Commercial Manager

Job Title: Commercial Manager - Finance
Location: London-hybrid 
Contract Type: 12 Month FTC 
Employment Type: Full Time - 35 hours per week
Reporting to: Senior Commercial Manager

About Ogilvy 

At Ogilvy, we inspire brands and people to impact the world. Our vision is to create big ideas that make a significant contribution to the planet, society, and the bottom line. We believe this is the best way for our clients to achieve sustainable growth, and we achieve it by breaking down barriers that restrict talent and ideas.

Our teams operate fluidly across five core capabilities: Advertising, Consulting, Experience, PR & Influencer, and Health. This unique approach allows us to innovate at the intersection of talent and expertise – what we call Borderless Creativity. With 132 offices in 83 countries, we seamlessly connect deep cultural insights to deliver multifaceted ideas that drive impact.

We are consistently recognized at the highest levels of our industry, including being ranked the number one UK agency at D&AD, winning a Glass Lion at Cannes, and being nominated 'Network of the Year' by prestigious awards like Campaign, Effie Awards EMEA, and The One Show. Join a team that consistently pushes boundaries and delivers award-winning work!

About the UK Finance Department: 

Our UK Finance department is a vibrant community of 60+ finance professionals dedicated to enabling the business to grow and thrive. We are commercial partners, providing creative solutions for compliant, efficient, and profitable growth for Ogilvy UK. We challenge the status quo, optimise technology, and constantly seek new ways to support our ambitious growth objectives.

The Opportunity: Shape Strategy & Drive Financial Best Practice

Are you a commercially astute and proactive finance professional ready to make a significant impact within a leading global agency?

We are looking for a Commercial Manager to join our dynamic Commercial Finance team in London on an initial 12-month fixed-term contract. This is a pivotal role where you'll partner directly with agency client teams to drive financial best practice, embed commercial thinking, and support our business objectives of aggressive growth and improved operating margins.

You will be an integral part of a collaborative team that fosters challenge, new thinking, and innovation. This role offers significant opportunity for personal growth and development, including increased scope and complexity of client portfolios, managing senior stakeholder relationships, contributing to leadership initiatives, and driving tangible business impact.

Key Responsibilities:

• Client Reporting & Insight: Deliver timely, accurate, and insightful financial information on your client portfolio, adhering to internal and external deadlines. Lead revenue forecasting and budgeting, presenting robust commentary to inform real-time decision-making.


• Revenue Recognition & Compliance: Ensure compliant revenue recognition (IFRS15), driving appropriate challenge and documentation with account teams.


• Working Capital Management: Proactively manage working capital across Accrued Revenue, Debtors, WIP, and Deferred Income to maximize cash generation and escalate recoverability issues.


• Job Management Governance: Partner with Commercial WIP Managers to ensure rigorous job management processes, including project opening, estimate approval, timely closure, and reconciliations.


• Compliance & Audit Leadership: Partner with our Compliance Manager to ensure adherence to Ogilvy and WPP reporting and control requirements. Manage client and internal audits, maintaining clear documentation and providing robust explanations.


• Strategic Business Partnering: Act as a key business partner to client teams, providing proactive advice and data-driven recommendations to support effective decision-making and long-term strategy.


• Commercial Agenda Ownership: Drive the agency’s commercial agenda, ensuring client teams are aware of financials and KPIs, and fostering accountability.


• Pricing & Negotiation: Support the pricing and negotiation of client contracts, developing robust client pricing models.


• Profitability & Efficiency: Continuously improve the measurement of client profitability, resource utilization, and recovery, formulating growth and margin improvement plans.


• Talent Development: Actively build commercial acumen and influence behaviors across the business through training and guidance.


• Process & Technology Champion: Contribute to the evolution of the Commercial Finance function, driving continuous improvement, leveraging technology and AI, and championing Workday adoption.

What You'll Bring:

• Professional Qualification: An experienced, qualified or part-qualified accountant (e.g., ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent) with a strong commercial mindset, eager to drive change.


• Influential Communicator: Proactive and effective communicator, skilled at influencing commercial behaviours and best practice across diverse business teams.


• Leadership & Collaboration: Able to demonstrate leadership and collaboration skills, sharing ideas, fostering an inclusive environment, and driving innovation.


• Curiosity & Adaptability: Naturally curious, with the ability to think differently, solve complex problems, and adapt seamlessly to change.


• Strategic Attention to Detail: Possesses a unique combination of meticulous attention to detail and the ability to step back and understand the broader commercial picture.


• Resilience: Able to work effectively to tight deadlines in a fast-paced agency environment.


• Technical Proficiency: Strong Excel skills (including SUMIFS, VLOOKUPS, pivot tables) are essential.


• System Experience: Workday experience is highly advantageous.


• Industry Insight: Previous experience in an advertising, media, or creative agency environment is a significant plus.

How we help you Thrive:

• 25 days annual leave + 1 volunteer day plus the option to buy up to 5 extra days of leave per year


• A Work From Anywhere policy (subject to terms)


• Bupa Healthcare


• Enhanced Maternity, Adoption and Shared Parental Leave


• A fantastic Employee Assistance Programme provided by Telus which offers brilliant support, expert advice and specialist counselling


• Help at Hand - quick free access to a remote GP, mental health support, physio or a medical 2nd opinion


• A comprehensive Learning & Development programme 


• We have a Flexible Working Model with core working hours: 10am – 4pm


• A 1.5:1 Matching Pension Structure


• Wellbeing and Health: Up to £25.00 per month towards physical or online exercise class membership, annual eye tests and a variety of wellbeing incentives and activities throughout the year 


• Season Ticket Loan and Cycle to Work Scheme


• Life Assurance