Commercial Finance Business Partner - Shared Services

Debenhams Group; Manchester; On-site; GBP 45,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent retail firm in Manchester is seeking a proactive Finance Business Partner to enhance group-wide processes and support Shared Services and Supply Chain functions. You will lead monthly performance reviews, analyze costs, and deliver management information while partnering with teams to improve financial insight. Ideal candidates will have ACA/ICAS/CIMA/ACCA qualifications and at least 2 years of relevant experience. Advanced Excel skills are essential, while knowledge of SQL and Power BI is a plus.

Qualifications

• Qualified with 2+ years post-qualified experience.
• Experience in business partnering within Shared Services or Supply Chain.
• Ability to provide actionable insights from complex data.

Responsibilities

• Act as primary finance partner for Shared Services functions.
• Lead monthly performance reviews analyzing cost drivers.
• Produce high-quality management information and variance analyses.
• Deliver annual budgets and quarterly reforecasts.
• Monitor fulfilment costs and logistics performance.

Skills

Business partnering

Analytical skills

Strong communication

Excel expertise

Commercial awareness

Education

ACA/ICAS/CIMA/ACCA (or equivalent)

Tools

Power BI

SQL

Job description

Description

At Debenhams Group, we are a diverse portfolio of five core brands (boohoo, boohooMAN, PrettyLittleThing, Karen Millen, and Debenhams) alongside a dynamic marketplace model and a growing financial services division, it keeps us pretty busy! We don’t stand still, we lead, evolve, and redefine online fashion. With bold ambitions and big energy, we’re on a mission to be the best, delivering the strongest propositions to our customers in the most engaging, innovative, and efficient ways possible. We thrive on change, innovation, and pace. Every challenge is an opportunity, and every day is a chance to push boundaries. If you’re someone who embraces the unknown, thrives in a fast‑moving, high‑growth environment, and is ready to shape the future of retail, you’ll love it here. We want visionaries, disruptors, and doers, people who bring fresh thinking, relentless energy, and the drive to make an impact. Be brave. Be creative. Be a community.

THE ROLE

We are looking for a proactive and commercially minded Finance Business Partner to work as part of our finance team who support our Shared Services and Supply Chain functions. Reporting to the Financial Controller, you will act as the key financial voice for operational leaders, ensuring they understand performance drivers, cost structures, and opportunities for efficiency and optimisation. This is a highly impactful role, offering the opportunity to influence group‑wide processes and play a key part in enhancing how Shared Services and Supply Chain deliver value across all brands.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Act as the primary finance partner for Shared Services functions, providing insight, challenge and support to leaders.
• Lead monthly performance reviews, analysing cost drivers, identifying risks/opportunities, and ensuring stakeholders understand operational and financial impacts.
• Produce and communicate high‑quality management information, including month‑end reporting, KPI dashboards, and variance analyses that drive actionable insight.
• Deliver annual budgets and quarterly reforecasts for all supported functions, ensuring alignment with operational plans and group priorities.
• Model operational and strategic initiatives, including outsourcing proposals, supplier negotiations, process changes, and system investments, assessing financial and operational impact.
• Partner with Supply Chain teams to monitor fulfilment costs, inbound/outbound logistics performance, warehouse operations, carrier performance, and efficiency metrics.
• Support Shared Services with cost allocation methodology, process improvements, and enhanced visibility of cross‑functional spend.
• Work closely with the Financial Controller to strengthen financial governance, improve forecasting accuracy, and evolve reporting processes across the group.
• Collaborate with BI and analytics teams to enhance data accessibility, reporting automation, and KPI frameworks.
• Drive continuous improvement and identify opportunities to simplify processes, enhance financial insight, and support operational excellence.
• Provide ad‑hoc analysis and reporting to support group priorities and business change.

What We’re Looking For

• ACA/ICAS/CIMA/ACCA (or equivalent) qualified with 2+ years post‑qualified experience.
• Experience in business partnering within Shared Services, Supply Chain, or other operational functions (retail/ecommerce experience advantageous).
• Strong commercial awareness with the confidence to challenge and influence senior stakeholders.
• Excellent analytical and modelling skills, with the ability to translate complex data into clear, actionable insights.
• Detail‑driven, highly organised, and comfortable working independently in a fast‑moving environment.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to build trust quickly across multiple functions.
• Advanced Excel skills are essential; knowledge of SQL and Power BI is highly desirable.
• A proactive mindset, with a passion for improving processes and driving better decision making.

WHY JOIN US

We’re all about making bold moves, delivering real results, and driving forward with unstoppable momentum. If that excites you, then you belong at Debenhams Group. Let’s lead the change together. 🚀