Head of Financial Control - Places for London

Reporting into – CFO for Places for London
Contract – Full time
Vacancy type – Permanent
Band – 5
Location - Victoria Station House, London with 50% hybrid working

Our city. Made better by you.

About Us

Welcome to Places for London, TfL’s property company, where your career can make a meaningful impact on the landscape of a global city. As an integral part of the London community, we are building thousands of new and sustainable homes over the next 10 years across the capital.

We are one of London’s largest landlords, providing flexible and accessible workspaces for 1,500 customers, over 90 per cent of which are small businesses.

Our mission is about crafting environments that inspire and connect people. From residential developments that redefine modern living to commercial spaces that drive economic vitality, we are at the forefront of urban development and reimagining what is possible. We prioritise innovation, sustainability and community engagement whilst fostering a collaborative and inclusive work environment. If you have the ambition to be part of a property company with significant impact, please join us as our new Head of Financial Control.

About the Role

This is a unique opportunity to join a business at an exciting stage of its evolution. While Places for London benefits from the backing, reputation and scale of TfL, it is continuing to build the infrastructure, controls and processes required to support its ambitious growth plans. Success in this role will require an individual who is energised by creating lasting foundations, comfortable operating where not every process is fully established, and motivated by the opportunity to shape how a high-performing finance function evolves for the future. The right candidate will relish the opportunity to bring structure and best in class processes and controls into the team.

As Head of Financial Control, you will provide strategic leadership across all aspects of financial reporting, financial control, assurance, risk management and audit oversight for Places for London. Working at the heart of a growing commercial business, you will play a critical role in supporting the delivery of housing development, property investment and long-term growth objectives, while ensuring the highest standards of financial governance and compliance.

Acting as the organisation's technical accounting lead, you will provide expert advice on complex commercial transactions, including property deals, joint venture arrangements, leases and contractual agreements. Working closely with commercial, legal and finance stakeholders, you will assess the accounting implications of strategic decisions and ensure transactions are structured and accounted for appropriately, balancing commercial outcomes with regulatory and accounting requirements.

You will be accountable for the delivery of statutory reporting, tax and VAT compliance, going concern assessments and the production of statutory accounts for Places for London and its joint venture entities. The role will also lead relationships with internal and external auditors, ensuring successful audit outcomes while maintaining strong financial governance and reporting integrity.

A key focus of the role will be strengthening and enhancing the financial control environment. You will lead the development of Finance Regulations, oversee assurance frameworks and balance sheet governance processes, and implement risk-based reviews to provide confidence that accounting standards, financial controls and statutory requirements are applied consistently across the business.

As a recognised centre of excellence for technical accounting and financial control, you will drive improvements in accounting quality, audit readiness and financial governance, while supporting business decisions through expert technical advice. You will also champion finance transformation initiatives, using process improvement, system enhancements and best practice controls to improve efficiency, strengthen resilience and support the evolving needs of the organisation.

Leading a team of expert finance professionals, you will build technical capability, drive high performance and encourage a culture of accountability, curiosity and continuous improvement, ensuring the finance function is equipped to support an increasingly complex and ambitious business.

About You

Energised by the opportunity to create lasting foundations, you are comfortable operating in an evolving environment where priorities may shift and new solutions are required. You bring the resilience, adaptability and commercial judgement needed to establish scalable processes, strengthen governance and help shape the future direction of the finance function.

To be successful in this role, you will be an ACA-qualified accountant (essential) with audit training and experience to at least Audit Manager level (essential). You will bring deep expertise in technical accounting, financial control and assurance (essential), with a strong understanding of accounting standards and the ability to review complex commercial transactions, interpret legal and commercial documentation, and translate these into clear accounting outcomes and practical business advice (essential).

You will have a proven track record of operating in a financial control, technical accounting or assurance environment (essential). Experience within a property, real estate, infrastructure or similarly complex asset-based organisation is highly desirable. Experience of working with joint ventures, property transactions, leases and other complex commercial arrangements is also highly desirable. You will be comfortable advising on the accounting implications of commercial decisions while balancing technical compliance with commercial objectives (essential).

As an experienced and seasoned people leader, you will have a demonstrable track record of leading and developing teams, creating the right infrastructure, controls and processes to drive continuous improvement (essential). You will create an environment that encourages curiosity, innovation and accountability, supporting individuals to challenge existing ways of working and deliver high-quality outcomes.

