Finance Business Partner

University of the Arts London; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

University of the Arts London is seeking an experienced Finance Business Partner to join the Central Finance team. You will collaborate with budget holders and senior leaders to deliver insightful budgeting, forecasting and management reporting, including data analysis and KPI dashboards.

Your work will support long-term planning and strategic investment decisions across the university. You will have strong financial accounting skills and experience with year-end processes, accruals, prepayments

Qualifications

• Proven ability to analyse complex financial data.
• Experience producing dashboards and reports for senior leadership.
• Strong understanding of budgeting, forecasting and year-end processes.

Responsibilities

• Provide budgeting, forecasting and management reporting with financial insight.
• Produce monthly management accounts and variance analysis for senior leadership.
• Support year-end processes and contribute to strategic investment planning.

Skills

Data analysis

KPI dashboards

Variance analysis

Financial accounting

Budgeting

Forecasting

Education

CIMA ACCA ICAEW CIPFA or equivalent

Job description

This is a high-impact opportunity for an experienced finance professionals to take a leading role within University of the Arts London’s Central Finance team.

As Finance Business Partner, you’ll work closely with the Senior Finance Business Partner to provide expert financial insight through budgeting, forecasting and management reporting, including data analysis and KPI dashboards, ensuring these vital services are financially sustainable and strategically aligned with the University’s long-term goals.

You’ll collaborate directly with budget holders and senior leaders across the University, offering financial guidance, producing monthly management accounts and variance analysis, and supporting year-end processes.

Your work will directly inform operational decisions and long-term investment planning, to new business opportunities and cost-benefit assessments.

The work location can vary with one day a week in Kings Cross, one day a week in Eastbank, Stratford and up to three days a week working form home.

We’re looking for a qualified finance professional (CIMA, ACCA, ICAEW, CIPFA or equivalent) with experience supporting large-scale budgets and forecasts, ideally in a complex or multi-service environment.

You’ll bring a strong financial accounting skillset, including experience in year-end processes such as accruals, prepayments and fixed asset schedules, and be confident working with large data sets to produce dashboards and reports for senior leadership.

The successful candidate for this role will have experience in a commercial environment and understanding of profitability analysis and course costing from multiple systems along with prior experience of supporting grant funded activity in a Higher Education setting.

You’ll also be:

• A clear, confident communicator with the ability to explain financial concepts to non-specialists
• Experienced in line management and staff development
• Comfortable influencing stakeholders and contributing to strategic decisions
• Highly organised and adept at balancing long-term planning with day-to-day financial operations
• Proactive, collaborative and motivated to find opportunities for savings, efficiencies and innovation