Commercial Director, Finance

Agency:

FleishmanHillard

Job Function:

Finance

Job Subfunction:

Finance Management

Job Description:

Why FleishmanHillard?

We have been named PRWeek’s Global Agency of the Year and Best Places to Work; a “Standout Agency” on Advertising Age’s A-List; NAFE’s “Top 50 Companies for Executive Women” for six years running; and among our firm’s award-winning work we’ve taken home 5 Lions at the Cannes International Festival of Creativity in previous years.

We are committed to creating an inclusive and equitable working environment for everyone. As the only PR Agency awarded EY’s National Equality Standard (twice!), all applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability or age. Do let us know if you need any adjustments made during the interview process.

Overview

We are seeking an experienced and strategic Commercial Director to be the day-to-day lead of the UK Commercial Team within the agency, as well as being the key commercial touchpoint with the OPR sister agencies. You will act as a trusted advisor to client leaders, providing financial insight that supports growth, profitability, and operational excellence.This requires close partnership with the OPRG UK CFO, agency finance leads, finance teams, and business stakeholders to optimise commercial outcomes, support client negotiations, and elevate financial performance across the region.

Key Responsibilities include:

Agency Leadership

• Serve as the commercial leader across the agency, reporting to our UK finance lead.
• Collaborate closely with Commercial Directors across other OPR agencies and client/sector stakeholders to support the successful delivery of the annual financial plan.
• Provide agency leadership teams with informative & insightful financial updates and recommendations informed by the financials.
• Provide knowledgeable input into key commercial decision making.

Financial Management & Reporting

• Support reporting and forecasting, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and timely delivery.
• Supports our UK finance lead with the annual commercial planning process and the monthly reforecasts.
• Drive accuracy in top line forecasts such that head office expectations are well managed.
• Lead on aspects of the financial reporting:
  • Fully GAAP & SBOX compliant
  • UK group P&L (Revenue and Headcount)
  • UK Balance Sheet (Working Cap)
• Work collaboratively with the London agencies and outsourced teams and build highly effective relationships with all key stakeholders.

Client Engagement & Commercial Negotiation

• Support agency teams in new business efforts, pricing strategy, and client contract negotiations.
• Champions the adoption of best practice approaches to client commercial management throughout the agency
• Ensures client leads are provided with the knowledge, support & tools to drive profitable work
• Partner with GMs and client leaders to resolve financial matters and ensure strong commercial terms.
• Drives excellence in the UK commercial business partnering team with a client centric approach.

Training & Development

• Conduct regular financial training for new employees.
• Lead a highly effective commercial training program for all client facing teams, upskilling them on their journey from entry level through to Client/Sector/Capability lead.
• Support managers in analysing team productivity and resource planning.
• Promote financial literacy across the organization to enhance business acumen.

Operational Oversight

• Work with controllers to manage key commercial financial metrics including accounts receivable, revenue accruals, and WIP.
• Ensure time entry, billing, invoicing, and collections are executed efficiently and accurately.

Leadership

• Lead and develop a team culture of empathy and inclusion; high performance; accountability, transparency, and collaboration.
• Direct line management of senior finance team members, supporting them on achieving their personal development goals and their success as highly effective senior business partners.
• Sets the strategic vision for the finance team (including digital transformation).
• Lead the build of really effective relationships between the UK & US finance teams, as well as OPRG London commercial teams.

Candidate Profile

• Strong commercial acumen with a track record of driving financial performance and strategic business outcomes.
• Expertise in pricing, client negotiations, and financial modelling within a service-based industry (marketing, PR, consulting, or professional services an advantage).
• Proven ability to improve processes and control environment and experience of implementing and managing new business systems.
• Deep knowledge of accounting standards and financial controls; UK GAAP and US GAAP experience preferred.
• Exceptional leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Professional accounting qualification (e.g., ACA, ACCA, CIMA) required.
• Experience of leading and developing a team, desire to nurture talent and ensure that they can achieve their potential

What We Offer You:

• A warm and friendly team with a fantastic portfolio of global and UK clients
• A truly global network, the opportunity to be part of multi-market campaigns, regularly working with colleagues across the globe.
• Global mobility, a programme of short-term or permanent exchange opportunities, particularly in EMEA or the US.
• A strengths-based L&D framework with an in-house coach and development opportunities for career defining work.
• Flexibility. We’ve fully embraced hybrid and flexible working. We have a great office and human contact remains an important element of our culture
• Work-life balance, we all work hard but having a life outside work matters to all of us, and we support each other to achieve it.
• Culture Club – from office manicures, nutritionists, inhouse massage and acupressure sessions, to Yoga on the roof terrace, quizzes, boot camps, exhibits and summer and Christmas get-togethers.
• Opportunities to join our Employee Resource Groups (global and local), the Shadow Board or DE&I Steering committee.
• A Career Guardian Scheme for underrepresented talent and mentorship opportunities
• Pro-bono comms, volunteer opportunities and personal charity matching
• 30 days of holiday plus a day off on your birthday (or that of your child), plus all days between Christmas and New Year and a buy-back scheme for those who want more.
• 6-12 week sabbaticals!
• BUPA medical cover – including 24/7 virtual GP, funded eye tests, fertility, and menopause support.
• Permanent Health Insurance
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP)
• Generous Pension contributions, personal finance clinics and Life Assurance
• Discounted gym membership and FHeel Well reimbursement
• Cycle2Work scheme and season ticket loans
• Generous parental leave and emergency childcare provision
• Passion Project Grants – funding for your passions outside of work
• Retail, dinner or spa vouchers for key milestones
• Omnicom employee discounts across a variety of high-street retail, travel and entertainment venue

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Apologies in advance but due to the high volume of applications we receive we are unable to respond to every application individually.

To the extent permissible by local law, Omnicom’s policy requires employees to work in the office for a minimum of three days a week, unless additional in-office days are directed by their agency or manager.

Omnicom is committed to hiring and developing exceptional talent. We agree that talent is uniquely distributed, and we’re focused on developing inclusive teams that can bring the best solutions to everything we do. We strongly believe that celebrating what makes us different makes us better together. Join us—we look forward to getting to know you. We will process your personal data in accordance with our Recruitment Privacy Notice.

Link to Recruitment Privacy Notice: https://www.omc.com/privacy-notice/

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