Vice President of Finance

Job Description

The Vice President of Finance (VP Finance) will be a key member of the executive leadership team, responsible for leading and overseeing the entire finance function. This role requires a strategic, data-driven leader who can independently drive financial strategy, manage key financial operations, and deliver actionable insights that support the company's growth objectives. The VP Finance will bring a high level of expertise, enabling fast and effective completion of key financial projects, and will take ownership of advanced financial responsibilities, including financial modelling, scenario planning, stakeholder management, and financing, while also managing the company’s core financial operations.

About us

Up Learn has built the world’s most effective learning experience. We’ve done this by combining cognitive science, instructional theory and artificial intelligence.

Up Learn’s mission is to create the most effective learning experiences in the world, and distribute access to as many students as possible 🙌

Up Learn started with A Levels and developed courses that are:

1. Effective: 97% of students that complete Up Learn courses achieve an A*/A, starting from grades as low as Ds and Es
2. Engaging: 2.8 million hours of learning thanks to Up Learn, and rising
3. Scaling: tens of thousands of students use Up Learn today, either independently, or through one of our 300 schools, university or charity partners

Up Learn has been growing fast, and is backed by investors that share their vision, including leading venture capital firm Forward Partners and the Branson family (Virgin). Social impact is critical to Up Learn’s mission - for every student that pays, Up Learn gives a full scholarship to a student who can’t.

Key responsibilities

Strategic Financial Leadership:

• Lead the overall finance function with a focus on aligning financial strategies with the company’s long-term vision, driving both strategic initiatives and operational excellence.
• Provide the CEO and the rest of the leadership team with financial insights and strategic recommendations from a finance perspective.
• Bring in-depth experience in financial leadership to drive the company's financial direction without the need for hands-on oversight from the CEO, and ensure proactive financial management, scenario planning, and financial modelling.
• Provide financial insights and modelling to support strategic decision-making, including evaluating the financial impact of product improvements and other strategic initiatives like course range expansion.
• Drive increased revenue and profitability by managing cross-functional teams to ensure efficient spending, holding departments accountable to their budgets and financial targets.
• Oversee the management of key financial KPIs, identifying and tracking metrics that are critical to the company’s success but are not currently monitored.

Revenue and Cost Forecasting:

• Take ownership of revenue forecasting, improving accuracy, and reliability to prevent financial shortfalls.
• Enhance cost forecasting processes, ensuring they are robust and align with the company’s financial objectives.
• Implement and oversee accruals-based revenue and cost reporting for forward-looking forecasts, ensuring that all financial reports provide an accurate picture of the company’s financial health.

Advanced Financial Modeling and Analysis:

• Develop and implement sophisticated financial models that address the needs of both the B2B SaaS and B2C aspects of the business.
• Lead efforts to accurately determine and optimise gross profit margins across different products and markets, and assess the return on investments for both revenue-generating (e.g., marketing) and non-revenue-generating (e.g., new courses, product improvements) initiatives, leveraging experience in similar environments.
• Conduct research and analysis around market expansion opportunities, providing data-driven recommendations to the rest of the leadership team.

Efficient Execution of Finance Projects:

• Take ownership of key finance projects, ensuring they are completed efficiently and effectively, drawing on prior experience to deliver results quickly.

Investor Relations & Fundraising:

• Manage and build strong relationships with existing investors, providing them with accurate and timely financial information and updates.
• Establish and manage relationships with investors, banks, lenders, and other financial institutions to proactively and independently drive forward and secure funding options and support the company’s financial health.

Financial Reporting & Compliance:

• Ensure seamless execution of core financial operations including timely and accurate preparation of financial statements, management accounts, reports and HMRC filings such as VAT returns.
• Oversee compliance with relevant financial standards, ensuring that the company’s financial practices are robust and scalable.

Team Development & Leadership:

• Build and lead a high-performing finance team, fostering a culture of continuous improvement, proactivity, and accountability.
• Identify and address any skill gaps within the team, providing training and development opportunities where needed.

Proactive Problem-Solving:

• Identify key financial issues before they become critical, setting goals and driving initiatives that address potential challenges proactively.
• Develop and implement processes that improve financial transparency, accountability, and decision-making across the company.
• Utilise extensive experience to drive financial projects forward at pace, making continual improvements and delivering results on a monthly or quarterly basis.

Requirements

If you don’t meet every requirement below, but you still believe you’re the right person for the job, we strongly encourage you to apply.

