Commercial Finance Director, UK & RoI – Inspiring Vet Care

At IVC Evidensia, we are a leading veterinary services provider in Europe and North America with more than 2,500 clinics and hospitals across 19 countries and around 42,000 employees.  We aim to have an extraordinary impact on animal lives, supporting in the region of 25,000 animals every single day across our international network. IVC Evidensia exists to champion the long-term health and welfare of animals and deliver our purpose of Healthy Animals, Happy Owners.

The Commercial Finance Director is a key finance leadership role in the company. Partnering with the UK & ROI CFO and CEO and the senior exec to deliver the strategic and operational financial management and risk management of Inspiring Vet Care, one of the largest subsidiaries of IVC Evidensia. 

The role is focused on business partnering and insights with key focus on investment strategies and plans to optimise commercial performance though effective financial insight. The role leads the Commercial Finance team for Inspiring Vet Care, owning business partnering, insight, and delivery of financial performance. It acts as a key advisor to operations, translating financial data into clear actions that drive revenue, margin, and cost outcomes. This role understands deeply the business performance, provide financial challenge and targets, supports optimal decision-making through robust analysis and forward-looking insight.

Key Accountabilities/Responsibilities:

Performance & Business Partnering
Partner to UK COO & Key member of Ops senior leadership team
Lead Finance Business Partners aligned to operational areas.
Partner with senior exec and operational leaders to drive financial performance and accountability.
Own delivery of revenue, margin and cost targets.
Establish and lead the performance rhythm, including KPIs, performance reviews and clear action tracking to drive delivery and mitigate risk.
Lead the management of overheads to drive effective cost management, identifying and driving delivery of regional cost efficiencies.

Insight & Analysis
Lead the Insights team capability to deliver actionable performance analysis.
Identify risks, opportunities and value drivers, including pricing, volume and cost through deep trend and data analyses.
Translate data into clear, decision-focused recommendations.
Ensure insight drives prioritised, measurable insights and actions rather than standalone analysis.
To lead the transformation of insights through AI and technology usage on big data. 

Planning & Forecasting
Partner with regional FP&A on budget, forecast and target setting owning the delivery of the Inspiring Vet Care target framework build
Ensure forecasts are commercially robust, with clear assumptions and actions.
Provide clear articulation of risks and opportunities within forecasts to support senior decision-making and Group narratives.
Clearly link assumptions from regional level to individual clinic level targets

Investment & Value Creation
Lead financial evaluation of capex and strategic initiatives.
Drive identification and delivery of value creation opportunities.
Support prioritisation of initiatives to optimise commercial returns and resource allocation.

Leadership
Lead and develop a team of 9 Finance Business Partners and analysts, building a high-performing team in a fast moving high pressure environment.
Set clear accountability across business partnering and insights activities.
Foster a culture of challenge, ownership and delivery in own team and across the business unit though visible financial leadership

Stakeholder Management
Act as the financial lead in all operational forums ensuing clarity of financial targets, strategy and outlook is paired with delivery
Influence senior stakeholders with data-led insight.
As the finance lead for the largest unit in the region, this role partners closely with the regional CFO and regional Exec on strategic and operational decisions.

Reporting Line

Reports to UK&I CFO, leads the Commercial Finance team including five regional Finance Business Partners and central Insights team. Key member of regional finance leadership team and part of IVC Evidensia Group extended finance leadership team.

Experience/Qualifications:

Professionally qualified accountant with relevant and extensive commercial finance experience and understanding of financial accounting gained in operational roles during that period
Experience of working in a medium / large international business with different cultures and working within a collaborative, matrix environment. Experience working in an industry with similar challenges e.g. healthcare, retail or consumer goods business
Experience in influencing Senior Leadership, managing multiple complex relationships/ stakeholders, whilst overcoming multiple conflicts and dependencies
Strong people management skills to attract top talent through celebrating success, creating an inclusive workplace and focusing on team development.  
Extensive experience in business partnering roles adding value to business decision making, investment valuation, and working on large financial analysis projects
Extensive insights and analytical experience, ability to assess complex data and quickly identify key issues and drivers. Preferably at the forefront of AI usage with proven experience how to harness new technology benefits for faster big data insight generation. 
Experience of strategic planning, budget and forecasting processes
Strong understanding of control environment, business processes and systems.
Pragmatic; energetic; driven; confident 
Emotionally and intellectually intelligent with strong stakeholder management skills. Able to connect with practitioners, business leaders and investors to understand their varying concerns and priorities
A hands-on operator, driven to get into the detail and work closely with the whole UK and Ireland and group network
A team-player with high expectations and drive to establish impeccable foundations 
A partnership mentality - both as part of the finance team, and as a key business partner to the UK & Ireland Exec leadership team. Able to support and challenge leaders across the business 
An innovator with a strong orientation towards transformational change, able to instill a motivated, accountable culture

Following receipt of your application, you will be contacted by one of our experienced hire recruitment team.

As a BAME and LGBTQ+ inclusive employer, we are keen to hear from candidates from all minority and diverse groups. As a Disability Confident Employer, we are keen to hear from candidates with disabilities and long-term health conditions and would be happy to discuss any reasonable adjustments needed during the recruitment process.

What We Offer: