Location/s: Cambridge, UK

***Application deadline is midnight on Friday 14th of November. Please note, we may contact successful candidates before the closing date and may close the advert early, depending on the volume of applications.***

Mott MacDonald is a global engineering, management, and development consultancy with over 20,000 employees across more than 50 countries and 140+ offices.

We work across incredible global industries, delivering exciting work that is defining our future and making an important societal impact in the communities we serve. Our people power our performance – we succeed when they do. With countless opportunities to collaborate, learn, and grow, the possibilities for excellence are as varied as every individual.

Whether you want to grow as a subject matter expert or broaden your experience with roles across our international community, you’re surrounded by global specialists who want to combine their expertise and champion you to be your best. As a proudly employee-owned business, we benefit our clients, our communities, and each other, investing in creating the right space for everyone to feel empowered, included, and valued. Whatever your ambition, Mott MacDonald is where people come to be brilliant.

About the business unit
Mott MacDonald’s Advisory and Programme Delivery (APD) unit delivers both project, programme & commercial management (PPCM) services and advisory solutions across the built environment, defence, energy, water, environmental, transportation, health and care sectors.

We deliver tailored solutions that directly address our clients’ key challenges, combining our world-leading project expertise with unrivalled programme delivery capabilities and advisory services.

APD delivers services to projects ranging in scale and complexity up to £20bn, through the technical disciplines of programme management, project management, project controls, scheduling, cost management, estimating, infrastructure finance, management consulting, digital consulting and education, health and care management.

Overview of the role
We are looking for a Divisional Finance Manager to join our Advisory and Programme Delivery (APD) unit and play a key role in shaping and delivering the business financial strategy. You’ll be responsible for ensuring the business financial health through effective planning, analysis, and performance management. Working closely with the leadership team, you’ll help drive sound financial decision-making, align finance priorities with business objectives, and foster a culture of collaboration and accountability.

Key responsibilities and duties include:

• Management
  
  • Partner with the management team in preparing and evaluating business plans
  • Accountable for finance decision-making and planning
  • Set objectives and KPIs for performance monitoring and quality measurement
  • Review financial performance, identify opportunities, and direct actions
  • Build strong relationships with project teams and the wider business, sharing best practice and driving a unified culture
  • Attend executive and management board meetings, providing strategic direction for the division/unit
• Projects
  • Review proposals, including assessment of financial aspects of contracts to facilitate invoicing and payments
  • Work with Group/Regional Finance, Treasury, Tax, and Shared Service teams to enhance project delivery
  • Attend monthly project control meetings for major and high-risk projects
  • Drive working capital management: optimise invoicing, collections, cashflow, and remittances
  • Work as a part of finance team and project managers in challenging the status quo and fostering continuous improvement
• Reporting & Compliance
  • Interpret monthly management accounts; control financial performance, profitability, utilisation, overheads, and working capital
  • Support preparation of annual budgets and forecasts aligned with business plans
  • Assure compliance with Group Directives, including insurances, trade licences, registrations, statutory accounts, tax, audits, and internal controls
  • Monitor the financial control environment and ensure completion of annual controls matrices
• Training & Development
  • Support staff in maintaining project control systems and provide finance training to ensure accurate project budgets and revenue recognition
  • Engage in finance improvement projects and build positive relationships across the business
  • Maintain high standards of financial control and professional development

Candidate specification
Essential:

• Professional accounting qualification or equivalent experience
• Comprehensive expertise in financial governance, planning, budgeting, and forecasting
• Experience operating at a senior level and influencing key stakeholders
• Ability to analyse complex financial data and present clear, actionable insights
• Proficiency in financial reporting tools

Desirable:

• Experience leading and developing a team
• A proactive approach to improving financial processes
• Ability to align financial strategies with business objectives
• Cambridge location and willingness to travel, mainly across the UK
• Embraces diverse thinking and lifelong learning

If you meet 80% or more of what we’re looking for, please apply. We understand not everyone will meet all the requirements, but you might have skills we didn’t know we need.

