Commercial Finance Business Partner

Flint Bishop Solicitors; East Midlands; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Flint Bishop Solicitors in Derby Head Office is seeking a proactive Commercial Finance Business Partner to support one of the firm’s divisions and become a trusted financial adviser to senior stakeholders.

You will own budgeting, forecasting and performance reviews, translate financial insight for leaders, and help shape the Commercial Finance function as it matures within the firm.

Qualifications

• Professionally qualified (ACA, ACCA or CIMA) or approaching qualification.
• Commercially curious with strong business sense.
• Able to influence stakeholders constructively.
• Strong relationship-building across the organisation.
• Highly analytical with strong financial modelling and Excel skills.
• Able to translate financial information for non-financial audiences.

Responsibilities

• Act as the primary Commercial Finance contact for one of the firm’s two operating divisions and build trusted relationships with departmental leaders.
• Lead monthly performance reviews with allocated departments and analyse financial and operational performance.
• Own the annual budget and quarterly forecasts for the division, challenging assumptions to ensure robust plans.
• Produce meaningful insights to support better business decisions and inform investments and strategic initiatives.
• Support development of management reporting, dashboards and performance metrics to drive actions.

Skills

Commercial awareness

Stakeholder influence

Analytical thinking

Excel modelling

Presentation skills

Education

ACA/ACCA/CIMA qualified or nearing qualification

Tools

Excel

Financial modelling

Job description

This is an opportunity to become a trusted commercial finance advisor within one of the UK's fastest-growing regional law firms.

Flint Bishop is investing in its Commercial Finance capability as part of a broader transformation of the Finance function. We are building a team that goes beyond reporting historical results to help leadership understand what drives performance, where opportunities exist, and what actions are required to deliver sustainable growth.

As a Business Partner, you will work closely with Heads of Department, Team Leaders and senior stakeholders across the firm, helping them understand the financial and operational drivers behind their performance. You will challenge assumptions, identify opportunities and risks, and provide practical insight that supports better decision‑making.

This is not a role for someone who simply enjoys producing reports. We are looking for an individual who enjoys working with people, understanding how businesses operate, and translating financial information into meaningful actions. The successful candidate will play a key role in helping the Commercial Finance team evolve from a reporting function into a trusted and influential business partner to the wider organisation.

Reporting to the Head of Commercial Finance, you will have responsibility for one of the firm’s two divisions, becoming their primary commercial finance contact, supporting them through planning, forecasting, performance reviews and strategic initiatives.

For the right individual, this represents an opportunity to join a growing team at an exciting stage of its development, broaden your commercial influence, and help shape the future direction of the Commercial Finance function.

Reporting to: Head of Commercial Finance

Location: Derby Head Office

Contract: Full-time, permanent

Key Responsibilities

Business Partnering & Stakeholder Management

• Act as the primary Commercial Finance contact for one of the firm’s two operating divisions.
• Build trusted relationships with departmental leaders and develop a strong understanding of their operational objectives, challenges and opportunities.
• Support leaders in understanding the financial implications of operational decisions and strategic initiatives.
• Provide constructive challenge, insight and recommendations to support improved business performance.
• Ensure agreed actions arising from performance reviews are clearly documented, owned and followed through.

Performance management

• Lead monthly performance review meetings with allocated departments and teams.
• Analyse financial and operational performance, identifying trends, risks and opportunities.
• Monitor progress against budgets, forecasts, targets and agreed improvement plans.
• Support departmental leaders in developing action plans to improve profitability, utilisation, recovery and overall performance.
• Escalate significant risks, issues or opportunities to the Head of Commercial Finance where appropriate.

Budgeting, Forecasting & Planning

• Ownership of the annual budget and quarterly forecasting process the role’s allocated division.
• Challenge assumptions to ensure forecasts are realistic, robust and aligned to operational expectations.
• Identify emerging performance trends and proactively communicate their impact to stakeholders.
• Support longer-term planning activity and scenario modelling where required.

Commercial Insight & Analysis

• Analyse the drivers of revenue, profitability, pricing, utilisation, recovery, resource deployment and cost performance.
• Produce meaningful insight and recommendations that support better business decisions.
• Support investment appraisals, business cases and commercial modelling activities.
• Assist with strategic initiatives, acquisitions and integration projects as required.
• Translate complex financial information into practical actions that non-financial audiences can understand and act upon.

Reporting & Data

• Support the team’s FP&A Analyst to ensure reporting is accurate, relevant and aligned to stakeholder requirements.
• Use management information to drive conversation and action rather than simply reporting results.
• Support the ongoing development of management reporting, dashboards and performance metrics.
• Promote consistency, accuracy and confidence in the firm's financial information.

Process Efficiency and Continuous Improvement

• Identify opportunities to improve departmental processes, reporting and ways of working.
• Support initiatives that simplify and automate routine activities, increasing the capacity of the Commercial Finance team to focus on value-added analysis.
• Champion best practice and encourage a culture of accountability, ownership and continuous improvement.
• Contribute to the development of the Commercial Finance operating model as the function continues to mature

Skills, Knowledge and Expertise

• Professionally qualified (ACA, ACCA or CIMA) or approaching qualification.
• Commercially curious and interested in how businesses operate.
• Comfortable influencing and challenging stakeholders constructively.
• Able to build strong relationships across all levels of an organisation.
• Highly analytical with strong financial modelling and Excel skills.
• Able to turn financial information into meaningful insight and recommendations.
• Confident presenting complex information to non-financial audiences.
• Comfortable operating in a fast-paced, changing and growth-focused environment.
• Ambitious and motivated to develop into a senior commercial finance leader over time