Interim Head of Finance Operations/ SSC


Company:	Hays Specialist Recruitment
Salary:	£400 to £600 a day
Hours:	Full-time
Location:	Bristol, BS1 6AD
Job type:	Contract
Posting date:	5 Nov 2026
Closing date:	5 Dec 2026

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Summary

Hays Senior Finance is working with a large, complex organisation to recruit an experienced Interim Head of Finance Shared Services for an initial six-month assignment.

This is a senior, hands-on leadership role taking responsibility for a busy transactional finance function across Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable and Credit Control.The immediate focus will be on stabilising the function, reviewing team structure and capacity, strengthening controls and improving performance across a high-volume finance operation.

Key responsibilities

Lead AP, AR and Credit Control operations

Review team structure, workload, capability and ways of working

Improve working capital, debt collection and cash performance

Strengthen financial controls and balance sheet reconciliations

Ensure robust month-end processes and ledger integrity

Establish meaningful KPIs, service levels and accountability

Identify process improvement and automation opportunities

Review and improve master data and transactional controls

Support internal and external audit requirements

Build strong relationships with finance and operational stakeholders

Challenge existing processes and address root causes of transactional issues

Develop a more resilient and scalable shared services function

About you

This role requires someone who has previously operated at Head of Shared Services, Head of Finance Operations or senior transactional finance leadership level.

You will ideally have:

Significant experience leading a sizeable, high-volume finance operation

Strong AP, AR and Credit Control knowledge

Experience improving shared services performance and controls

A track record of stabilising or transforming finance teams

Strong working capital and debt management experience

Experience introducing KPIs, SLAs and improved ways of working

The ability to operate strategically while still getting into the detail

Strong stakeholder management and leadership skills

Availability at short notice

The opportunity

A great interim opportunity for an experienced finance operations leader to come into a complex environment and make a visible impact quickly, with genuine scope to improve people, processes, controls and overall performance.

6 months | £400-£600 per day | Hybrid working

If you're an experienced Head of Shared Services / Head of Finance Operations available now or coming free shortly, please apply or get in touch for a confidential conversation with Charlie Maidment from the Hays senior finance interim, temp & contracts team. If this role isn't quite the right fit, we would still love to hear from you if you're thinking about your next move for 2027.

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