Ops & Finance Ops Manager

About Occam

Occam Industries is a British defence-tech company building hardware-agnostic autonomous AI software for military drones. Our AI pilot, OccamX, turns existing, mass-produced aerial platforms into autonomous systems: software-only, running on cheap commodity hardware, and integrating into the supply chains our customers already use.

We work directly with OEMs and defence partners to get capability to the field at speed and scale.

That work is being proven on the front line in Ukraine right now. Our team operates close to the reality of modern warfare, where security, speed, discretion and reliability are not theoretical. They are the conditions that allow the mission to stand up.

Working with Occam

We believe the only defence technology that matters is the kind that changes outcomes on the battlefield. That means we move quickly, work pragmatically, and expect the same from the systems and operations behind the company.

At Occam, operations isn't just admin. As we grow across multiple geographies and move towards Series A, strong finance and people operations are what will allow the rest of the company to move quickly without things breaking behind the scenes.

This role is for someone who enjoys making things work. Someone organised, proactive and dependable, who takes ownership of the details and doesn't need to be chased. You'll be comfortable jumping between payroll, onboarding, payments, expenses and whatever else needs solving that day, while also looking for ways to make those processes better as we grow.

We're still early, so not everything will have a perfect process or playbook yet. You'll have the opportunity to help build them, learn directly from our CFO, take on more responsibility as the company scales, and grow the role with Occam.

About the role

We're a Series A-bound defence tech startup of 20+ people, rapidly expanding across multiple geographies. Our finance function is led by our CFO and supported by an external bookkeeping team. We're looking for an organised, detail-minded Finance & Operations manager to support them, keeping the day-to-day admin running smoothly across finance and people operations. You'll be the glue between the CFO, the bookkeepers and the wider team, making sure the right information gets to the right people on time, and you'll help build the tools and processes we'll need as we scale. It's a great opportunity to learn from an experienced CFO and grow with the business through Series A and beyond.

What you'll do

Payroll & people operations

- Run monthly payroll on Deel: processing starters, leavers and changes, checking outputs, and submitting for CFO approval.

- Support pensions, benefits and payroll-related admin.

- Manage our international employees and contractors on Deel, including contracts, invoices and payments.

- Run onboarding and offboarding: contracts, right-to-work checks, equipment, system access, and a smooth first week for new starters.

- Keep HR records, policies and the employee handbook up to date, and be a friendly first port of call for people-ops questions.

Finance support

- Support the CFO with day-to-day finance admin, preparing information, chasing approvals and keeping things moving.

- Be the internal point of contact for our external bookkeepers: gathering invoices, receipts and supporting documents, and answering their queries promptly.

- Prepare supplier and contractor payment runs for approval, including multi-currency international payments.

- Manage company cards, expense claims and SaaS subscriptions, making sure receipts are captured and spend follows policy.

- Help with month-end tasks, such as collecting accruals information, checking for missing documents, and supporting the CFO and bookkeepers to hit the close timetable.

- Assist with group consolidation and intercompany admin across our entities.

- Help keep the cash-flow forecast and finance trackers up to date.

Tooling, process & growth

- Help select and roll out new tools as we scale, such as an HRIS, spend management or AP automation. This includes gathering requirements, supporting vendor evaluations, managing setup and data migration, and training the team.

- Spot manual or repetitive processes and help design better, more scalable ways of working, documenting them clearly as you go.

- Support the CFO with board packs, budgets, investor reporting and fundraise preparation.

- Help keep compliance deadlines on track (VAT, company secretarial, and similar) with our advisers.

What we're looking for

- 1-2 years' experience in a finance, operations or office/people-ops role, ideally in a startup or fast-growing business.

- Highly organised, with strong attention to detail and a knack for keeping lots of plates spinning.

- Comfortable with numbers and spreadsheets; experience with Xero is a plus.

- Some exposure to payroll, expenses or accounts payable admin. Hands-on experience with Deel is a strong plus.

- Proactive and happy to own tasks end to end without needing to be chased.

- Clear, approachable communicator who's comfortable working with external partners.

- Keen to learn and develop your finance career. For example, AAT or a desire to study towards ACCA/CIMA is a plus, but you could also want to become an Ops Wizard.

Nice to have

- Experience working with outsourced bookkeepers or accountants.

- Experience with international payments, contractors or EOR arrangements.

- Experience implementing or administering an HRIS or other finance/ops software.

- Familiarity with spend management or HR tools.