Job Description
About Sauce Shop
Sauce Shop is one of the UK’s fastest-growing premium sauce brands, producing award-winning ketchups, BBQ sauces, hot sauces and mayos from our Nottingham manufacturing site. We’re a challenger brand with national retail listings, a strong D2C presence, and a growing international footprint. As we scale beyond £10m revenue, we’re strengthening our finance capability to support better decision-making, operational efficiency, and long-term growth.
Overview
We are looking for a Finance Manager who can combine strong technical accounting with commercial insight and hands-on operational finance. This is a pivotal role in a scaling food manufacturing business — you’ll own the day-to-day finance function while helping build the processes, reporting, and controls needed for the next stage of growth.
You’ll work closely with the founders and senior leadership team with the ambition of taking over from the current fractional FD.
Responsibilities
Financial Control & Reporting
· Own the month-end process, ensuring accurate and timely management accounts.
· Maintain balance sheet integrity, reconciliations, accruals, and prepayments.
· Manage cashflow forecasting and working capital, including stock, debtors, and creditors.
· Prepare board-ready monthly reporting packs with clear commentary and insight.
· Oversee VAT, payroll journals, and statutory compliance (with external accountants).
Commercial Finance
· Support pricing decisions, margin analysis, and customer profitability.
· Build and maintain product-level costings, including BOMs, labour, and overhead absorption.
· Partner with Sales and Operations to model promotions, NPD, and commercial scenarios.
· Provide financial insight to support strategic decisions, capex, and investment cases.
Operational Finance & Process Improvement
· Strengthen financial processes, controls, and documentation as the business scales.
· Improve stock reporting, production costing accuracy, and variance analysis.
· Lead budgeting and forecasting cycles, working with department heads.
· Implement systems improvements (ERP, reporting tools, automation).
Leadership & Collaboration
· Act as the day-to-day finance lead within the business.
· Manage the relationship with external accountants and auditors.
· Support the development of junior finance resource as the team grows.
· Champion a data-driven culture across the organisation.
About You
Essential
· Qualified or part-qualified accountant (ACA/ACCA/CIMA) or equivalent experience.
· Experience in FMCG, food manufacturing, or a product-based business.
· Strong understanding of cost of goods, stock, and manufacturing finance.
· Excellent Excel skills and comfortable with financial modelling.
· Hands-on, proactive, and comfortable working in a fast-paced SME environment.
· Ability to communicate clearly with non-finance stakeholders.
Desirable
· Experience implementing or improving ERP/stock systems.
· Exposure to D2C, retail, and wholesale channels.
· Prior experience in a scaling or founder-led business