Director of Finance

Houst, a leader in the property technology space, is seeking a Director of Finance. You'll be a strategic partner to the founder and leadership team, playing a key role in scaling the business sustainably while improving performance across the board. This pivotal role combines the rigour of financial management with the agility of operations oversight, offering a unique opportunity to contribute to our growth and innovation initiatives.

Key Responsibilities:

• Financial Leadership: Develop and execute comprehensive financial strategies aligned with Houst’s growth objectives. Lead the preparation of monthly management, annual statutory accounts, and regular financial forecasts, ensuring accuracy and compliance with regulatory standards.
• Operational Excellence: Regularly conduct operational reviews to enhance order fulfilment and manage day-to-day operational finance functions. Develop tracking methods for production-related costs and propose cost-saving initiatives.
• Risk and Compliance Management: Implement robust financial systems, controls, and risk management strategies. Oversee compliance with accounting standards, tax regulations, and legal requirements across multiple jurisdictions.
• Performance Management: Utilise financial data to generate insights that support business decision-making. Lead on company FP&A, commercial finance, business partnering, KPI analysis, and drive actionable insights for continuous improvement.
• Team Development: Build and mentor a high-performing team dedicated to financial and operational excellence. Foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, and continuous learning.
• Strategic Partnerships: Partner with Co-Founders and senior management to monitor and manage the Business Plan, driving business growth and performance. Own cash, working capital, and treasury management, including foreign exchange.

Qualifications and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Accounting, or a related field
• Professional qualifications such as ACA, ACCA, CIMA, or MBA
• Extensive experience in senior financial operation roles, ideally within high-growth startups, scaleups, or fast-paced environments like eCommerce, Manufacturing, or Proptech
• Proven experience operating in multi-entity and multi-currency businesses
• Experience with fundraising, investor relations, and board-level reporting

Expertise:

• Strong financial acumen with deep experience in FP&A, budgeting, financial reporting, and risk management
• Demonstrated ability to lead the preparation of monthly management accounts, statutory accounts, and cash flow forecasts
• Hands-on understanding of operational finance, including order fulfilment, cost tracking, and process optimisation
• Experience managing tax, audit, and compliance across multiple jurisdictions
• Ability to turn financial data into actionable business insights and commercial recommendations
• Experience collaborating cross-functionally to improve margins, pricing, and operational performance
• Strong understanding of unit economics, CAC, LTV, and contribution margin analysis
• Comfortable managing cash, working capital, treasury, and FX exposure
• Strong leadership skills, with the ability to mentor a team, foster a collaborative environment, and roll up sleeves to dive into the details.
• Articulate and inquisitive, with a passion for driving growth and an openness to occasional travel to European production centres.

Tools and Tech

• Strong Excel/Google Sheets skills (modelling, macros, etc.)
• Experience with Xero and SQL (nice to have)
• Familiarity with automation tools, integrations, or custom dashboards is a plus

• 35 days paid holidays + UK public holidays
• An extra day off for your birthday - because who wants to work on their birthday?
• Enviable company culture – we’ve put time into getting our work culture just right.
• Regular team social events, company-wide recognition of outstanding work.
• Regular team social events (both in person and virtual)
• Company-wide recognition of outstanding work
• Opportunities to innovate Laptop – For business use