• Proven multi-year experience as a VP Finance, CFO, or similar senior finance leadership role within fast-growing company/companies
• Proven track record of strong financial acumen with a deep understanding of successful revenue forecasting, financial planning, and analysis
• Highly data literate - expert-level financial modelling skills are a must for this role
• Ability to successfully manage complex financial challenges with a high degree of autonomy
• Successful experience in investor relations and managing financing strategies (equity, debt, or other) is a plus
• Proven track record of delivering the work that you say you’ll deliver, in the time you say you’ll deliver it
• A proactive, strategic thinker with the ability to anticipate challenges and drive solutions independently and autonomously
• Meticulous attention to detail and demonstrable track record of low error/issue rate (e.g. day-to-day finance activities like payments and reports are rarely or never missed and rarely or never have mistakes)
• Strong communicator - you write and speak concisely, confidently and persuasively, and can explain your thinking effectively
• Experience and knowledge of what fantastic Finance leadership and systems/processes/infrastructure look like
• Advanced knowledge of financial systems and tools, including QuickBooks, Excel, and Google Sheets
• Entrepreneurial mindset and can-do attitude
• Strong ability to interact cross-functionally, getting into the detail of the different departments, their needs, and points of view
• Proven ability to lead and mentor finance teams, driving high performance through deep knowledge and experience.

Additionally, please make sure you are comfortable with:

• Working in a growth company / startup environment, where things can change fast
• You’re genuinely passionate about learning and growth - you thrive in a culture of feedback, giving and receiving it
• You set high standards for everything you do, and have enthusiasm, commitment, and ability to deliver results
• You know that being an outstanding leader can be like being a ‘business athlete’ and requires high levels of mental toughness and resilience
• You excel at time management and task prioritisation, adeptly balancing multiple projects and demands while maintaining a healthy work-life balance
• You’re excited to work in an organisation that directly improves students’ lives, and to join us in our mission to solve education

At Up Learn, we welcome everyone and are committed to building inclusive teams. We celebrate differences and encourage everyone to join us and be themselves at work. We always follow the guidelines of the Equality Act in all aspects of recruitment, selection, employment, training, development and promotion opportunities at Up Learn.

Benefits

Up Learn offers generous remuneration, equity share options, and a fun, friendly, high-calibre team that trusts you and gives you the freedom to be brilliant.

You will have the chance to define the future of education and make a meaningful contribution to the lives of thousands of students, and:

• Remuneration

1. 💰 Highly competitive salary
2. 📈 Equity options
3. 💸 Employer-matched pension
4. 💳 Perks scheme offering discounts & rewards at 30,000+ brands including up to 55% off cinema tickets

Health & Wellbeing

1. 🦷 Level 6 (highest level) dental insurance
2. 👶 Significantly enhanced maternity and paternity leave
3. 🚲 Cycle-to-Work: we are registered so you can buy a bike and accessories tax-free
4. 👓 Eye test & glasses reimbursement
5. 📚 Company library: we have hundreds of books in our company library, topped up monthly with the most highly requested books. You can borrow a book whenever you like
6. 📖 Unlimited budget for any work-related books you need
7. 🚑 Emergency support salary advance
8. 🏥 Mental health first aiders
9. 👨‍👩‍👧 Family access to Up Learn: your family and close relatives get unlimited access to any Up Learn course for free!

Time

1. 🏖️ Minimum 35 days of paid holiday per year made up of: 26 days of bookable holiday, plus UK bank holidays, plus unlimited ‘extra days’ (i.e. if you need a few more days, no problem)
2. 🏡 Hybrid working environment with two days in the office per week (one team day and one company day) and the rest is up to you!
3. 💻 Ability to work remotely for longer periods
4. 🕰️ Flexible working hours
5. ⭐ 1 fully paid day for volunteering at a charity or not-for-profit of your choice each year

Social

1. 🏰 Annual company off-site where we get out of the city and take a break together
2. 🏃 Free sporting activities like 5-a-side football games, lunch-time jogs, badminton games, paid-for monthly CrossFit sessions
3. ☕ Unlimited delicious coffee (high-end coffee beans) at the office, tea selection and other soft drinks, plus unlimited snacks and fresh fruit
4. 🥂 Weekly ‘Friday celebrations’ with a huge range of drinks, from craft beer to frozen margaritas, alongside soft drinks, smoothies, and fruit juice
5. ☕ Paid for coffee breaks (a great chance to get to know the team)
6. 💃 Regular team outings like go-karting and skiing

All in addition to

1. Influence, trust and impact inside a well-funded VC-backed startup that's scaling
2. A spacious and bright private office in Old Street, with delicious coffee, a selection of teas and unlimited snacks and drinks

Our Core Values

1. Live for Learning
   We are open-minded and have a never-quenched thirst for learning, expanding our experiences, getting feedback, iterating and improving
2. Strive for Consistent Excellence
   We hold an extremely high standard, pay attention to the details and take pride in consistency
3. Objective and Rational
   We think from first principles, avoid biases, use believability, regulate our emotions and are obligated to dissent when we disagree
4. Relentlessly Resourceful
   We are honey badgers, we don’t compromise, we work smart and get the job done
5. Caring and Compassionate
   We demonstrate care and compassion for ourselves, each other and for students

How to apply

If this sounds like it’s for you, we can’t wait to hear from you!

• Send us your CV & tell us in 150 words why you’d be great for this role.
• Inviting someone to join our core team is a big deal for us and we put a lot of time and effort into the process. If we figure out we’re not perfect for each other at any stage we’ll let you know as soon as possible.