Finance Manager

About Us

Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL) is a defence engineering company based in the UK. We design, manufacture and support military vehicles used by the British Army and international customers.

Position Overview

This role leads and manages the management accounting team, acting as a critical strategic link between the finance function, operational leaders, and supply chain stakeholders. The successful candidate ensures robust financial controls, leads complex defence contract compliance, and provides strategic financial and inventory analysis to aid senior leadership decision-making across cost base, stock optimisation, investments, and costing/pricing rates.

Team Leadership & Financial Control

• Line manage, mentor, and develop the management accountants, ensuring balanced workload distribution and clear performance objectives.
• Oversee and sign off on the absolute integrity of accounts within your area of responsibility by strictly adhering to Company Financial Policies and statutory frameworks.
• Guide the team in partnering with cost centre managers to close out financial positions efficiently around key financial reporting milestones. Review rolling forecasts for costs, cash, and headcount, ensuring robust management of accruals, prepayments, and balance sheet account reconciliations.

Inventory Focus & Material Management

• Establish and maintain robust internal financial controls over stock valuation, inventory accuracy, and material tracking across the business. Including supporting the company cycle counting and stock taking as independent financial assurance.
• Partner with supply chain and warehouse teams to analyse stock turns, identify slow-moving or obsolete inventory, and manage the financial provisioning or write-off processes. Work with programme managers and project accounts to review aging stocks and accuracy.
• Implement and oversee the financial tracking of material variances, usage adjustments, and shrinkage, translating operational stock data into actionable financial insights for senior leadership.
• Review stock held in quarantine and blocked and recommend appropriate provisions as required, track and engage with the appropriate stakeholders as requirement. Ensure scrap is transacted within policy alignment and relevant authority, support review process and provide financial insights to internal stakeholders.
• Host external auditors on site and internal audit as required.

Defence Compliance & Rates Oversight

• Manage and mature strategic working relationships with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the Cost Assurance and Analysis Service (CAAS). Overview of compliance for supplier reporting under Single Source Contract Regulations.

Business Partnering & Planning

• Liaise directly with operational headers and supply chain directors to provide comprehensive financial insights that drive cost-saving opportunities and efficiency improvements.
• Direct the financial input into the mid-term plan aligning operational stock assumptions, headcount, and overhead projections with corporate financial targets.
• Evaluate business cases for major capital expenditure (Capex) and inventory system upgrades, utilising Net Present Value (NPV) and Internal Rate of Return (IRR) metrics to justify strategic investments.
• Ensure all reporting deadlines are met, including timely variance analysis and relevant commentary.

What Qualifications You Should Have

• Track record of driving cross-functional improvements by influencing executive and senior leadership teams, establishing clear paths for task ownership, escalation, and follow-up.
• The presence and diplomatic weight to challenge senior operational directors and cost centre managers constructively, questioning underlying budget assumptions while maintaining collaborative relationships.
• Proven experience overseeing statutory compliance and signing off on complex DefCARS portal submissions.
• Technical oversight of lease and asset accounting standards (IFRS 16, IAS 16, and IAS 38).
• Ability to direct the identification, capitalisation, and measurement of Right-of-Use (ROU) assets and establish company policy on SaaS/cloud computing accounting treatments (distinguishing capitalizable configuration vs. Opex).
• Advanced understanding of inventory valuation frameworks under IAS 2, specifically overseeing Moving Average Price (MAP) integrity and directing Net Realisable Value (NRV) assessments to manage stock impairment policies.