with occasional travel abroad Role purposeThe Interim Commercial Finance Manager will support the leadership team through a critical scale-up phase, improving financial visibility, forecasting accuracy and commercial decision-making. The role is hands-on and delivery-focused, ensuring the business has robust, investor-grade financial insight and is well-prepared for future PE or exit activity. This is a short-term, high-impact role focused on clarity, control and value creation. Essential skills & experience • Qualified accountant (ACA / ACCA / CIMA or equivalent), • Proven experience in SME scale-ups, PE-backed or fast-growth environments, • Strong commercial finance / business partnering background, • Comfortable operating hands-on with limited structure or resource, • Able to simplify complexity and move quickly without over-engineering, • Strong stakeholder management skills at leadership level, • German language skills (written & verbal) Key responsibilities • Commercial partnering & insight, • Act as the primary finance partner to senior operational and commercial leaders, • Provide clear, actionable insight into revenue, margins, costs and profitability drivers, • Support pricing, investment and resource decisions with robust financial analysisForecasting, budgeting & planning, • Own and improve short-term and medium-term forecasting (monthly, quarterly, annual), • Reduce forecast volatility and improve confidence in numbers, • Build or refine simple, scalable models suitable for a growing SMEManagement reporting & KPIs, • Design and deliver concise management reporting packs focused on key value drivers, • Define and standardise KPIs across revenue, margin, cash and operational performance, • Ensure consistency between management accounts, forecasts and board reportingEBITDA quality & cash focus, • Improve understanding and transparency of EBITDA performance and movements, • Identify and implement margin improvement and cost control opportunities, • Support working capital optimisation and cash flow forecastingExit readiness / PE hygiene, • Ensure financial information is well-structured, explainable and diligence-ready, • Support preparation of financial narratives and data for investors or advisors, • Improve documentation, assumptions and controls to reduce key-person riskInterim delivery & handover, • Deliver tangible improvements within the 6-month period, • Upskill internal teams where appropriate and leave clear tools, processes and documentation, • Ensure a smooth handover to permanent or extended finance leadershipWhat success looks like after 6 months, • Forecasts are reliable, explainable and trusted, • Management reporting is concise, consistent and decision-useful, • Clear visibility of EBITDA drivers and cash performance, • Leadership is better equipped to make commercial decisions. 4766150