Finance Business Partner (Corporate Costs)

Taylor & Francis Group; Abingdon; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days annual leave

Flexible working culture

Private medical insurance

Employee assistance programme

Life assurance

Share Match plan

Job summary

A leading academic publisher in the UK is seeking an experienced Finance Business Partner to support financial reporting and forecasting. The role involves collaborating with senior management to provide insights on indirect costs and employee metrics. Candidates should possess relevant professional qualifications and significant experience in financial reporting. This position offers a balanced working model with flexibility, requiring minimum in-person attendance three days a week.

Qualifications

• Professional qualification such as ACCA, ACA, or CIMA is essential.
• Significant experience in financial reporting and business partnering.
• Strong attention to detail is essential.

Responsibilities

• Partner with senior management for financial insights.
• Report on FTE and employee productivity metrics.
• Evaluate cost opportunities and risks.

Skills

SAP experience

Financial reporting

Data literacy

MS Office skills (Excel, PowerPoint)

Analytical capability

Communication skills

Problem-solving

Education

Professional qualification (ACCA, ACA, CIMA)

Tools

PowerBI

HR Information Systems

Job description

Overview

Informa is a leading academic publishing, business intelligence, knowledge and events business, creating unique content and connectivity for customers all over the world. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a member of the FTSE 100.

Taylor & Francis Group operates globally and produces high quality, peer reviewed books and journals. We produce unique, trusted content by expert authors, spreading knowledge and promoting discovery globally. We aim to broaden thinking and advance understanding, providing academics and professionals with a platform to share ideas and realize their individual potential.

Job Description

We have an exciting and business critical opportunity for an experienced Finance Business Partner to join our Business Planning and Performance division, reporting into the Finance Director Corporate Costs.

This role supports the planning and performance of our c.£200m indirect cost base. You will be integral in supporting the business to provide clear and robust cost reporting and return on investment metrics. You will be responsible for generating executive level insights by applying a financial lens to business decisions and assessing cost opportunities and risks by closely partnering with T&F senior management. The role has a particular focus on staff costs, supporting the HR team to provide clear and robust FTE reporting and employee productivity metrics.

As the Finance Business Partner you will

• Partner with the business and T&F finance to design, develop and report on indirect cost and ROI metrics
• Support HR and senior management to report on FTE and employee productivity metrics
• Maintain the appropriate review and reporting mechanisms for indirect costs to ensure tight cost control and risk and opportunities are identified and shared with the relevant stakeholders
• Ensure that the business clearly understands their budget headcount and all recruitment is in line with plan
• Work closely with business stakeholders and finance to deliver the annual planning cycle (budget, 3YP, forecasts) with high-quality accurate cost and FTE forecasting
• Support with building business cases for indirect cost projects/ investments, tracking spend and reporting on ROI, in particular HR projects/FTE investments
• Provide insight and analysis to support the business with understanding cost drivers and performance against budget
• Build scenario models to evaluate the impact of headcount changes, cost of living and career pathway adjustments
• Work closely with the Financial Control team to ensure the correct treatment is being followed for the accounting of indirect costs, including the capitalisation of IT staff costs, bonus and holiday provisioning and changes in payroll taxation rules and regulations
• Work closely with the Operations teams to ensure the quality and accuracy of payroll and FTE data
• Lead on the design and development of automated cost and FTE reporting, including PowerBI dashboards and integration with HR Information Systems
• Proactively identify potential areas for cost rationalisation
• Support tender processes to ensure financial impacts are fully understood and evaluated
• Proactively seek opportunities to automate processes and to drive process improvements
• Be the principal point of contact for the HR leadership team for finance queries – building strong networks across the business and in all geographies
• Provide insight, analysis and reporting on other areas of indirect cost as required by the Finance Director – Corporate Costs

