Halfords

Role background and Purpose

Halfords is the UK’s leading provider of Motoring and Cycling services and products. The Group is listed on the London Stock Exchange and reported annual revenue of £1.7bn in its last set of results. 

Halfords operates a largely centralised Finance team of circa 110 based in Redditch.  As Halfords continues to grow, we are embarking on an exciting finance transformation journey aimed at modernising our processes, systems, and controls. With a strong focus on innovation, we’re making great strides in enhancing key finance operations. Building on this momentum, we are now advancing our Record to Report (RtR) workstream, with the goal of delivering even greater accuracy, efficiency, and control within our financial reporting processes.

A potential ERP implementation is on the horizon, which will provide the tools to significantly transform the finance function and achieve our vision for a future-ready finance team. This is a pivotal time to join the finance transformation team within Halfords as we accelerate our transformation, with a focus on establishing best-in-class processes that will support our growth and enhance overall financial governance. As RtR Process Owner, you will play a critical role in shaping this transformation, driving impactful changes, and delivering sustainable improvements.

Key Responsibilities

Process Ownership

• Manage and take ownership of the end-to-end Record to Report process. Sets the vision and objectives for the process area within the overall transformation strategy.
• Leads and drives a future fit design for the relevant process utilising the technology available in the best possible way ensuring it is executed efficiently and accurately.
• Ensure all financial data is collected, recorded, and reported in a timely and compliant manner in accordance with group accounting policies. Ensures process is designed within best practice design principles e.g. simple, standard, controlled, scalable etc.
• Main liaison between Finance and IT on delivery of technology enablers for their process area
• Accountable for process performance (sets and measures relevant KPIs to demonstrate improvement).
• Ensures finance processes support wider business goals. Faces into business transformation team to ensure finance are prepared for upcoming changes.

Transformation Leadership

• Champions finance transformation initiatives and works closely with the change team to ensure that employees understand the new processes, and support the training and communication efforts.
• Will lead and influence finance team members operating RtR processes even if they do not directly manage them to ensure engagement with improvements and always moves us towards our Finance Vision.
• Project Management – supported by PM capability, owns the workstream plan for transformation projects related to the Record to Report cycle, prior to, and during ERP implementation and ensures they are progressed on time and to defined scope.

Ideal Candidate Profile:

• Qualifications:
• A relevant finance or accounting qualification is required. (ACA/ACCA/CIMA etc.)
• Experience:
• A finance leader with significant experience in reporting and management accounting.
• Must have proven ability to deliver high-impact outcomes in a senior finance role (e.g. process improvement, standardisation, enhanced controls).
• Skills:
• Strong commanding leadership voice and should be recognised as an expert that people seek out (ideally within finance and beyond).
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving abilities, focused on efficiency and accuracy.
• High level of communication skills, with the ability to present to senior stakeholders and to influence and collaborate across teams.

Personal Attributes:

• Impact-Focused: Relentlessly focused on delivering results, doesn’t accept status quo.
• Positive & Engaging: Brings enthusiasm and energy to the role, inspires confidence in the finance transformation.
• Detail-Oriented: Is careful enough to ensure improvements are impact assessed properly and changes well understood and managed.
• Proactive/Tenacious: Takes initiative in identifying opportunities for process improvement and implementing them- does not give up!
• Collaborative: Builds strong working relationships across departments.
• Adaptable: Thrives in a dynamic environment and is comfortable managing multiple priorities.
• Integrity: Keeps us honest in doing the right thing, will challenge productively if they need to.