German-speaking Project Accountant

6-month interim role starting in February 2026

Job title: Interim Commercial Finance Manager - German Speaking

Contract: 6 months initially (February 2026 start)

Context: SME scale-up, PE-backed / PE-ready

Bristol-based role (Hybrid / flexible working available) - with occasional travel abroad

Role purposeThe Interim Commercial Finance Manager will support the leadership team through a critical scale-up phase, improving financial visibility, forecasting accuracy and commercial decision-making. The role is hands-on and delivery-focused, ensuring the business has robust, investor-grade financial insight and is well-prepared for future PE or exit activity. This is a short-term, high-impact role focused on clarity, control and value creation.

Essential skills & experience

• Qualified accountant (ACA / ACCA / CIMA or equivalent)
• Proven experience in SME scale-ups, PE-backed or fast-growth environments
• Strong commercial finance / business partnering background
• Comfortable operating hands-on with limited structure or resource
• Able to simplify complexity and move quickly without over-engineering
• Strong stakeholder management skills at leadership level
• German language skills (written & verbal)
  
  Key responsibilities

Commercial partnering & insight

Act as the primary finance partner to senior operational and commercial leaders

Provide clear, actionable insight into revenue, margins, costs and profitability drivers

Support pricing, investment and resource decisions with robust financial analysis

Forecasting, budgeting & planning

Own and improve short-term and medium-term forecasting (monthly, quarterly, annual)

Reduce forecast volatility and improve confidence in numbers

Build or refine simple, scalable models suitable for a growing SME

Management reporting & KPIs

Design and deliver concise management reporting packs focused on key value drivers

Define and standardise KPIs across revenue, margin, cash and operational performance

Ensure consistency between management accounts, forecasts and board reporting

EBITDA quality & cash focus

Improve understanding and transparency of EBITDA performance and movements

Identify and implement margin improvement and cost control opportunities

Support working capital optimisation and cash flow forecasting

Exit readiness / PE hygiene

Ensure financial information is well-structured, explainable and diligence-ready

Support preparation of financial narratives and data for investors or advisors

Improve documentation, assumptions and controls to reduce key-person risk

Interim delivery & handover

Deliver tangible improvements within the 6-month period

Upskill internal teams where appropriate and leave clear tools, processes and documentation

Ensure a smooth handover to permanent or extended finance leadership

What success looks like after 6 months

Forecasts are reliable, explainable and trusted

Management reporting is concise, consistent and decision-useful

Clear visibility of EBITDA drivers and cash performance

Leadership is better equipped to make commercial decisions.

The business is materially more "investor-ready" than at day one

What you need to do now
If you're interested in this role, available in the coming weeks & feel you meet the criteria, reach out to Charles Maidment from Hays Bristol senior finance contracts team.
If this job isn't quite right for you, but you are looking for a new position, please contact us for a confidential discussion about your career.
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