Qualifications

• A Professional qualification (ACCA, ACA, CIMA or equivalent) is essential to success in this role.
• Significant post qualified experience in financial reporting / forecasting / budgeting / business partnering
• Demonstrable SAP and Planning Analytics (TM1) user experience is essential with experience of bespoke HR systems and PowerBI a benefit
• Comfortable manipulating large data sets and visualising complex financial information to non finance stakeholders
• Technical awareness of industry and developments in payroll and employment law that may affect staff cost, experience partnering with HR teams preferred but not essential
• Strong data literacy and stewardship techniques are essential
• Strong MS skillset, especially Excel and Powerpoint
• Attention to detail is essential
• Excellent communication/presentation skills and the ability to maintain strong working relationships
• A high level of numerical and analytical capability with a strong eye for detail
• Experience working in a fast-paced, high growth, technology focused organisation
• Ability to manage workload in challenging and busy environment. Ability to prioritise and balance multiple and often conflicting requests/timeframes
• An interest in driving finance planning solutions and passionate about data needing to be both accurate and of a high quality to make better decisions
• Commitment to continuous improvement and the ability to drive improvements based on data analysis and evidence-based learning
• Ability to handle and communicate information sensitively and professionally
• Strong influencing skills and stakeholder management
• Self-starter and problem-solver with the ability to work with minimal supervision. Be hands-on and open to new ways of doing things

Additional Information

Location: We believe that great things happen when people connect face-to-face. That\'s why we work in-person with each other, or with customers and partners, three days a week or more. When you’re not spending time together in one of our offices or other workplaces – like at conference – you get the flexibility and support to work from home or remotely.

The successful candidate will be able to utilise our balanced working model. We ask that candidates live within a commutable distance of our office in Milton Park, Oxfordshireto ensure that as a balanced worker they can make it to our office locations to collaborate as required. There is an expectation for a minimum of 3 days per week in-person time.

Closing Date: Applications will close on 23rd January 2026 but we will be shortlisting alongside advertising so please apply at your earliest convenience.

What we offer in return:

• An excellent work/life balance with a fantastic, flexible working culture
• 25 days annual leave per year plus a day off for your birthday
• 3 additional discretionary days off during the holiday season at the end of the year
• 4 paid volunteering days each year
• Company funded single cover private medical insurance
• Employee assistance programme – offering 24/7 well-being support
• Share Match – Plan that matches every share purchased with two free shares.
• Life assurance, plus optical and medical care

Being Yourself at Taylor & Francis

If you’re excited about working with Taylor & Francis to foster human progress through knowledge, we invite you to apply even if your existing skills and experience don’t fit every item listed above. At Taylor & Francis, we are at our best and most successful when colleagues can be themselves and make a contribution regardless of their identity or background. As a colleague, you will have the opportunity to further innovate and develop in areas that you are passionate about. Our goal is to empower you with the resources, incentives, and flexibility you need to enjoy success at work and to live a healthy, balanced life.

Taylor & Francis is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We believe in and value diversity of people and thought, fostering a supportive and inclusive environment where all colleagues can learn and succeed as their true selves. Taylor & Francis recruits, develops, and retains colleagues without regard to any protected personal characteristics or other non-merit based factor.

If you have a disability, or face another barrier, and would like to request an adjustment to assist your participation in the hiring process and/or in the advertised position, please contact Liz Southwick. Your request will be reviewed and considered in the strictest confidence.

We genuinely care about our colleagues, promoting work-life balance, wellbeing, and flexible working. We believe that the skills and experience you bring to Taylor & Francis are invaluable. We want you to have the opportunity to develop your abilities, and to innovate and develop in areas which you are passionate about. To find out more about our business and the great career opportunities please go to our Careers Site: http://www.taylorandfrancisgroup.com/careers

Or better yet check out our LinkedIn ‘Life’ Page, highlighting our accomplishments, employees, and company culture. It’s also a good way of meeting our recruitment team, who will be happy to advise you on your journey here at T&F.

https://www.linkedin.com/company/taylor-&-francis-group/life/79e0c27c-afdf-4bbb-84e6-5f8ed5e10bb8/

We know that sometimes the \"perfect candidate\" doesn\'t exist, and that people can be put off applying for a job if they don\'t fit all the requirements. If you\'re excited about working for us and have most of the skills or experience we\'re looking for, please go ahead and apply. You could be just what we need! We believe strongly in the value of diversity and creating supportive, inclusive environments where our colleagues can succeed. As such, Informa is proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, ancestry, national origin, religion, or religious creed, mental or physical disability, medical condition, genetic information, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions), sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, citizenship, or other protected characteristics under local law. This role may also be available on a flexible working or part time basis – please ask the Talent Acquisition team for more information.

To find out more about our business and the great career opportunities please go to our Careers Site: https://taylorandfrancis.com/careers/