FP&A Manager

Location: Greater Manchester area/hybridReports to: Chief Financial OfficerBenefits package: competitive base salary plus car/allowance and annual bonusBusiness Type: Private Equity-Backed, Multi-Site Buy & Build PlatformCapital Structure: Leveraged (Senior Debt + Potential Mezzanine/Unitranche)The Vella Group is seeking a highly capable FP&A Manager to play a pivotal role at a transformative point in the company's journey. Reporting directly to the CFO, this newly created position sits at the heart of a PE-backed organisationthat has recently secured significant investment and is entering an accelerated phase of growth through strategic acquisition and continued organic expansion. As a key member of the finance leadership team, the FP&A Manager will help shape the group's financial future-bringing rigour to planning and reporting, providing insightful analysis to drive decision-making, and partnering closely with senior stakeholders as the business scales at pace.1. Role SummaryThe FP&A Manager will play a critical role in supporting a high growth, private equity backed buy and build platform. The business is scaling rapidly through acquisitions and organic expansion, and the role requires a commercially minded finance professional who can operate effectively in a leveraged environment, deliver robust financial analysis, strengthen reporting disciplines, and support value creation initiatives.This position will act as a key business partner to the CFO, senior leadership team, and PE investors, providing insight, challenge, and decision support across the group.2. Key ResponsibilitiesFinancial Planning & Forecasting

• Lead the annual budget cycle, quarterly reforecasts, and long-range plan modelling.
• Build and maintain integrated financial models incorporating multi-site P&Ls, acquisitions, pipeline scenarios, and leverage/covenant metrics.
• Model acquisition cases, synergy opportunities, and post-integration performance trajectories.

Performance Reporting & Insight

• Deliver monthly FP&A packs, including variance analysis, operational KPIs, trend insights, and actionable commentary.
• Consolidate multi-site performance to provide group level visibility and benchmarking.
• Develop dashboards/support cadence for real time performance monitoring (e.g., labour productivity, unit economics, site maturity curves).

Private Equity & Lender Reporting

• Prepare board and investor materials including trading performance, covenant headroom, cash flow trends, and value creation metrics.
• Support monthly and quarterly lender reporting requirements.
• Monitor liquidity, headroom, and leverage ratios; highlight risks early and support mitigation strategies.

Acquisition Support & Integration

• Build financial models for new acquisitions, including quality of earnings adjustments, normalised EBITDA, working capital needs, and integration impact.
• Provide finance workstreams support during due diligence (commercial, financial, and operational).
• Track integration KPIs and synergy realisation across acquired businesses.

Commercial Finance & Decision Support

• Partner with operations leaders across the multi-site network to improve profitability and performance.
• Evaluate ROI for capex, new site openings, and strategic initiatives.
• Conduct pricing, margin, and cost-to-serve analysis to support commercial decisions.

Systems, Controls & Process Improvement

• Strengthen FP&A processes, data governance, and reporting infrastructure as the business scales.
• Work closely with BI/IT teams to enhance data accuracy and automate reporting.
• Implement discipline and structure typical of PE-backed environments, aiming for best-in-class reporting.

3. Skills & Experience Required

• Qualified accountant (ACA/ACCA/CIMA) or equivalent, with 2-5+ years in FP&A, corporate finance, transaction services, or PE-backed business finance.
• Experience in multi-site, operationally intensive businesses strongly preferred.
• Strong financial modelling capability - able to build and maintain robust, flexible Excel models from scratch.
• Exposure to leveraged environments, lender reporting, or covenant monitoring desirable.
• Experience supporting M&A or integration activities highly beneficial.
• Excellent communication skills, able to translate financial data into clear insight for senior leaders and investors.
• Strong commercial awareness and ability to challenge assumptions constructively.
• Comfortable operating in fast paced, high growth, ambiguous environments.

4. Personal Characteristics

• Highly analytical, detail oriented, and intellectually curious.
• Pragmatic, proactive, and solutions oriented.
• High level of ownership and accountability.
• Comfortable engaging with both finance and non-finance stakeholders.
• Thrives in PE-backed cultures: fast pace, high expectations, data driven decision making.

5. Package

• Competitive base salary + performance-related bonus.
• Potential participation in LTIP/management incentive plan (subject to level).
• Standard benefits + opportunities for growth as the group scales.

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