Group Financial Controller

Football; Wembley; Hybrid; GBP 100,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

A major sports organization is seeking a Group Financial Controller based in Wembley to manage the finance team. This role involves budgeting, financial reporting, and audit management. The ideal candidate will be a chartered accountant with FP&A and statutory accounting experience. Competitive salary and benefits include access to Wembley event tickets and a hybrid work model for flexibility. Strong people leadership skills are essential for this position, which offers opportunities for career growth and development.

Benefits

Access to event day tickets at Wembley Stadium

Free nutritious lunches

Free private medical cover

Contributory pension scheme

25 days annual leave plus additional leave

Hybrid working model

Qualifications

• Must be a chartered accountant with a strong background in finance.
• Proven experience in financial planning and analysis (FP&A).
• Experience in statutory accounting both in a company and audit background.
• Strong leadership skills with experience managing teams.

Responsibilities

• Manage the Group finance team and oversee financial reporting.
• Maintain a rolling business plan, P&L, and cash flow forecasting.
• Ensure timely completion of budgeting and reforecasting.
• Manage annual audit process and statutory accounts filing.
• Prepare finance papers for Audit Committee meetings.

Skills

Chartered accountant

FP&A experience

Statutory accounting experience

Strong people leadership

Job description

Group Financial Controller
Wembley, London / Hybrid

Reporting to the Finance Director, this role is responsible for managing the Group finance team. Specific responsibilities for the role include running the annual Budgeting, Forecasting and Strategic Plan processes, full ownership of both management and financial reporting internally and to the Board, day to day management of the annual audit, treasury and preparation of the annual report.

The role brings together P&L, balance sheet and cashflow forecasting and reporting under control of one person to provide absolute clarity on performance to the business.

You will be a confident and effective people leader, able to influence both direct reports and peers to ensure key deadlines and deliverables are consistently met. You will build strong, collaborative working relationships with the Senior Management Team (SMT) and Executive Leadership Team (ELT).

This role will have ownership of the organisation's financial systems, driving continuous improvement to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of budgeting and reporting processes.

The successful candidate will bring strong technical accounting expertise, alongside the ability to see the bigger picture—using insight, interpretation, and clear financial storytelling to help shape and guide the Finance & Accounting (FA) strategy.

What will you be doing?

• Strategic Planning
  • Maintain a rolling 4 year business plan, P&L and cashflow
• Budgeting and forecasting
  • Full ownership of the process, timeline and completion of the budget and reforecasting for P&L and cashflow
  • Work with business planning to design a co‑ordinated finance, HR and business management process
  • Review the Budget and make recommendations to Finance Director / DCEO on positioning
  • Full ownership of the Board presentations
• Monthly reporting
  • Ownership of the monthly close process
  • Responsible for preparing monthly management accounts packs for P&L, Balance Sheet and Cashflow
  • Review of balance sheet and account reconciliations on a monthly basis, with issues resolved on a timely basis
• Treasury
  • Ensure all bank accounts are reconciled on a timely basis
  • Monitor foreign currency receipts and payments and make recommendations on hedge transactions in accordance with Treasury policy
  • Responsibility for the preparation of the 18 week rolling cash forecast
• Statutory accounts
  • Manage the annual audit process ensuring a robust plan is in place
  • Work closely with the Audit Team to ensure a smooth audit
  • Filing of all legal entity statutory accounts
  • Draft the annual report
• Risk management
  • Preparation of finance papers for Group Audit Committee
  • Running of internal audit roadmap
  • Operational running of FA Fraud Committee
  • Ownership of Group Insurance relationship with insurance broker
• Executes additional tasks as required to meet the FA's changing priorities.
• Comply with all company policies and procedures to ensure that the highest standards of health, safety, and well‑being can be maintained.
• As part of the FA's commitment to ensuring a safe environment for everyone in football, every employee will be required to complete a DBS check. The level of the check required will be based on the activity of the specific job role and in line with legislation and government guidance.

What are we looking for?

Essential for the role:

• Chartered accountant
• FP&A experience
• Statutory accounting experience, both in a company and with an audit background
• Strong people leadership

Beneficial to have:

• Experience managing Boards
• Experience of implementing ERP / Finance Systems change

What's in it for you?

We are committed to ensuring everyone can flourish in their roles, to achieve this we have unique office spaces under the arch of the iconic Wembley National Stadium, which is the home of English Football. We are also delighted to offer a world‑class, Elite Performance Centre, St. George's Park in Staffordshire which is an exceptional setting to develop and inspire high‑performing England teams and leaders.

We pride ourselves in offering a competitive salary as well as great opportunities to develop and grow in your role. But that is not all; we also have a range of exciting benefits, some of which can be found below:

• Access to event day tickets at Wembley Stadium, alongside a host of regular internal events throughout the season, encouraging you to connect and learn with your colleagues and look after your mental health and well‑being.
• Free, nutritious lunches at Wembley Stadium and St. George's Park.
• Free private medical cover.
• A contributory pension scheme.
• An additional 'Thank You' days leave, volunteering days as well as 25 days annual leave (based on a full‑time, permanent contract).
• A hybrid working model which offers greater flexibility.

Currently, we are working within a hybrid working model whereby the expectation is to work from your contractual location for part of the week, and as and when required by the team. The remaining days can be worked remotely. We will continue to monitor this model, and it may be adjusted in future if deemed necessary. The contractual location of this role can be found on the FA Careers page.

We are a diverse workplace, aspiring to represent football across the country. The Football Association actively promotes inclusion and diversity, encouraging you to be the best version of yourself at work.

We welcome applications from everyone and are proud to be an equal opportunities employer. If you have any particular requirements in respect of the recruitment or interview process, please mention this during your application.

As part of the FA's commitment to ensuring a safe environment for everyone in football, every employee will be required to complete a DBS check. The level of the check required will be based on the activity of the specific job role and in line with legislation and government guidance.