Couch Heroes is a growing, international game studio building a persistent online world in the MMO space. We’re developing in Unreal Engine with a team spanning multiple countries, currently in early production and scaling to support a multi-year live-service roadmap.
We’re remote-first, with a legal entity in the UK, and we operate with the speed and ambiguity of an early-stage company building something ambitious. We value autonomy, clear communication, and people who take ownership of their work.
Building an MMO is a multi-year investment with complex financial dynamics: burn rate management, milestone-based funding, multi-entity compliance, and cost modelling that evolves as the team scales. We need a Head of Finance who can own the studio’s financial operations and provide the leadership team with the financial clarity needed to make sound strategic decisions.
You will report to the Head of Finance and Operations and work closely with HR, production, and studio leadership. You will own financial planning, reporting, compliance, and operational finance across the studio’s UK and international entities.
We are an early-stage studio with a small team scaling toward a larger production organisation. Financial processes, reporting cadences, and planning models are still being formalised. You will be building financial infrastructure, not inheriting a mature function. The decisions you make about how the studio tracks, forecasts, and communicates its financial position will shape how leadership makes resourcing, hiring, and investment decisions for years.
Own the studio’s financial model: build and maintain rolling forecasts, annual budgets, and scenario plans that account for team growth, production milestones, and funding timelines.
Provide the leadership team with regular financial reporting that is clear, honest, and actionable. Surface risks early. Do not bury problems in spreadsheets.
Model hiring plans, contractor costs, and headcount scenarios in collaboration with HR and production. Translate production plans into financial impact analysis.
Support fundraising and investor relations with financial materials: pitch decks, financial models, cap table management, and due diligence preparation.
Manage day-to-day financial operations: accounts payable, accounts receivable, payroll coordination, expense management, and cash flow monitoring.
Ensure compliance with tax, regulatory, and reporting obligations across the studio’s UK entity and any international structures. Coordinate with external accountants and legal advisors as needed.
Establish and maintain internal financial controls, approval workflows, and documentation standards appropriate for the studio’s size and stage.
Manage relationships with banks, payment providers, and external financial service partners.
Advise leadership on financial implications of strategic decisions: new hires, vendor contracts, technology investments, and partnership structures.
Build cost models for production phases and live service operations, helping the studio understand its financial trajectory across the multi-year development roadmap.
Support governance and board reporting with clear, structured financial updates.
7+ years of experience in finance, with at least 3 years in a leadership or head-of-function role.
Experience in a startup, scale-up, or early-stage company where you built financial processes rather than just operated within existing ones.
Strong financial modelling skills: budgeting, forecasting, scenario analysis, and cash flow management.
Working knowledge of UK financial compliance, tax obligations, and multi-entity reporting.
Experience supporting fundraising processes: financial model preparation, investor materials, and due diligence.
Clear, direct communication style. You can explain financial concepts to non-financial stakeholders and surface risks without overly hedging or burying the signal.
Proficiency with financial tools and spreadsheets. Advanced Excel is a given; experience with accounting software and reporting tools is expected.
Experience in the games industry, creative industries, or technology startups.
ACA, ACCA, CIMA, or equivalent professional qualification.
Experience managing multi-currency operations or international entity structures.
Familiarity with R&D tax credits, creative industry tax reliefs, or grant funding applicable to game development.
Experience working with remote, distributed teams across multiple jurisdictions.
You build clarity out of complexity. You can take a messy financial picture and turn it into something the leadership team can act on.
You are comfortable being the person who says what needs to be said about the numbers, even when the news is uncomfortable.
You are comfortable working through ambiguity. Early-stage companies do not have clean data or established processes, and you see that as the job, not an obstacle to it.
You balance rigour with pragmatism. You know when a detailed model is needed and when a back-of-envelope calculation will do.
You work autonomously in a remote environment, proactively keeping leadership informed without needing to be chased for updates.
Location: Remote-first
Type: Full-time
Start: ASAP
