Financial Controller

Methodfi; Greater London; On-site; GBP 80,000 - GBP 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A rapidly growing financial technology firm in Greater London is seeking a Financial Controller to manage financial operations including payroll, treasury management, and reporting. This role requires 5-10 years of finance experience, particularly in fast-paced environments, along with relevant accounting qualifications. The successful candidate will lead a small team and ensure the company is audit-ready while implementing process improvements and leveraging technology for efficiency.

Benefits

Equity options

33 days' annual leave

Pension contributions

20% off legal fees

Top-spec equipment

Team building activities

Qualifications

• 5-10 years of experience in finance, especially in tech startups.
• Proven experience managing the audit process from preparation to completion.
• Strong technical experience in accounting reconciliations and payroll processes.

Responsibilities

• Own and manage key finance operations including management accounts and consolidated reporting.
• Lead the monthly financial close process and ensure all accounting is completed within deadlines.
• Prepare the company for audit and ensure audit readiness through robust documentation.

Skills

Attention to detail

Communication skills

Collaboration

Technology leverage

Education

Relevant accounting qualification (ACA, ACCA, CPA, or CFA)

Job description

About Lawhive

Our mission is to make the law accessible to everyone. Lawhive is a regulated law firm with an AI-native platform built to amplify expertise and revolutionise the way people practice law, leading to exceptional outcomes for clients and lawyers. Lawhive Labs brings this vision to life as a frontier lab that combines engineering, design, AI and legal talent from around the world to build the future of law. We’re headquartered in London and in 2025 successfully launched in the US, and we’re just getting started.

Finance at Lawhive: We are a lean, high-impact finance organisation operating across the UK and US group structure — the engine room that keeps Lawhive moving with precision as we scale a first-of-its-kind global AI-native law firm. We partner deeply with every part of the business: product, engineering, legal operations, HR, talent, and the executive team. Our mandate is simple: build world-class, audit-ready, scalable finance architecture that can support hyper-growth and international expansion.

The next 12–18 months will bring some of the most challenging and meaningful work you’ll do in your career. We’re focused on:

• Designing and embedding the financial systems, controls and reporting infrastructure required for a multi-entity, multi-jurisdiction group (UK, US) on the path to audit and global scale
• Building real-time, decision-grade data — from cashflow to margins to unit economics — ensuring the business can make fast, high-quality decisions as we grow revenue and deploy capital
• Transforming acquired entities into a single, unified finance ecosystem with tight working-capital discipline and deep operational control
• Implementing automation and intelligent workflows across payables, payroll, client-money compliance, tax, FP&A and revenue accounting to unlock leverage across the business
• Partnering with leaders to shape strategy, investment decisions, and the future of AI-enabled legal services

If you want a finance role where the bar is high, the problems are real, and the impact is visible across the whole company — this is it.

About the Role

As Lawhive continues to scale rapidly, we’re seeking an experienced Financial Controller to play a pivotal role in managing our financial operations. Working directly with our VP of Finance, you’ll oversee payroll, treasury management, bookkeeping, and consolidated financial reporting. You’ll lead a team of two management accountants and one finance associate, while collaborating with our broader finance function covering FP&A, M&A, investor reporting, and client money operations. The ideal candidate combines strong technical accounting expertise with a collaborative approach and passion for tech-driven solutions, with a particular focus on building robust accounting reconciliation and control processes.

Key Responsibilities

• Financial Operations & Reporting — Own and manage key finance operations including management accounts, consolidated reporting, tax, payroll, treasury management, and invoice management in partnership with the VP of Finance
• Lead the monthly financial close process, ensuring all accounting and reconciliations are completed within deadlines
• Develop flux analysis for variance monitoring and cash flow forecasting

• Audit & Compliance — Prepare the company for audit and consolidated statutory reporting for the year ending December 2026
• Ensure audit readiness through robust documentation and control processes

• Technical Accounting & Process Improvement — Review and implement additional financial reporting requirements, including: Share-based payment accounting, Acquisition accounting, Revenue recognition policies and associated assets, Deliver continuous process improvements to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of accounting, reconciliation, and control processes

• Team Leadership — Coordinate and develop a team of two management accountants and one finance associate, Foster collaboration across the finance function

Requirements

Essential Experience & Qualifications

• 5-10 years of experience in finance, with demonstrated experience in a tech startup or fast-paced, high-growth environment
• Proven experience managing the audit process from preparation through completion
• Strong technical experience in: Accounting reconciliations; Payroll processes; Month-end close procedures
• Relevant accounting qualification (ACA, ACCA, CPA, or CFA)

Skills & Attributes

• Exceptional attention to detail in both accuracy and presentation of work
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to translate complex financial information into clear, digestible insights
• Highly collaborative working style
• Passionate about leveraging technology to drive financial operations
• Comfortable operating in a fast-moving, scaling environment

Interview process

• Introductory call with our Talent team
• 1:1 with your hiring manager
• Skills assessment interview
• Values interview with one of our Founders
• We offer!

UK Benefits

• Meaningful early-stage equity at one of Europe’s fastest growing startups
• 33 days’ annual leave (25 + bank holidays) plus your birthday off
• Pension contribution via Nest
• 20% off legal fees through Lawhive
• Top-spec equipment - MacBook/Windows
• Regular team building activities and socials

Diversity at Lawhive

At Lawhive, we know that diversity of thought is critical to delivering outlier outcomes. We’re always working hard to ensure we build a diverse, inclusive team, and as we scale, we’ll only ever increase the focus we apply to this.