Client Finance Manager

Goverment Property Agency; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

The Government Property Agency is seeking a Client Finance Manager to enhance customer service through effective financial management and reporting. This role involves delivering high-quality forecasts, managing client expectations, and ensuring financial control over property services. The ideal candidate will be proficient in Excel and have experience in client finance, with a focus on process improvement and customer satisfaction.

Qualifications

• Proficient in Microsoft Excel and able to manipulate complex data sets.
• Experience in client finance, including reporting and managing systems.
• Strong attention to detail with the ability to analyze financial data.

Responsibilities

• Responsible for financial management and reporting services for clients.
• Delivering budgets and forecasts using complex data.
• Liaison between finance and property staff for client meetings.

Skills

Microsoft Excel

Financial Data Analysis

Attention to Detail

Education

Qualified accountant (CCAB or equivalent)

Tools

MRI Horizon

PowerBI

Yardi Voyager

Job description

The Government Property Agency is the largest property holder in government, with more than £2.1 billion in property assets and over 55% of the government’s office estate.

We are transforming the way the Civil Service works by creating great places to work, leading the largest commercial office programme in the UK, working towards halving carbon emissions from government offices, and achieving greater value for taxpayers. And we are looking for innovative, solutions-focused people to join our team.

Representing the best covenant in the UK – His Majesty’s Government – we are leading transformational programmes such as the Government Hubs Programme, Whitehall Campus Programme and Net Zero Programme, as well as delivering modern, cost-effective real estate service solutions.

Innovation and progress are at the heart of our behaviours. We foster a culture of lifelong learning, where curiosity and self-improvement are encouraged. And we’re dedicated to becoming a leading, inclusive employer both in the external market and throughout the Civil Service. Our strong emphasis on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) is not just about driving inclusion across our organisation, it is also about ensuring our services meet the needs of government departments and the civil servants who use our spaces.

Join our dynamic and diverse team that leads with purpose, improving sustainability, nurturing social value, driving inclusivity and flexibility, and kickstarting economic growth. We are driven by purpose, and you can be part of it too: where you make a meaningful impact; where you influence; where your voice really matters; where you help to shape our future direction.

The GPA is committed to representing the communities we serve by making Diversity, Equality and Inclusion part of everything we do.

To ensure that we are always recruiting and retaining a diverse mix of talent, we are particularly inviting applications from candidates who are disabled, ethnically or gender diverse, and people who identify as being part of the LGBTQ+ community.

Job description

• With a strong focus on improving the GPA’s customer service offering, the Client Finance Manager will be responsible for providing financial management and reporting services to a portfolio of clients, delivering excellent financial reporting and property accounting to new and existing customers alike. The postholder will have full responsibility for all aspects of financial services delivery for existing and prospective clients including budgets, forecasts and client liaison.
• Key deliverables are: Producing high quality forecasts and reports for clients and securing timely receipt of income from GPA’s clients – £870m in 2023/24 rising to over £1bn by 2024/25.
• This will be achieved by ensuring timely and accurate forecasting, regular monthly scrutiny of income, costs & billing, reconciliations, client meetings and management of Client expectations.

Key responsibilities:

• Delivering budgets and forecasts for each client, property and tenancy, using complex data from the MRI Horizon general ledger and other systems, Hyperion and Excel tools to provide accurate and meaningful financial information.
• Being accountable for financial control over property services accounting, ensuring high levels of client satisfaction by providing accurate forecasting, explanations and billing.
• Maintaining a focus on process improvement, including planning and establishing new systems and processes for quarterly financial reporting to ensure clients understand their costs and bills, delivering an ongoing service that meets and exceeds expectations.
• Being the key liaison between senior finance and property staff for client meetings, involving being acutely aware of the customers’ needs and acting upon them, and being proactive in problem solving and finding solutions.
• Leading the service delivery to clients alongside management accountants and other colleagues, supporting the growth of the GPA, and matching resources to client demand.
• Manage due diligence exercises on estate-related financial information provided by the client and interrogate to identify material financial risks to GPA and ensure correct account treatments are applied.
• The post holder may be required to undertake additional responsibilities as expected in relation to the role and grade.

Person specification

Experience and Technical Skills:

Essential criteria:

• Be proficient in Microsoft Excel skills and able to manipulate complex data sets.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to analyse and interpret significant amounts of financial data.

Desirable criteria:

• Have experience in client finance, including reporting to clients, managing systems and processes, working in partnership with clients to deliver results.
• Have experience with property management systems such as MRI Horizon, Yardi Voyager, or similar systems, in addition to Excel and PowerBI (or similar) for financial reporting.
• Ideally have experience in the property industry within medium to large organisations where customer service is a priority.

Qualifications and Accreditations:

Desirable criteria:

• Qualified accountant (CCAB or equivalent)

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Changing and Improving
• Communicating and Influencing
• Leadership

For more information and to apply, please visit our website via the apply button below.