London
Complete Fractional CFO Part-time · 2–4 days/month · Remote-first · Immediate start About Complete Complete is a leadership development consultancy based in Hampshire, working with some of the world's most ambitious organisations – AWS, Danone, Swissport, Tesco, Santander, Bacardi, Specsavers, and more. Founded by Dr. Alan Watkins, a neuroscientist and former NHS consultant, we take a fundamentally different approach to our competitors. Our approach to leadership is rooted in physiology, neuroscience, and developmental maturity rather than conventional coaching models, training, and skill building. Our proprietary assessment suite, which spans ten different types of intelligence, reveals the sophistication level of individual leaders and leadership teams and how they function. Our approved case studies speak for themselves. We have helped clients quadruple market capitalisation, quadruple share price; increase profitability by £110M in 18 months and post the best financial performance in their company’s history. We are a growing consultancy, with the ambition to accelerate so we can help more leaders mature and do better in the world. We operate internationally across multiple market sectors. We have been growing organically by 12.5% year on year for more than 10 years. We are now at a point in our growth where we need higher quality and more precise financial guidance from an experienced and insightful senior financial leader. The situation Our finance function runs well operationally. What we are now missing is a senior financial leader who can build on that foundation - bringing rigour to service line economics, pricing, utilisation, and overhead allocation - to ensure that our growth investment translates into the margins the business is capable of generating. This is a scaling engagement, not a generalist support role. We want someone who has done this before: who has helped a professional services firm move from an investment-heavy growth phase into sustained profitability, and who knows how to build the financial systems and commercial discipline that make that transition stick. We will act on what you tell us. What you will do Months 1–3: Commercial foundations Provide strategic financial guidance to the business. Oversee a cost structure review: overhead allocation, supplier contracts, staffing ratios, and any operational inefficiencies. Work with Rev Ops to ensure we correctly map margin performance by service line, client type, and consultant utilisation - establishing a clear baseline and identifying where there is the most opportunity to improve as the business scales. Work closely with key stakeholders within the business to ensure a 12-month financial plan with specific margin improvement targets, sequenced actions, and clear ownership — delivering a roadmap for the future business growth. Ensure all financial dashboards are appropriate to the business size and business focus. And deliver real-time visibility of margin by engagement, consultant, and practice area. Ongoing strategic leadership Produce monthly management accounts with KPI analysis and clear variance commentary for the leadership team. Maintain a 12–18 month rolling cash flow forecast. Advise on market expansion, service line investment decisions, and pricing strategy as we grow. Coach our finance manager to develop from operational bookkeeping into genuine management reporting. Support business development with financial modelling for larger enterprise engagements. Advise on M&A, equity, or strategic partnership opportunities if relevant as the business evolves. What we are looking for Proven CFO or Finance Director experience in professional services - consultancy, advisory, agency, or similar - ideally in the £2–15M revenue range. A demonstrable track record of helping a professional services firm move from a growth investment phase into strong, sustained margins. We want to hear about a specific situation, not a general approach. Deep understanding of professional services economics: utilisation, project profitability, pricing mechanics, and the relationship between labour costs and delivery. Hands-on style: comfortable building models and working directly with data, not just reviewing outputs produced by others. Strong communicator who can translate financial analysis into clear recommendations for a leadership team of practitioners, not finance professionals. Familiar with Xero, QuickBooks, or comparable SME accounting platforms. Highly desirable Previous fractional or portfolio CFO experience. Qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA, or equivalent). Experience in coaching, consulting, or people development sectors - you will understand our commercial model and client dynamics more quickly. Familiarity with BI and reporting tools: Power BI, Fathom, Spotlight Reporting, or similar. How we will measure success In the first six months, we will consider this engagement successful if you have: Helped the business increase gross and net profitability and provided more options for the extended leadership team (ELT) to consider on how to go further, if needed, without impairing growth potential. Increased the confidence of the ELT in the financial management of the business. Advised the finance department on how to improve the efficiency of our financial systems and automate everything as much as possible, including the use of AI where appropriate. Improved monthly financial reporting quality to ensure it delivers the information that the ELT requires to better manage the business. Working arrangement Time commitment 2–4 days/month initially. Likely 4 days during the foundation phase (month 2), settling to 2 days thereafter. Location Remote-first, with quarterly in-person sessions at our Hampshire office (Romsey, SO51). Contract 12-month initial engagement. 30-day mutual notice period. Reporting to CEO / Managing Director. Start date Within one month. Compensation £700–£1,200 per day (dependent on experience), structured as per agreed day rate Why you might want this role We believe poor leadership causes financial and psychological hardship for an organisation’s employee and customer base. So, Complete is dedicated to reducing this suffering by improving the quality of leadership in the world’s foremost organisations. We have developed, over 25 years, a body of work that has been shown to transform financial, cultural, and personal outcomes for our client base. We have invested heavily in the quality of our coaching community and built IP that is recognised internationally as world class and at the cutting edge of leadership development practice. We are now positioned to drive significant growth over the next 3-5 years as a business, with a consequential step up in commercial performance. This strategic advisory role puts you right at the heart of the business with direct access to the CEO and key decision makers on the ELT. We welcome your challenge in this role, because being challenging is one of our three company values. If you enjoy working in a very fast-paced, world class, intellectually rigorous environment and want your financial recommendations to actually land, this is a unique place in which to do that work. How to apply Please send the following to : Your CV, highlighting relevant CFO or Finance Director experience in professional services. A short cover note (no more than 300 words) setting out your approach to helping a professional services business move from an investment-heavy growth phase into strong, sustained margins. A brief description (2–3 sentences) of a specific engagement where you helped a services business scale its margins - what the situation was, what you put in place, and what the result was. Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. We aim to have someone in place within four weeks. Complete is an equal opportunity employer. We welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds. #J-18808-Ljbffr