Strong stakeholder management skills are essential, with the ability to build credibility and influence at senior levels. You will be confident engaging with senior finance leaders, executive stakeholders, external auditors, legal teams and joint venture partners, providing clear, concise and credible advice on complex financial matters. You will be capable of influencing at all levels and managing competing priorities within a fast-paced and evolving environment (essential).

You will bring significant experience of financial control and assurance frameworks (essential), including developing and implementing finance regulations, establishing effective assurance processes, and ensuring compliance with accounting standards and statutory requirements. Experience managing audits through to successful conclusions (essential), strengthening control environments and providing assurance over high-risk transactions will be critical to success in this role.

Above all, you will be commercially astute, technically credible and people-focused, with the ability to drive change, provide reassurance during periods of uncertainty and lead teams through complexity with empathy, clarity and purpose (essential). Experience within a property or asset-based environment is highly desirable; however, a strong technical accounting background, audit training, leadership capability, and the ability to translate commercial and legal documentation into appropriate accounting outcomes are essential requirements for this role.

How to apply

Please submit an up-to-date copy of your CV (no more than 2 pages, Arial 12) along with a cover letter (no more than 1 A4 page Arial size 12) in a PDF format.

We recommend that you consider the motivations, skills, knowledge and experience required for this role and ensure your application outlines where you meet these criteria.

Closing date for applications will be Wednesday 11 November (23:59).

Due to the anticipated level of interest in this opportunity, we reserve the right to close applications ahead of the stated closing date should a sufficient number of suitable applications be received. Early applications are encouraged.

1st stage interviews are likely to be held w/c 7 December 2026, pending panel availability.
2nd stage interviews are likely to be held w/c 14 December 2026 or January 2027, pending panel availability.

For a more detailed copy of the job description, please contact Nita or Claire from the Executive Recruitment Team on talentacquisitionandexecutiverecruitment@tfl.gov.uk

Our city. Made better by you.

TfL is a place that’s open to your ideas. Where you can make a tangible impact and see the positive results of your work on the people and places around you. It’s a place where you can thrive and achieve. Where you’re encouraged and enabled and empowered to feel pride in the work you do. The clue is in the name, really. We work together for a better London. A better place for everyone. Constantly improving and enhancing how we operate to shape a city of the future. 

Equality, diversity, and inclusion
We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and aim to reflect the diverse communities we serve. We believe that a diverse workforce enables us to deliver better services and outcomes. Our goal is to make our recruitment as inclusive as possible. As a Disability Confident Leader, we actively encourage applications from disabled people. As part of the Disability Confident scheme, we aim to offer an assessment or interview to candidates who apply via the scheme where the minimum essential criteria for skills, knowledge and experience has been met. In some circumstances, it may not be practical to offer an interview or assessment to every candidate who applies through the scheme and meet the minimum essential criteria; in these situations, we select candidates who best meet the minimum criteria for the job rather than interviewing all who meet them.

Across all recruitment activity, we recognise that selection methods may vary depending on the nature and scale of the campaign and will be applied fairly, consistently and proportionately in line with our Disability Confident commitments.

Vetting Process  
At Transport for London, safety, trust and fairness sit at the heart of how we recruit. Our Vetting Charter explains the checks we may carry out before you join us, helping ensure we create a safe, inclusive and reliable network for everyone who depends on our services. We simply ask that the information you provide is honest and accurate so we can progress your application smoothly. If something doesn’t match or can’t be verified, we may not be able to move forward with your application, but we’ll always treat you with transparency, respect, and clear communication throughout.  

Sponsorship
TfL is currently unable to provide sponsorship to candidates for this role. TfL keeps its approach under review in line with changes to UK immigration rules. We are also unable to provide advice or guidance on individual immigration queries and advise candidates to check the Government’s website for further information. 

All offers of employment are subject to satisfactory right-to-work checks. Candidates must be able to demonstrate their right to work in the UK.

Hybrid Working
Hybrid working within this role enables a balance of 50 per cent of time split between the office and home over a 4-week period. Hybrid working arrangements can evolve subject to business requirements.

Terms and conditions:

NPL Applications 

Applications to internally advertised roles can only be accepted from temporary workers who are on PAYE terms via agency, or PAYE via Umbrella Companies. Temporary workers who are paid through their own limited companies are not covered by the Agency Worker Regulations and are ineligible to apply. 

NPL members of staff are not eligible to apply to secondment opportunities.