Head of Finance Operations & Systems - Argos

Why join us

Joining Argos as the Head of Finance Operations & Systems offers a unique opportunity to lead and shape the strategic direction of high-volume transactional finance services, driving effective service, cost efficiency, and control outcomes across Order to Cash and Purchase to Pay. In this role, you will have the chance to influence and develop a talented Finance Operations team, ensuring alignment with wider business strategies and fostering an inclusive, high-performing culture. 

With a focus on delivering financial partnership, insight, and continuous improvement, you will play a pivotal role in strengthening cash and working capital performance while building strong partnerships across the organisation. If you are a visionary leader with a passion for finance operations and a drive to make a significant impact, this role provides a platform for professional growth, strategic decision-making, and creating lasting value within a dynamic and forward-thinking environment.

What you'll do

You will be responsible for setting the strategic direction and operational priorities for Finance Operations across Order to Cash and Purchase to Pay, translating broader business and Finance strategies into clear service, control, cost, and transformation outcomes. You will lead and develop the Finance Operations leadership team, ensuring effective resource allocation, building succession, and fostering an inclusive, high-performing culture across onshore and offshore teams. 

Additionally, you will oversee the end-to-end performance and governance of the outsourced delivery model, holding service partners accountable for cost, service levels, controls, and continuous improvement to align processes with the wider Finance and business strategy. Your role will involve providing financial partnership, insights, and constructive challenges to leaders, managing an effective financial control environment, and driving strong partnerships across Finance, Technology, and the broader business to support the delivery of strategic objectives.

Who you are

You are an accomplished finance leader with a professional accountancy qualification and extensive experience in overseeing transactional finance operations, accounting controls, and high-volume process risk. Your ability to set strategic direction, lead teams through change, and drive performance improvements, coupled with your strong financial acumen and communication skills, enables you to provide valuable insight, challenge senior leaders, and ensure effective financial controls and compliance within the organisation. Your commitment to talent development and fostering an inclusive, high-performing culture plays a crucial role in achieving success in this key leadership position.

Essential Criteria

• Professional accountancy qualification (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent) 
• Proven experience leading finance operations, including oversight of transactional finance processes, financial controls and associated operational risks within a large, complex organisation – retail/FMCG is desirable
• Demonstrated experience managing outsourced or third-party service providers, including service governance, performance management and contract oversight
• Evidence of leading teams through significant operational, process or technology-enabled change, including prioritisation of resources and delivery of business outcomes
• Proven ability to interpret financial information, identify risks and opportunities, and influence senior stakeholders to support decision-making, while maintaining compliance with audit, regulatory and financial control requirements

#LI-CE1

We’d all like amazing work to do, and real work-life balance. That’s waiting for you here at Sainsbury’s. For a FTSE business, we move incredibly fast. When we’re not leading projects, we’re supporting teams across the wider group to achieve their goals. And here, you can see the impact of your work as soon as you walk into a store, giving you a real sense of purpose and responsibility. Better still, the team around you will listen to your ideas and opinions, and you’ll have every chance to try something new. The scale and complexity of our business mean there’s always something new to learn, and we’ll support you every step of the way. We’re trusted to get on with it. So get ready to make things happen.

We are committed to being a truly inclusive retailer so you’ll be welcomed whoever you are and wherever you work. Around here, there’s always the chance to try something new — whether that’s as part of an evolving team or somewhere else across the business - and we take development seriously and promise to support you. We also recognise and celebrate colleagues when they go the extra mile and, where possible, offer flexible working. When you join our team, we’ll also offer you an amazing range of benefits. Here are some of them:

Starting off with colleague discount, you'll be able to save 10% on your shopping online and instore at Sainsbury's, Argos, TU and Habitat, and we regularly increase the discount to 15% at points during the year. We've also got you covered for your future with our pensions scheme and life cover. You'll also be able to share in our success as you may be eligible for a performance-related bonus of up to 65% of salary, depending on how we perform (in cash and shares).

Your wellbeing is important to us too. You'll receive an annual holiday allowance, and you can buy up to an additional week's holiday, and we provide private healthcare. We also offer other benefits that will help your money go further such as season ticket loans, cycle to work scheme, health cash plans, salary advance (where you can access some of your pay before pay day) as well access to a great range of discounts from hundreds of other retailers. You'll also receive a company car cash allowance unless you are going to travel 10,000 business miles in your role, then you'll be able to choose a car. And if you ever need it there is also an employee assistance programme.

Moments that matter are as important to us as they are to you which is why we give up to 26 weeks’ pay for maternity or adoption leave and up to 4 weeks’ pay for paternity leave.

Please see www.sainsburys.jobs for a range of our benefits (note, length of service and eligibility criteria may apply).