{"id":2932514,"url":"https://alion.io/job/pencil-financial-controller-ai-enabled-finance-operations","title":"Financial Controller | AI Enabled Finance Operations","company":{"id":178078,"name":"Pencil","domain":"trypencil.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/pencil-2","size_band":"11-50","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Ashby","truth_index":null},"role":"Finance","role_family":"Finance","seniority":"senior","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"remote","remote_scope":"stated_countries","remote_scope_basis":"posting_text","remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"explicit","locations":[],"countries":[],"hiring_countries":["GB"],"hiring_countries_total":1,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":59000,"max_usd":117000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_cell","sample_n":98},"experience_years_min":5,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Xero","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-20T13:48:13Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-20","last_verified_at":"2026-10-22T12:06:05Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":1,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":1},"description":"At Pencil, we are driving innovation in advertising technology through our state-of-the-art SaaS product, which harnesses Generative AI to redefine content creation. Our mission is to make AI the default in advertising without replacing creative people. To achieve this, we need to make sure that our technology isn’t just in the hands of big brands - we need to try to help small businesses and creative individuals too.\nWe're looking for a Financial Controller to become the senior owner of financial controls, cash flow, and day-to-day process across Pencil's finance function. Reporting to the Head of Finance, you'll take ownership of the controls framework, month-end close, cash flow and and the senior judgement calls - supporting our Senior Management Accountant on revenue recognition and our Finance Manager on accounts payable and month end close. This is a newly created role: you'll be building the controls and process layer as Pencil scales 3x, working closely with a lean, high-performing team.\nCandidates must be based in the United Kingdom\nKey responsibilities:\nOwn and continuously strengthen the internal control framework across all business cycles (P2P, O2C, payroll, expenses), and run a recurring monthly operational hygiene review\n\nGive final review on management accounts, revenue recognition, and AP runs prepared by the Finance Manager and Senior Management Accountant, and first review of monthly payroll ahead of Head of Finance approval\n\nOwn monthly workings for internally developed costs and ensure appropriate controls for audit\n\nOwn cash flow forecasting and treasury, giving final sign-off on bank payments\n\nProvide senior judgement and support to the Senior Management Accountant on complex revenue recognition questions, and to the Finance Manager on AP and cost management\n\nOwn escalation relationships (banking queries, calls, vendor/software ownership) and the finance function's AI usage policy\n\nStreamline the finance operations leveraging the strength of AI\n\nYour background:\nQualified accountant, must have UK experience (ACCA, ACA, or CIMA)\n\n5 years of finance experience, including 2 years of industry experience.\n\nExperience owning financial controls and process in a fast-paced scaling business, ideally SaaS or tech\n\nComfortable managing cash flow independently, including bank payment sign-off\n\nA track record of making and standing behind senior judgement calls (accruals, revenue treatment, risk) rather than just reviewing others' work\n\nConfident working with modern finance tooling (Xero, ApprovalMax, Maxio or equivalent)\n\nDemonstrable AI skills to optimize finance workflows and efficiency\n\nYou’ll Thrive Here If You…\nYou take full ownership of what you're responsible for - including the parts that go wrong\n\nYou like moving fast but pause to check you're solving the right problem before diving in\n\nYou are as excited as we are about what AI brings to the Finance function and equally excited about relentlessly implementing it in any repeat and automatable processes to gain in speed, quality and insight\n\nYou find simple, practical fixes to control gaps rather than over-engineering process for its own sake\n\nYou want to build something from a genuine gap rather than just maintain an existing machine\n\nKPIs & Success Measures\nMonthly close completed to a consistent timetable, with management accounts signed off accurately and on time\n\nClean, timely cash flow forecasts and optimization of working capital; no unauthorised payments\n\nReduction in audit findings and control exceptions quarter over quarter\n\nPositive feedback from Finance Manager and Senior Management Accountant on the quality and speed of senior support/sign-off they receive\n\nAP and revenue recognition processes running with no backlog\n\nCapex process optimized and running\n\nAutomation of Finance workflows through AI (Demonstrated gains in efficiency or speed without impacting quality)\n\nBenefits:\n25 days PTO plus public holidays, although we operate a Flexible Time Off scheme\n\nHealth insurance / private medical cover\n\nMonthly stipend towards wellness, fitness, and learning and development\n\nRemote - work from anywhere in your home country\n\nEnhanced parental leave policies, whether you become a parent through birth, adoption or surrogacy\n\nFlexible working hours","description_format":"text","description_chars":4300,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":5,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Flexible schedule","Flexible time off","Health insurance","Parental leave"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United Kingdom","iso":"GB","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Artificial Intelligence","Advertising","Generative Image","Marketing & Sales AI"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-20T15:00:01Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":90,"band":"hot","label":"Hiring now","p_open":1,"p_active":0.903,"p_room":1,"age_days":1,"expected_fill_days":36,"reasons":["conf:1","velocity","win:early"],"computed_at":"2026-10-22T06:10:10Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/pencil-financial-controller-ai-enabled-finance-operations","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/pencil-financial-controller-ai-enabled-finance-operations.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-22T12:39:41Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":11243,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-23T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":178078},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=178078"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fpencil-financial-controller-ai-enabled-finance-operations"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fpencil-financial-controller-ai-enabled-finance-operations"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fpencil-financial-controller-ai-enabled-finance-operations"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/pencil-financial-controller-ai-enabled-finance-operations\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fpencil-financial-controller-ai-enabled-finance-operations"}]}