Finance Director (Maternity Cover - 12 Months)

Job Title: Finance Director - UPI UK & Eire Ltd (maternity cover) Reporting to: Managing Director UPI UK & Eire Position Purpose Universal Pictures International UK & Eire Ltd. (UPI UK & Eire) is the UK theatrical marketing & distribution operating company of Universal Studios. The Finance Director is head of the UK theatrical finance team. The key purpose of this role is to provide financial and operational leadership across the UK and Irish business and work closely with EMEA and International Finance and distribution to achieve Group objectives. Leading a team of 3. Duties, functions and responsibilities Partner the Managing Director and UK SMT to contribute to the successful running of the UK theatrical team and P&L performance Ensure financial considerations are built into all tactical and strategic decisions, appraising projects, film distribution CTM across all windows and challenging film release assumptions across divisions to create integrated release plans. Support and lead deal strategy and negotiations with major customers & vendors including financial and legal support. Oversee commercial scenario analysis underpinning the negotiations and ensure that every impact of the deal has been forecast and is understood by all stakeholders. Work alongside the UPI UK Marketing Director to ensure that we deliver aggressive and innovative campaigns at a spend level that will maximise profitability across all windows. Develop and maintain data strategy across UPI UK alongside the data working group to ensure we are optimising access to data, assessing data sources and the ROI of our data strategy. Work with IT and Finance Technology Group to maximise new technologies, maintain data integrity and create a robust data repository. Proactively manage and develop a team of a finance manager, analyst and intern. Responsible for timely and accurate budgeting, reporting, forecasting and analysis of the UK entities as required by local and group senior management Responsible for effective controls across all operational and financial processes Support in the design, structure, objectives and operational running of the team alongside MD UPI UK to ensure team development, staff retention and foster a culture of growth and innovation. Management of outsourced finance activities via NBCU Financial Operations and Accenture teams, including, AR, AP and R2R, to minimise business impact and mitigate risk Participate and act as business sponsor on all business change projects and systems implementation including new SAP implementation due for Go-Live in 2026. Responsible for all accounting records, for both internal and external reporting - sign off annual statutory accounts Strong collaboration across multiple stakeholders internally and externally Key point of contact for internal and external audit teams Knowledge, skills and abilities Essential: Proven leadership skills, experience of managing a team and ability to drive projects from inception through to completion Extremely strong organisational skills to manage multiple projects simultaneously, delegate to relevant parties and report effectively to senior stakeholders Proven ability to partner and influence a wide variety of senior stakeholders Strong communication and presentation skills Strong analytical skills Strong Excel and financial modelling skills Desired: Film FP&A and Controllership experience Experience of working with an outsourced finance provider Credit collections/AR experience