Head of Finance, Strategic Finance Initiatives

This is no ordinary Head of Finance role. You'll steer bold financial initiatives, champion sustainability from a finance lens, and lead Virgin’s charge towards future-ready finance.

If you’re excited by complexity, thrive on influence, and want to help shape the future of a brand that does things differently – this one's for you.

Our Virgin Family

Join the Virgin Group – a diverse collective driving change, enhancing customer experience, and having a blast. We're daring, disrupting industries from finance to space, united as part of the Virgin Family.

Virgin Red and Virgin Management are the dynamic core of the Virgin brand. We reward our loyal customers with Virgin Points through an extensive partner network, nurture the Virgin brand globally across diverse industries like travel, health, and space, and champion customer-centric innovation and entrepreneurial spirit. Together, we unlock unique experiences, foster deep customer connections, and drive forward our purpose, to Change Business for Good.

We’re a huge brand, but not a huge team, which means we take a hands-on approach while thinking strategically. Everyone rolls up their sleeves to get things done, making it an exciting and collaborative place to work.

Tell me more

This role is brilliantly broad. Here’s what you’ll be doing:

• Drive Finance Readiness across the business by designing and implementing scalable, efficient frameworks and processes - leading end-to-end readiness for new initiatives and contributing to contracts, negotiations, and due diligence.
• Drive sustainability-related finance initiatives by partnering with the Sustainability Director and wider business to develop carbon budgets, set targets, and implement robust reporting frameworks - ensuring alignment with carbon reduction goals.
• Build and own complex, high-impact financial models that support strategic decisions, and provide clear, data-backed recommendations.
• Act as a trusted strategic finance business partner to leaders across innovation, product, architecture, legal and tax - supporting on new strategic initiatives, bringing commercial acumen, influence, and strategic challenge to the table. Working collaboratively with the Head of Commercial Finance on key strategic projects.
• Own our global payroll operations – working closely with our outsourced provider to streamline processes, tighten controls and drive continuous improvement.
• Champion operational excellence by reviewing supplier agreements, ensuring finance compliance and audit readiness, and supporting the integration and scaling of new finance systems and technologies.
• Play a key role in leadership, both within the Finance team and across the wider business – representing the Finance Director when needed and contributing to group-wide priorities and initiatives.

What you’ll need

This role calls for a confident and curious finance leader – someone who blends commercial sharpness with strategic thinking and the ability to make complexity feel simple.

• A strong background in strategic and commercial finance, ideally gained in a complex or matrixed organisation
• ACA / ACCA (or equivalent) qualified, with 7+ years PQE in commercial and strategic finance roles
• Expert-level Excel skills with hands-on experience building financial models and business cases that drive key decisions
• Proven experience leading or supporting cross-functional transformation – including designing and embedding new systems, processes and ways of working
• A confident communicator who can influence and challenge at all levels – from senior execs to cross-functional partners
• Meticulous attention to detail, with the ability to stay cool under pressure and juggle multiple fast-moving priorities

The extra details

Role type : Contract (14 – 16 months)
Location : London hub (approx. twice per week) & your home space
Salary : £105,000 - £115,750 plus bonus - We're putting our salaries out there for everyone to see - no smoke and mirrors, just honest numbers. We'll offer a salary that matches your skills, always aiming for room to grow.
Working hours : Full time - We embrace flexible working. Let us know what hours empower you to be at your best both professionally and personally, we’ll try to find a perfect match for you and us.
Benefits : Buckle up for an adventure with Virgin! Our benefits package isn't just a list - it's your ticket to an extraordinary career and life. Imagine unlimited leave for your globe-trotting dreams, a "Screw it, let's do it pot" to enjoy being you, and a learning budget to fuel your curiosity. We've got your back with top-notch health care, family support that goes the extra mile, and a pension plan to keep your future bright. From electric vehicles to flexible volunteering, we're not just offering a job - we're inviting you to join a community that celebrates your whole self.
Closing date: 15 August 2025

Some of the attributes that define a Virgin person just can’t be quantified in words. We pride ourselves on welcoming people from all walks of life, with all sorts of skill sets. Most recently, we successfully campaigned to add ‘Dyslexic Thinking’ as a skill on LinkedIn. We truly value passion for Purpose and Sustainability, welcoming creative thinkers and innovators. Any uniqueness is a strength and will be considered an asset to our workforce. If there is something you would like us to consider, to tailor the hiring process to the way you work best, please don’t hesitate to let us know. 

For this role we will need to do a few extra essential checks such as DBS screening or qualification verification. We'll always be upfront about what's needed, get you’re okay first, handling everything sensitively and fairly while keeping your data secure. We are a Fair Chance employer and our people are our secret sauce so, we will always be open to listen to individual circumstances.

Ready to turn your career into the ultimate adventure? Virgin's got the map, the compass, and the crew. Your great adventure awaits!