Senior Finance Hiring in 2025: What Scotland’s Market is really telling us

Senior Finance Hiring in 2025: What Scotland’s Market is really telling us.

By John Gilbertson, Director of Accountancy & Finance, Meraki Talent

This week we publish the Meraki Talent 2025 Accountancy & Finance Salary Survey and Talent Insights Report.

In this article, I focus specifically on the dynamics shaping senior finance hiring in Scotland. While the full report provides a comprehensive view of the wider market, here I’ll highlight the trends that matter most for finance leaders, senior candidates, and employers building leadership capability while looking ahead to 2026 and beyond.

A market of contrasts

The senior finance landscape continues to be influenced by cost pressures, operational restructuring, and strategic hiring caution. While qualified finance and mid-level management roles remain active, genuine financial leadership opportunities remain scarce, following the same pattern seen in 2024.

There is, however, a significant rise in interim and fixed-term contract roles. Many organisations are choosing experienced senior finance professionals on fixed-term contracts rather than premium day-rate contractors, taking advantage of a strong supply of available candidates due to restructuring or business change.

Continued hiring activity is concentrated in FMCG, manufacturing, food and drink, engineering, shared services/ centres of excellence, infrastructure, renewables, and legal.

Retail, hospitality and parts of the technology sector have been negatively impacted, with several large organisations scaling back operations.

The expanding employer wish-list

One of the strongest themes in this year’s report is the expanding list of essential criteria for senior finance appointments. Employers are increasingly prioritising:

• Recent and relevant sector experience.
• Exposure to scale-up, private equity-backed, or venture-capital backed environments.
• Experience operating at pace, managing change, and influencing senior stakeholders.
• Hands-on involvement in systems improvements or finance transformation. 

I've seen NetSuite implementation experience a notable spike in demand,  with several Finance Manager and Financial Controller roles listing it as essential.

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) requirements are also becoming more prominent. Larger corporates are preparing for regulatory change by expanding ESG responsibilities within reporting teams, often seeking Big 4 trained professionals to lead this area.

Technology and transformation

AI and automation remain the most divisive areas in senior finance. Some businesses have rapidly adopted AI, benefiting from improved data processes, better analytics, and reduced manual workloads. Others remain cautious, driven by governance and data-security concerns.

For senior candidates, experience in systems integration, automation, and the use of data to support strategic decision-making is increasingly valuable.

The senior talent pipeline

Unlike the newly qualified and part-qualified markets, where talent shortages remain, the senior finance market in Scotland has seen a rise in available candidates. This is driven by business restructuring, offshoring of transactional and month-end functions, and a limited number of leadership roles.

While this suggests a candidate-rich market, employers are simultaneously applying tighter filters, often declining highly capable individuals whose experience does not match the brief precisely.

This reinforces the importance of clear market positioning and working closely with a specialist recruiter like Meraki Talent to ensure transferable skills are recognised.

Fixed-term contracts continue to reshape the market. Many senior professionals who previously focused on permanent or day-rate contracting roles are now open to hybrid approaches that offer stability while still delivering impact.

Newly qualified trends and their impact on leadership pipelines

Newly qualified accountants continue to show a strong preference for financial planning & analysis or business partnering roles. However, employers are increasingly favouring second-time movers with 12 to 24 months of post-qualification experience for these positions. While this trend affects the early career market, it also influences longer-term succession planning and the availability of future leaders.

Looking ahead to 2026

The senior finance market is evolving rather than slowing. For candidates, success in 2026 will depend on flexibility around contract formats, alignment with resilient sectors, and the ability to demonstrate both technical and transformation capability.

For employers, the priority is balancing ambition with realism. Overly prescriptive briefs risk excluding strong talent that can deliver significant long-term value.

Despite ongoing challenges, opportunities remain for both employers and senior finance professionals who can adapt to the pace of change.

If you would like to discuss your senior finance career, upcoming hiring plans, or access the full 2025 Salary Survey, please contact me at john.gilbertson@merakitalent.com