Senior Finance Business Partner

Rowden; Bristol; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

Rowden seeks a Senior Finance Business Partner to ensure financial integrity and commercial success of high-value projects. The role involves advising leadership, managing contract accounting, and executing financial plans within a dynamic engineering environment. Experience with chartered accounting and project finance is essential for this permanent, full-time position in Bristol.

Qualifications

• Minimum 5+ years of post-qualification experience.
• Experience in contract accounting and project finance.
• Strong understanding of revenue recognition principles.

Responsibilities

• Oversee project lifecycle from budgeting to cost tracking.
• Contribute to financial governance of complex contracts.
• Prepare insightful reports and dashboards for senior management.

Skills

Analytical mindset

Stakeholder management

Resilience

Execution oriented

Education

Chartered accountant (e.g. ACA, ACCA, CIMA)

Tools

Xero

Excel

Job description

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Senior Finance Business Partner

Department: Finance

Employment Type: Permanent - Full Time

Location: Bristol, UK

Compensation: GBP 70,000 - GBP 80,000 / year

Description

We're building the next UK-headquartered engineering powerhouse.

At Rowden, we design and integrate advanced systems that sense, connect, and protect data in challenging environments where quick decisions are vital. Our solutions use intelligent automation to enhance speed and efficiency and are built to be reliable and straightforward for critical operations in remote or high-pressure settings.

Headquartered in Bristol (UK), we combine modern engineering methods with cutting-edge commercial technology to create adaptable, mission-critical systems. We focus on solving the tough challenges that others overlook, ensuring our customers can operate effectively in an ever-changing world.

We are seeking a commercially astute and strategically minded Senior Finance Business Partner with deep expertise in project finances and contract accounting. This role will be pivotal in ensuring the financial integrity and commercial success of high-value projects and long-term client contracts. Acting as a bridge between finance and the wider business, you will provide critical insights, challenge assumptions, and support decision-making at the senior leadership level.

More information about security clearance is available here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vetti...

Key areas of responsibility

As a Senior Finance Business Partner in the Finance team at Rowden, you will be responsible for:

Business Partnering

• Serve as a trusted advisor to operating unit (OU) leaders, project managers, and sales teams, amongst others.
• A valued member of cross-functional teams developing and rolling out strategies to improve financial operations.

Project Finances

• Oversee the full lifecycle of projects - from budgeting and forecasting through to cost tracking and post-project evaluation.
• Drive the development of insightful reporting - using spreadsheets and the current finance software stack and working closely with the Head of Finance to scope out future ERP/ reporting solutions.

Contract Accounting

• Contribute to the financial governance of complex contracts, including revenue recognition, milestone tracking, and billing.
• Monitor contract performance and profitability, providing variance analysis and early warnings of risks and opportunities.

Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)

• Assist in the development of detailed financial forecasts and contribute to quarterly and annual budget cycles.
• Prepare insightful dashboards, board-level reports, and KPIs related to contract and project performance.
• Conduct monthly performance reviews, offering commentary and strategic recommendations.

Compliance & Controls

• Assist in audits, both internal and external, especially in areas such as contract performance and balance sheet positions.
• Promote continuous improvement in financial systems, reporting tools, and processes.

Key skills, experience and behaviours

We are looking for someone who is passionate about technology and who actively invests in their technical skills and abilities. You'll gain loads of experience in this role but before you do, you should have:

Essential

• Chartered accountant (e.g. ACA, ACCA, CIMA).
• Minimum 5+ years of post-qualification experience.
• Demonstrable experience in contract accounting and project finance in a commercial environment.
• Strong understanding of revenue recognition principles and long-term contract accounting standards.
• Proven track record of influencing senior stakeholders and driving financial performance.

Desirable

• Experience in relevant sectors such as technology, engineering or professional services.
• Deep knowledge of Xero and Excel.
• Involvement in an ERP implementation/ reporting software implementation.

About You

The ideal candidate will have a strong balance of technical skills and experience, and the behavioural competencies that we believe are key to success in the role are as follows:

• Commercially astute
• Analytical and strategic mindset
• Strong stakeholder management
• Adaptable and resilient
• Execution orientated
• Trustworthy

Working at Rowden

We are committed to building a flexible, inclusive, and enabling company. Our aim is to create a diverse team of talented people with unique skills, experience, and backgrounds, so please apply and come as you are!

We also recognise the importance of flexible working and support this wherever we can. We typically operate a flexible, hybrid-working model, with an average 3 days in the office each week (dependent on the role). We welcome the opportunity to discuss flexibility, part-time working requirements and/or workplace adjustments with all our applicants.

Rowden is a Disability Confident Committed company, and we actively encourage people with disabilities and health conditions to apply for our roles. Please let us know your requirements early on so that we can make sure you have everything you need up front to help make the recruitment process and experience as easy as possible.

Finally, if you feel that you don't meet all the criteria included above but have transferable skills and relevant experience, we'd still love to hear from you!