Associate Director – Accounting and Finance

Central London (Hybrid)

£125,000 – £150,000 plus bonus and benefits

Baker Charles is partnering with a high-profile, private equity–backed multisite restaurant business to appoint a commercially astute Finance Director. This is a pivotal senior leadership role, sitting at the heart of the business and playing a critical role in shaping strategy, driving performance, and supporting sustainable growth. The successful candidate will act as a trusted partner to the Managing Director, senior leadership team, Board, and PE investors, while leading the finance function in a fast-paced and operationally complex restaurant environment.

The Finance Director will have full ownership of the finance agenda, ensuring the timely delivery of high-quality financial information, insight, and challenge to support decision-making at all levels of the business. You will represent the business internally and externally, maintain strong stakeholder relationships, and ensure the finance function operates as a true commercial partner. You will also play a key role in supporting the requirements of PE ownership, including performance reporting, value creation initiatives, and investment decision-making.

• Leadership & Strategy – You will work closely with the Managing Director and leadership team to shape and deliver the commercial and operational strategy. This includes setting the financial direction of the business, leading the annual budgeting and forecasting process, and ensuring financial plans align with wider strategic objectives and investor expectations. You will lead, develop, and mentor a small, high-performing finance team, building capability and commercial acumen across the function.
• Business Performance & Insight – You will own the production and presentation of the monthly Executive and Board packs, providing clear, concise, and actionable insight for senior management and PE stakeholders. Partnering closely with Operations, you will challenge and support site-level performance through robust analysis, with a particular focus on labour productivity, margins, and profitability. Your insight will directly influence operational, strategic, and investment decisions.
• Commercial Analysis & Investment – The role will lead the financial evaluation of new site openings, refurbishments, closures, and wider capital investment decisions, ensuring disciplined assessment of returns and alignment with the PE value creation plan. You will work closely with Food and Marketing teams on menu engineering, pricing strategy, and promotional activity, and will continuously enhance financial models across revenue, labour, cost of sales, and other key drivers. You will present commercial insights at regular capex and performance reviews.

We are seeking a hands‑on, commercially minded Finance Director with prior experience in the restaurant sector. You will be comfortable operating in a fast‑paced, customer‑driven, multisite environment and balancing strategic leadership with operational detail. You will be a qualified accountant with proven senior finance leadership experience within restaurants or a multisite hospitality environment, and the ability to operate in a private equity–backed businesses. You will bring strong experience partnering with operations teams to drive site-level performance, a track record of developing and leading high-performing finance teams, and the credibility and presence to influence at site, executive, Board, and investor level.

This is an opportunity to make a tangible impact in a growing, ambitious, PE-backed restaurant business at an exciting point in its journey. The role offers genuine influence, exposure to strategic and investor-level decision-making, and the chance to work alongside a high-calibre leadership team in a business where finance is central to commercial success.

Seniority level

• Director

Employment type

• Full-time

Job function

• Finance and Accounting/Auditing
• Accommodation and Food Services, Restaurants, and Retail