Strategic Finance Business Partner

ACCA Careers; Swindon; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking a dynamic finance professional to lead a team of Finance Business Partners. This pivotal role involves providing comprehensive financial business partnering services and operational finance support across various directorate areas. You will engage with senior stakeholders to deliver strategic insights and ensure robust financial processes. The ideal candidate will possess strong accounting qualifications and extensive experience in financial management, with exceptional skills in Excel and communication. Join a forward-thinking organization committed to advancing knowledge and delivering impactful outcomes in the UK’s engineering and physical sciences sectors.

Qualifications

• Qualified Accountant with strong finance management experience.
• High competency in IT systems, especially Excel.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team in delivering effective financial business partnering services.
• Manage annual budget cycles and provide insightful financial analysis.

Skills

Accounting

Financial Management

Excel

Communication Skills

Leadership

Stakeholder Management

Analytical Skills

Budgeting

Education

Qualified Accountant (ACA/CIMA/ACCA/CIPFA)

Tools

MS Word

MS Excel

MS PowerPoint

MS Access

Job description

Job summary

Purpose of the role

This role is part of EPSRC’s Senior Finance Management Team and has responsibility for leading a team of Finance Business Partners/Management Accountants in providing a comprehensive financial business partnering services and operational finance across the various Directorate areas. The role will provide effective insight, challenge and support to a range of stakeholders including Directorate leads/budget-holders and senior finance and non-finance managers across Finance and UKRI, to deliver outcomes in line with UKRI priorities.

The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is the main funding body for engineering and physical sciences research in the UK. Our diverse portfolio ranges from digital technologies to clean energy, manufacturing to mathematics, advanced materials to chemistry. EPSRC invests in world-leading research and skills to advance knowledge and deliver a sustainable, resilient and prosperous UK. We support new ideas and transformative technologies which are the foundations of innovations that improve our economy, environment and society. In partnership and co-investing with industry, we work to deliver both national and global priorities.

Job description

Key Areas of Accountability:

Leadership / teamwork

1. Lead a team of Finance staff in delivering an effective financial business partnering service to the assigned Directorate business areas.
2. Develop, manage and maintain strong working relationships with stakeholders in Directorate business areas and in other teams, including budget holders, senior programme managers, Directors, financial planning team, management reporting team, commercial/legal teams, other local and wider Finance Directorate staff, and relevant external stakeholders.
3. Use sound commercial and business awareness and understanding to provide decision support, offering insight and challenges to relevant senior stakeholders as required to ensure robust financial processes.
4. Work closely with senior stakeholders to advise on available funding to aid in establishing strategic priorities using judgement, evidence and professional knowledge.
5. Contribute to delivery of wider strategic Finance Directorate initiatives and projects as required (TFS/SHARP).

Delivery / programmes / projects / process:

1. Perform a range of complex reporting and control functions, positioning Finance to work with the business and link budgets to delivery plans and business cases.
2. Communicate the importance of Finance to stakeholders at all levels, and use business awareness to present insightful information and analysis to support effective longer-term decision-making and deliver outcomes in line with Council/UKRI priorities.
3. Manage annual and multi-year budget setting cycles, in year reforecasting - understanding and communicating forecast risk and opportunities.
4. Develop the finance case within business cases, this may include the development of new facilities and equipment.
5. Manage applications for additional budget cover, this will be from various funding sources including core funding, GOTT funding, other councils and direct DSIT funding through a variety of schemes.
6. Manage the financial accounting of complex projects.
7. Ensure compliance with internal financial, DSIT and HMG controls within Directorate business areas.

Other:

1. This job description is intended to provide a broad outline of the main duties and responsibilities only. The post holder will need to be flexible in developing the role in conjunction with their line manager. The post holder may be asked to carry out any other delegated duty or task that is in line with the post.
2. Support to the various Business Change Programmes as required, SHARP, TFS, Databank.

Person specification

Essential skills, qualifications and experience:

(S) – Assessed at shortlisting

(I) – Assessed at interview

(S&I) – Assessed at both shortlisting and interview

Qualifications:

1. Qualified Accountant (ACA/CIMA/ACCA/CIPFA) or QBE (S)

Experience and knowledge:

1. Strong understanding of accounting and finance and demonstrable experience of working in senior finance roles and delivering effective financial management. (S&I)
2. High level competency of IT systems and applications including MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access, with focus on exceptional Excel skills. (I)
3. Strong understanding of contracts and commercial elements within projects. (S&I)
4. Demonstrable high-level experience of month and year-end processes - accruals and prepayment calculations, variance analyses etc. (S&I)
5. Highly numerate with the ability to provide insightful analysis on complex issues, communicating the key elements to effectively deliver projects and influence decision making at a strategic level. (S&I)
6. Experience of working strategically to balance the conflicting demands of multiple stakeholders whilst protecting the integrity and ownership of financial processes. (S&I)
7. Demonstrable experience of working as part of a wider-business, consulting with senior stakeholders, utilising an in-depth understanding of business priorities, and effectively ‘partnering’ with stakeholders to meet organisational and financial objectives. (I)
8. Significant experience in provision of high quality written and oral advice suitable for executive and senior level decision makers. (S&I)
9. Proven experience in the preparation of complex budgets, forecasts and financial plans. (S&I)
10. Understanding of the role of governance, risk management and assurance in operational and project delivery. (S&I)

Skills and abilities:

1. Ability to build strong trusting relationships with senior stakeholders and influence them with impact and professional credibility.
2. Strong experience of developing effective working partnerships and offering challenges where necessary to senior stakeholder groups.
3. Line management and leadership skills.
4. Excellent written and oral communication skills.
5. Personal resilience and a confident approach, willing to apply good judgement to solve issues and find solutions independently.
6. Highly developed team working skills, able to form effective working relationships quickly.
7. Ability to respond calmly under pressure and to make impartial and well-considered judgments in complex situations.
8. Good organisational skills, able to manage and prioritise own and others’ workloads and meet deadlines in a very timely manner.