PRIDE Values (Progress, Respect, Integrity, Drive, Excellence)

• Self-Leadership: Take responsibility for their own behaviour and well-being, inspiring this in others.
• Team Leadership: Create environments that motivate people to do exceptional work and encourage adoption of new technologies.
• Professional Excellence and Qualifications: Demonstrate a passion for continual learning and promote the use of global network systems.
• Communication: Communicate confidently and listen to others’ opinions and views.
• Commercial: Demonstrate commercial agility and risk mitigation.
  Teamwork: Work cooperatively with others and support teamwork across locations.
• Written Skills: Produce clear and logical written communication and presentations.
• Experience: Provide quality advisory services and demonstrate strong stakeholder management.

How to Apply

• An up-to-date CV.
• A brief expression of interest (no more than two A4 pages) setting out:
  
  • Your vision for the job within the division/unit
  • The competencies and behaviours you will bring
  • Opportunities you see ahead and how you will harness them
  • Challenges you foresee and how you will approach or mitigate them

***Application deadline is midnight on Friday 14th of November. Please note, we may contact successful candidates before the closing date and may close the advert early, depending on the volume of applications.***

UK Immigration

Mott MacDonald Ltd. are not currently offering sponsorship to candidates under the Skilled Worker visa route in the UK. This decision is as a consequence of the changes made to the Skilled Worker route by the UK Government in April 2024. We continue to welcome applications from candidates who are eligible for alternative immigration routes in the UK, that do not require sponsorship as a Skilled Worker now or in future.

Agile working

At Mott MacDonald, we believe it makes business sense for you and your manager to choose how you can work most effectively to meet your client, team, and personal commitments. We offer a hybrid working policy that embraces your well-being, flexibility, and trust.

Equality, diversity, and inclusion

We put equality, diversity, and inclusion at the heart of our business, seeking to promote fair employment procedures and practices to ensure equal opportunities for all. We encourage individual expression in our workplace and are committed to creating an inclusive environment where everyone feels they can contribute.

Accessibility

We want you to perform your best at every stage in the recruitment process. If you are disabled or need any support to enable you to apply or attend an interview, please contact us at reasonable.adjustments@mottmac.com and we will talk to you about how we can support you.

We offer some fantastic benefits including:

Health and wellbeing

• Private medical insurance for all UK colleagues.
• Health cash plan to support you with every day health costs and treatments.
• Access to Peppy, providing free support from menopause experts for all UK colleagues.
• A variety of wellbeing support is available through our comprehensive wellbeing program, including access for you and your family.
• Ability to flex your salary to opt into a wide range of health benefits, many of which can be extended to your family too.

Financial wellbeing

• We match employee pension contributions between 4.5% and 7%.
• Life assurance equal up to 4 x your basic salary, with an option to increase the level of cover to 6 x your salary.
• Our income protection scheme provides a financial benefit, as well as absence and return to work support due to long-term illness or injury.
• Flexible benefits, including increased life assurance cover, critical illness insurance, payroll saving and will writing.
• As an independently owned business we share the financial success of the business with all our colleagues in various ways including annual bonus schemes.

Lifestyle

• A minimum of 33-35 days holiday each year, inclusive of public holidays and dependent on level, with the ability to buy or sell leave through our flexible benefits programme.
• Holiday entitlement increased to a minimum of 35 days after 5 years’ service.
• Variety of employee saving schemes and discounts from high-street retailers.

Enhanced family and carers leave

• Enhanced family leave policies, including 26 weeks paid maternity and adoption leave, and two weeks paid paternity/partner leave.
• Our shared parental leave matches maternity leave meaning we pay up to 24 weeks at full pay.
• Up to five additional days leave are provided for those with significant caring responsibilities, two of which are paid.

Learning and development

• Primary annual professional institution subscription.
• A broad range of opportunities to enhance both technical and soft skills through mentoring, formal training, and self-development options.

Networks, communities, and social outcomes

• Join a wide range of groups including our Advanced Employee Networks which support our LGBTQ+, gender, race and ethnicity, disability, and parents/carers communities.
• Make a difference within our communities through our social outcomes.

Apply now, or for more information about our application process, click here.