Finance Business Partner

UST; City Of London; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

University Schools Trust (UST) is expanding its Central Finance Team and seeks a Finance Business Partner. Based at our head office in Tower Hamlets, you will spend considerable time on-site across the trust’s schools to support budgeting and strategic decisions.

You will provide financial guidance to senior management, lead monthly reports and forecasting, and translate financial data into actionable insights. A professional accountancy qualification is essential.

Qualifications

• CIMA/ACCA/CIPFA qualification.
• Strong accounting knowledge and ability to explain concepts to colleagues.
• Extensive experience in financial management, including budget monitoring and risk management.
• Expertise in completing financial reports and handling both core transactional and strategic responsibilities.
• Sound organisation and time management skills with an attention to detail.
• Be able to adapt to changing priorities in a pressurised environment.

Responsibilities

• Providing financial guidance and support to senior management and budget holders.
• Challenging and supporting senior management in managing spend on a portfolio basis.
• Recognising potential risk and opportunities and identifying solutions to manage them.
• The monthly end reporting cycle and management accounts.
• Periodic forecasting and yearly budget setting.
• Helping to translate financial information into insightful commentaries.
• Providing input into benchmarking, dashboarding and financial modelling.
• Overseeing operational financial management and audits.

Skills

Financial acumen

Budgeting

Forecasting

Communication

Education

CIMA/ACCA/CIPFA qualification

Job description

Your Role

There has never been a better time to join the University Schools Trust, we work collaboratively to deliver a shared vision of inclusive, high quality and transformational education delivered by schools which are deeply rooted in the communities we serve.

We are expanding our Central Finance Team, and we are looking to recruit a Finance Business Partner. Reporting to the Head of Finance Business Partner in their financial and strategic decision making. You will be based at our head office in Tower Hamlets but will require considerable time to be spent on-site at the schools across the trust.

About the post

As a Finance Business Partner, you will play a crucial role in supporting budget holders in their financial and strategic decision making. Working within the central finance team you will be responsible for:

• Providing financial guidance and support to senior management and budget holders. Challenging and supporting senior management in managing spend on a portfolio basis.
• Recognising potential risk and opportunities and identifying solutions to manage them.
• The monthly end reporting cycle and management accounts.
• Periodic forecasting and yearly budget setting.
• Helping to translate financial information into insightful commentaries.
• Providing input into benchmarking, dashboarding and financial modelling.
• Overseeing operational financial management and audits.

About you

• A CIMA/ACCA/CIPFA qualification.
• Strong accounting knowledge and ability to explain concepts to colleagues.
• Extensive experience in financial management, including budget monitoring and risk management.
• Expertise in completing financial reports and handling both core transactional and strategic responsibilities.
• Sound organisation and time management skills with an attention to detail.
• Be able to adapt to changing priorities in a pressurised environment.

About us

The University Schools Trust (UST) is a partnership of schools, universities, and public and private sector bodies. We are uniquely placed to change the educational landscape for the pupils, staff, parents and wider communities whom we serve.

We are a group of schools with strong, mutually impactful relationships - which is key to our success and therefore with a strong appetite for growth.

We are committed to empowering communities, improving social justice and breaking barriers for social mobility, and have a particular focus on reducing the attainment gap for those who are amongst the most disadvantaged in our society.

The UST is exceptionally aspirational for the young people it currently serves, and we are deeply committed to extending our work in order to have an even greater impact on educational outcomes for young people.

If you would like to play your part in building and delivering an outstanding service for UST, we would very much like to hear from you.

The University Schools Trust, East London, is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. All successful candidates will be required to undergo an enhanced DBS Check.

https://www.ust.london/policies/child-protection-safeguarding

Please note we reserve the right to close this advert early.

Qualifications

CIMA/ACCA/CIPFA qualification

essential

Experience/Knowledge

Experience of working within a Finance function in the public/not for profit sector

Safeguarding Information

All posts involving direct contact with children and vulnerable adults are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. The amendments to the Exceptions Order 1975 (2013) provide that certain spent convictions and cautions are 'protected'. These are not subject to disclosure to employers and cannot be taken into account. Guidance on the filtering of these cautions and convictions can be found on the Disclosure and Barring Service website.

In line with Safer Recruitment guidelines and legal obligations to ensure that safeguarding is a paramount consideration in recruitment processes, employers are required to carry out an enhanced DBS check for this role. To supplement this, we ask you to confirm whether or not you have ever been convicted of a criminal offence which is not 'protected'. If you answer 'yes', you will be asked to supply details of all relevant convictions at a later stage, should your application be progressed.

Information given in response to this question will not be used during the shortlisting process. The data will only be referred to if your application is progressed, informing the pre-employment checking process.

The University Schools Trust is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Successful candidates will be required to undergo an enhanced DBS Check.

https://www.ust.london/policies/child-protection-safeguarding

https://www.ust.london/policies/code-of-conduct

In accordance with our Company Policies and KCSIE guidelines set out by the Department for Education, a background check will be carried out on your online digital presence. For this we use a third-party professional screening partner, SP Index (www.sp-index.com), experienced in processing personal data for the purpose of such checks.