About Us
History is being made in Perth! The Bears are coming to the NRL in 2027, and we’re looking for passionate people to help us build something incredible from the ground up. This is your chance to be part of the action, working behind the scenes of a professional sporting club as we prepare to roar onto the national stage.
If you love sport, thrive in fast-paced environments, and want to be part of rugby league history, this is your moment.
The Opportunity
As Head of Finance, you’ll lead financial strategy, planning, reporting, and operations. Reporting to the Chief Operating and Financial Officer, this is a genuine startup opportunity within the high- performance sports sector – you’ll establish systems, processes, and governance frameworks that enable rapid growth, manage government funding, oversee salary cap compliance, and translate complex financial insights into strategic decisions that drive competitive advantage.
A defining priority of this role in the foundation phase is building the club’s financial infrastructure from scratch — including financial systems, budgeting frameworks, revenue models, partnership optimisation, and operational efficiency initiatives. You will be a key figure in ensuring the Perth Bears have the financial discipline and commercial acumen to succeed as a professional sporting organisation.
This position requires a visionary and operator: someone comfortable moving between strategic financial planning and hands-on delivery, capable of building a finance function that enables the club to operate efficiently while maximising commercial opportunity. In the foundation phase, this is a genuinely hands-on role. You’ll balance strategic leadership with day-to-day finance operations—including accounts payable, payroll, and reconciliations—while building systems that will eventually allow you delegate these tasks as the team grows.
What You’ll Do
Financial Strategy and Planning
- Create and manage multi-year financial plans and forecasts that guide the club through start-up, NRL entry and maturity phases
- Lead capital planning and investment prioritisation across technology, facilities, infrastructure and operations
- Develop financial models and use financial analysis to inform strategic decision-making across the organisation that drive financial performance and align resources with high- performance objectives
Revenue Optimisation & Commercial Finance
- Build revenue optimisation strategies across partnerships, membership, ticketing, merchandise and other commercial streams
- Develop financial frameworks for evaluating commercial partnerships
- Establish pricing strategies, yield management and revenue forecasting processes across all revenue channels
- Monitor and analyse revenue performance, identifying opportunities for growth and optimisation
Operational Finance & Cost Management
- Lead annual and mid-year operating and capital budget processes, developing realistic financial forecasts and scenario modelling
- Lead ongoing cost optimisation initiatives to drive operational efficiency without compromising
performance
- Oversee procurement and vendor management to ensure commercial value and cost effectiveness
Financial Systems & Infrastructure
- Build the club’s financial management systems from the ground up, implementing appropriate accounting, ERP and business intelligence platforms
- Identify and implement process improvements, technology solutions, and systems enhancements that drive operational efficiency and reduce costs
- Establish financial systems, policies, and procedures that support scalability and strong financial governance
- Design and implement robust reporting frameworks for management, executive team and external stakeholders
Financial Reporting and Analysis
- Establish and oversee robust month-end financial processes, including reconciliations, journal entries, and variance analysis
- Prepare comprehensive statutory financial statements and regulatory reports demonstrating strong governance
- Oversee matchday and stadium reconciliations
- Monitor key financial performance indicators to identify trends, risks, and opportunities that inform decision-making
Compliance & Governance
- Manage internal and external financial audit processes, including coordination with auditors and implementation of recommendations
- Build salary cap and soft cap management frameworks, ensuring compliance with NRL requirements
- Manage government funding agreements, including acquittals, grant compliance, and reporting obligations
- Establish internal audit and risk management processes
- Support contract and legal review, including development of robust templates, as required.
- Ensure compliance with NRL financial regulations and all applicable legislative requirements
Team Leadership and Development
- Build lead and develop a high-performing finance team as the club grows
- Foster a collaborative culture that supports financial excellence and continuous improvement
- Build financial capability across the organisation, supporting departments in understanding financial performance
- Mentor and develop finance team members to support career growth
What We’re Looking For
You’re a hands-on finance leader comfortable balancing strategic oversight with operational delivery. You thrive in dynamic, entrepreneurial environments, move seamlessly between strategic planning and execution, and aren’t afraid to roll up your sleeves during the startup phase.
You bring:
- Tertiary qualification in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration or related discipline
- Chartered Accountant or equivalent professional qualification
- Demonstrated experience leading finance functions in fast-paced or startup environments, ideally in sport, entertainment or consumer-facing organisations
- Proven experience building financial systems, processes and controls from the ground up
- Experience developing and managing budgets, forecasts and financial plans
- Proficiency with financial systems, ERP platforms and business intelligence tools, including implementation
- Strong understanding of financial reporting, compliance and risk management frameworks
- Demonstrated ability to translate financial insights into strategic recommendations
- Experience building and leading high-performing finance teams
- Strategic mindset combined with commercial acumen and financial rigour
- Pragmatic, solutions-focused approach to problem-solving
- Excellent communication skills with the ability to educate, influence and build trusted relationships across the organisation
- Detail-oriented with high standards of accuracy and attention to compliance
- Resilience and adaptability, with proven ability to lead in fast-paced, high-pressure environments
- Experience in sports industry or professional sporting organisations is highly valued
Working in a Start-Up Environment
The Perth Bears are a start-up organisation in a critical foundation phase. This position is intentionally hands-on and will initially operate with lean support structures.
You will design, build and deliver concurrently while the club grows around you. This is not a role with layers of administration or inherited systems. You will be required to design processes, integrate technology platforms, build relationships, solve problems in real time, and deliver outcomes concurrently.
Success in this role requires comfort with ambiguity, strong personal accountability, and the ability to move seamlessly between strategic planning and hands-on execution. As the club scales, there will be significant opportunities to shape the future structure and resourcing of the function.
Why Join Us
This is more than a job — it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to shape the success of Perth’s new NRL team. You’ll be part of a start-up phase where your ideas, energy and leadership will directly influence the club’s future.
- This is a rare opportunity to build a team entirely from the ground up, within a high-profile, values-driven organisation
- Work in a dynamic, ambitious and supportive start-up culture
- Leave your mark on rugby league in Western Australia
How to Apply
If you’re ready to join one of the most exciting new ventures in Australian sport, we want to hear from you. Apply now with your CV and a cover letter outlining your experience and why you’re the right person to build the Bears’ future.
You will be sent a pre-screening questionnaire after submitting your application.
Important Information
The Perth Bears are an equal opportunity employer. We value diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive workplace for all employees. We encourage applications from people of all backgrounds, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, and people with disability.
Please note, the Perth Bears do not accept unsolicited applications or requests for employment sent directly to the Club. Only applications submitted through the advertised channels will be considered.
Applications will be reviewed as received, we encourage early applications, as interviews may commence prior to the advertised closing date, and the ad will be closed early should a suitable candidate be identified.
Not open to recruitment agencies.
