Associate Director

Location: Hammersmith   

Reporting to: Director, Finance  

Job Summary

Orchard Therapeutics is a global biotechnology gene therapy company dedicated to transforming the lives of people affected by rare diseases through the development of innovative, potentially curative cell and gene therapies. Orchard has its global headquarters in London and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Kyowa Kirin, a Japan-based Global Specialty Pharmaceutical Company.

Reporting to the Director, Finance, the Associate Director, Finance, will play a key leadership role across both management accounting and financial reporting, ensuring a robust control environment and delivering high-quality financial insights to support business decision-making.

This role is responsible for leading the month-end close process, overseeing financial reporting and technical accounting and ensuring compliance with IRFS and internal policies. In parallel, the role serves as strategic finance business partner, driving FP&A activities including budgeting, forecasting and performance analysis across the organization.

The Associate Director will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams and external stakeholders to resolve complex finance and accounting issues, support planning cycles and ensure timely and accurate reporting. This is a highly visible position with broad impact across the finance function and the wider business.

Key Elements and Responsibilities

• Maintain a strong financial reporting and control environment.
• Lead the month-end close process ensuring accuracy, timeliness and completeness of financial results.  Activities include performing detailed account analysis, recording journal entries, preparing and reviewing account reconciliations
• Maintain the company’s internal control framework to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and company policies.
• Provide technical accounting leadership including the resolution of complex accounting transactions.
• Implement new accounting standards including issuance and updating of corporate accounting policies and procedures.
• Act as a strategic finance business partner, providing monthly results and financial analysis. 
• Support the business with the annual planning cycle and quarterly forecasting activities.
• Collaborate with parent company and affiliates, responding to ad-hoc questions and requests.
• Support corporate financial planning, forecasting, and budgeting processes across departments
• Manage staff and all aspects of accounts payable and the employee expense reporting process.
• Support interactions with parent company and affiliates, responding to ad-hoc questions and requests.

Experience, Skills & Knowledge

• 7+ years of progressive experience in finance, accounting, or related roles including leadership responsibilities across financial reporting and FP&A
• Industry-specific experience in biotech, healthcare preferred and ideally experience at a public accounting firm
• Strong technical accounting expertise with experience navigating complex technical accounting issues
• Demonstrated experience in financial planning, forecasting and business partnering with senior stakeholders
• Proven ability to lead and develop teams, drive process improvement and operate effectively in a fast-paced environment
• Experience with ERP and planning systems, ideally NetSuite and Adaptive Planning and advanced proficiency in Excel.
• Strong organizational and prioritization skills, with the ability to manage multiple deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to translate complex financial information for non-financial stakeholders and influence decision-making.
• Proven ability to build relationships and partner effectively with cross-functional teams and senior leadership.

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in finance or accounting, master’s degree in business administration (MBA), finance, or related field preferred
• Charted Accountant (CA), Certified Public Accountant (CPA), or similar professional designation (strongly preferred)