Finance Business Partner

BEVAN BRITTAN; Bristol; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Bevan Brittan, a leading commercial law firm, seeks a Finance Business Partner to build a finance function that drives profitability and pricing strategies. The ideal candidate will be a qualified accountant with strong interpersonal and financial modelling skills, responsible for enhancing financial performance through collaboration across teams. This role offers opportunities to influence operational strategy and develop metrics for success.

Benefits

25 days holiday plus additional options

Discretionary bonus scheme

Generous pension scheme

Private medical insurance

Life assurance

Access to Employee Assistance Programme

Cycle to work scheme

Qualifications

• Strong interpersonal skills to underpin stakeholder engagement.
• Proficient in financial modelling and analysis.
• Experience in finance business partnering within a professional services environment.

Responsibilities

• Deliver strong financial business partnering for improved performance.
• Support development of financial metrics for reporting and profitability.
• Engage with stakeholders and support pricing strategies.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Financial modelling

Stakeholder engagement

Education

Qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA or CIMA)

Job description

Make a Real Impact

Bevan Brittan is a leading commercial law firm. Alongside our recognised expertise in housing, local government, and health and social care, we are specialists in the construction, energy and resource management, higher education and financial services sectors.

Supported by our valued business services professionals, our award-winning and growing legal teams provide almost 2,000 organisations with commercial, corporate, property, finance, regulatory, employment and litigation (commercial and clinical negligence) legal and advisory services.

As a responsible business, we embrace four values: Relationships, Reputation, Responsible and Results. These give us a sense of purpose. They influence the decisions we make and how we work with each other. Importantly, they motivate us to deliver meaningful outcomes for our clients and the communities that we're part of.

Consistently recognised as one of The Times Best Law Firms and highly ranked across the legal directories, we are proud of our hard-earned reputation. Our 2023/24 financial results confirmed both revenue and profit growth for an eleventh consecutive year, ensuring our ability to continue investing in our people.

Looking to the future, we're targeting ambitious growth and success. And we're looking for the best people to be part of it.

Join a team of experts and progressive thinkers

Our Finance Department is growing and we are looking for someone to join the team as a Finance Business Partner.

This is an exciting role which brings the opportunity to be part of building a finance business partnering function from the ground up. Key to the delivery of the firm's profitability and pricing strategies, this role is an opportunity to have a real influence on the business.

You will be a true partner, building close relationships with senior management in order to gain a strong fundamental understanding of operations, analysing and modelling to identify opportunities, and working with senior management to implement behavioural, process and technology changes to convert those opportunities.

The role

• Deliver strong financial business partnering through collaboration with the Legal Departments and Market Focus Groups to drive improved financial performance.
• Support the development of financial metrics and tools to support Financial reporting, profitability growth and innovative pricing practices to maximise profitability.
• Proactively drive stakeholder engagement with both senior management and client-facing fee earners.
• Partner with Business Operations Managers, HR Business Partners, Knowledge & Innovation Business Partners and Business Development & Marketing specialists to provide cross-function operational support.
• Support the Finance Department's Pricing Analyst to develop pricing methods and provide pitch support to the business covering tenders to clients including alternative fee proposals and ongoing post tender reviews of client financial performance.
• Demonstrate a high level of professional expertise and insight into the commercial context of the business.
• Work with the Financial Systems and Financial Reporting teams to drive improvements to standardised analysis which reduce requirements for ad hoc analysis.
• Support finance process, reporting, and analysis improvement projects.
• Overseeing budgeting and forecasting for the Fee Earning Departments in line with the business annual programme, with supporting commentary for the Board.
• Develop and deliver finance training across the business.

What we are looking for from you

• Qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA or CIMA) with post qualification experience.
• Strong inter-personal skills to underpin stakeholder engagement and the ability to work independently to develop and implement programmes of activity.
• Experience of Finance Business Partnering gained in a professional services environment within a large finance function would be an advantage.
• Experience of driving profitability improvement by influencing senior stakeholder's business decisions and working cross functionally.
• The ability to add value and build strong working relationships with key stakeholders across the business.
• High proficiency in financial modelling.
• The ability to work collaboratively with the business and challenge where appropriate.
• The ability to add value and build strong working relationships with key stakeholders across the business.

Work with approachable people

When we ask colleagues what makes Bevan Brittan a great place to work, the most popular thing they say is "the people". The overwhelming consensus is that we make time for each other. We welcome questions and support each other. Naturally, we look for new colleagues who align with our values.

Supported to be your best

Hybrid working

We operate a hybrid working model based on the needs of our clients, teams and people. Our core business hours are 9am - 5:15pm Monday to Friday, but we're open to our people working more flexibly around those times and welcome a conversation with you if you have any questions about this. We try to offer you the flexibility to work your week in a way that suits you.

Learning, Development & Progression

We're committed to supporting your professional and personal development needs.This means that we offer a range of tailored training courses and you will have lots of opportunity to learn from those around you. We actively encourage progression and this is reflected in our annual review and promotion processes. You will be supported by your line manager to achieve your full potential.

Wellbeing

As a Bevan Brittan employee, you'll have access to a variety of services that support your wellbeing. We've pledged our commitment to The Mindful Business Charter and lots of our people contribute to our Wellbeing Responsible Business strand, which organises an annual calendar of wellbeing events and initiatives.

Benefits

• A minimum of 25 days holiday (plus the option to buy up to an additional 5 days)
• Discretionary bonus scheme
• Generous pension scheme
• Private medical insurance through Vitality
• Biennial private health assessment through Nuffield Health
• Life assurance
• Access to Employee Assistance Programme
• Cycle to work scheme

Embracing our differences and valuing inclusion

Our shared aim is that everyone is welcome and can feel comfortable being themselves at Bevan Brittan. To support this, we actively value and promote equality, diversity and inclusion in everything that we do. You'll be empowered and supported through our employee led networks, diverse colleagues, and a broad range of firmwide initiatives.

Recognising the unique contributions that a diverse workforce can bring to our business, we encourage applications from people of all backgrounds. We take great pride in being a Disability Confident Employer. If you need any adjustments throughout the recruitment process or have any questions, please get in touch with our recruitment team by emailing [e-mail]

Acting responsibly, now and for the future

To us, being a responsible business is second nature; a core part of Bevan Brittan's identity. Our colleagues are heavily involved in shaping and delivering activity across the four pillars of our Responsible Business strategy : Community Engagement; Environmental Sustainability; Equality, Diversity & Inclusion; and Wellbeing.

Our people deliver pro bono legal work for charities and not-for-profit organisations. We play an active role in our local communities and donated £100,000 across our four regional office charities last year. We are also proudly carbon neutral. We've achieved the UN's Climate Neutral Now accreditation and our environmental sustainability plan focuses on achieving our net zero carbon target by 2040.

Collectively, the four pillars ensure we look after our colleagues' wellbeing; offer an environment in which everyone can progress on merit, give something back to the communities in which we work; and protect the environment.