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If you are looking to become a Finance Director, it is important to learn about the skills, qualifications and experience that employers are looking for. By doing so, you can enhance your application and put yourself in the best position for a role as a Finance Director or Director of Finance.
Applying for a Finance Director role is a major step in any finance or accountancy professional's career. Financial Directors are key players within an organisation, playing a pivotal role in setting the company's financial strategy and overall commercial trajectory.
As such, the application and vetting process for Financial Directors tends to be quite in-depth, requiring candidates to demonstrate a high level of skill and experience. To become a Finance Director, candidates will need to familiarise themselves with this process and tailor their applications to show they can provide what employers are looking for.
Here, we will provide advice on how to become a Finance Director and how to create the most compelling application when competing for high-profile roles within your chosen sector.
Successful applications for senior roles should be written with the specific responsibilities and requirements of the role at the forefront. It is therefore important for candidates to have a strong understanding of what a typical Finance Director job description looks like, in order to ensure they are ticking all of the necessary boxes.
Finance Directors will be responsible for overseeing the finance and accounting department of an organisation. Working as part of the senior management team, if not the Board of Directors, they will usually be the most senior member of the finance department.
A standard Finance Director job description will usually include the following, depending on the industry, structure, and size of the organisation:
Although these are the typical job requirements for Finance Directors, the exact responsibilities associated with the role will vary depending on the organisation.
Finance Directors play a pivotal role in a company's commercial strategy and business administration, harnessing and making sense of complex financial information to ensure that the company's finances are being managed appropriately.
As such, you can expect a Finance Director job description to include a number of key skills and qualifications as necessary preconditions for applicants:
Additionally, the following soft skills will also be crucial to your application, and may often be specified as key requirements within a finance job description:
If you possess these important skills and want to work your way towards a Finance Director role, there are a number of steps you can take to strengthen your application further:
By taking these steps, you can mark yourself out as a potentially great Finance Director, putting yourself in the best possible position to secure the role you seek and start climbing the career ladder.
Finding a role as a Finance Director that matches your ambitions is much easier when you work with a specialist recruitment agency. Your recruitment partner can provide career advice and support you with all aspects of your job search, helping you to refine your CV and application, as well as match you with prospective employers who are looking for applicants with your skillset.
It is particularly important to find a recruitment partner with expertise in recruiting for high-level senior and executive roles, such as Sellick Partnership. We have good relationships with many of the industry's top employers, and a strong track record of placing highly skilled senior candidates in Director of Finance roles.
To find out how Sellick Partnership can help you apply for a Finance Director role, visit our Senior & Executive recruitment hub, where you can explore the latest vacancies we have available.