Senior Finance Business Partner (Strategic Development Initiatives)

University of Sussex; England; On-site; GBP 76,000; Full time

Job summary

A prestigious educational institution in the UK is seeking a Senior Business Partner to deliver strategic financial support and business development initiatives. In this role, you will provide expert advice while collaborating with academic and non-academic stakeholders. You will be responsible for financial planning, evaluating business opportunities, and guiding senior leaders in decision-making processes. The ideal candidate will have experience in finance within the Higher Education sector and possess strong analytical, communication, and interpersonal skills.

Benefits

Access to beautiful campus

Cycle to work scheme

Diversity and inclusion initiatives

Qualifications

• Demonstrated effective organisational and analytical skills.
• Experience of working in a large and diverse organisation.
• Proven track record in forecasting, budgeting and planning financial outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Deliver expert advice and strategic financial support.
• Support financial planning and assess business opportunities.
• Develop proposals with business leaders for executive prioritisation.

Skills

Analytical skills

Communication

Interpersonal skills

Problem solving

Education

Experience in finance business partnering in the Higher Education sector

Tools

Reporting tools

IT systems

Job description

About the role

An exciting opportunity exists to join the University of Sussex as its Senior Business Partner, delivering services to support strategic business development initiatives. This new role will provide expert advice and strategic financial support to the University's senior leaders, underpinning delivery of the University's Strategy 2035 and ensuring sustainable financial performance objectives are met.

You will support and advise on financial planning, taking a prominent role in analysing and evaluating strategic business opportunities, supporting the development of proposals with directors of service and academic business leads for prioritisation by the University's Executive, and formulating financially sustainable business plans for implementation. You will primarily support the development of new business opportunities and improve the performance of existing initiatives and projects. You will work across academic and professional services portfolios, collaborating with business leaders and budget holders, to support the ongoing development of a portfolio of income generating activities and services, based on and around core higher education provision and research activity, as well as other commercial operating activities.

You must be a confident communicator able to work effectively with academic and non‑academic stakeholders. You must be an enthusiastic collaborator who embraces team working and is able to leverage support and expertise from colleagues across core business partnering teams. You will provide critical business partnering support in the development of strategic ideas and options ensuring a high level of financial credibility and building excellent financial literacy and practice across the University alongside fellow Senior Finance Business Partners.

You must have an analytical mind and be experienced in presenting financial information for decision making in a succinct and digestible form by a non‑financial audience. You will be familiar with the development and use of reporting tools and data‑driven decision making processes. This must include a high level of competence to build business cases and define models in support of decision making for strategies and specific initiatives.

About you

You will be an experienced finance business partner that can demonstrate effective organisational, analytical and interpersonal skills. You will have experience of the Higher Education sector and be used to working in a similarly large and diverse organisation. You are an excellent communicator and able to explain complex financial information to non‑financial colleagues.

You enjoy identifying and solving problems and use IT systems and tools to deliver solutions. You have experience of working to support senior business leaders and budget holders to make strategic decisions, with a proven track record in forecasting, budgeting and planning financial outcomes.

About our Division

The Finance Division is led by the Director of Finance who reports directly to the Vice Chancellor. We employ some 80 staff who provide high quality financial and commercial services which support both the day‑to‑day running of our schools, services, and the development and delivery of the University's strategic aims.

Our staff work in partnership with academic, professional service colleagues, and students to understand their priorities and needs. We maintain efficient and effective services, systems, and processes, assist in identifying and exploiting commercial and strategic opportunities, manage financial risk and improve 'spending power' through negotiation of favourable commercial terms. We work hard to equip staff across the University with financial capability and confidence to ensure that the University makes the best use of resources for our students and research partners.

Please find further information regarding the division at Finance: University of Sussex.

Why work here

Our university is situated off the A27, next to the beautiful South Downs where you will enjoy everything that our 150‑acre campus has to offer. We are accessible by public transport; Falmer train station is a five‑minute walk to campus and several bus stops are located within campus. We also have dedicated cycling paths and encourage our staff to use these with our offering of a cycle to work scheme.

Sussex is a renowned, multi‑accredited, research‑led International University and this is only possible because of the people that work here. Whether you are a member of Faculty, part of a Professional Services team or a Student, it's our people that make us great and we want you to be part of that.

Find out more about our reward and benefits package.

Find out about our equality, diversity and inclusion.

Further Key Information

Please contact Carey Mclaughlin ([e-mail]) for informal enquiries.

For full details and how to apply see our vacancies page.

The University of Sussex values the diversity of its staff and students, and we welcome applicants from all backgrounds.

The University requires that work undertaken for the University is performed in the UK.

This role may be eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route. The assigned SOC code is 1131 and the going rate is £75,100. Eligibility for sponsorship will depend on the salary offered and whether the candidate holds an existing Skilled Worker sponsorship which began before 4 April 2024.