Strategic Finance Partnering Manager

Royal National Lifeboat Ins titution (RNLI); England; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

RNLI is seeking a Strategic Finance Partnering Manager to lead high-quality financial partnering and long-term planning across the organisation, supporting the 5-Year Plan (2026–2030) and ensuring value for money in donor stewardship.

You will shape a high-performing finance partnering capability, coach a senior team, and provide clear financial advice to directors while balancing affordability with lifesaving objectives.

Qualifications

• Senior finance business partnering or equivalent experience.
• Experience influencing senior leaders in a complex organisation.
• Experience leading and coaching finance professionals.
• Experience supporting business cases, forecasts, budgets and long-term financial planning.
• Strong understanding of financial controls and governance.
• Ability to translate complex financial information into clear recommendations.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a high‑performing Strategic Finance Partnering capability across the RNLI.
• Provide leadership, coaching and resilience across the partnering function.
• Support senior directors with robust challenge, investment decisions and long-term planning.

Skills

Finance partnering

Stakeholder influence

Team leadership

Investment planning

Financial governance

Clear financial communication

Job description

We are looking for a Strategic Finance Partnering Manager to join our Financial Planning & Analysis team, who will support the RNLI by ensuring RNLI leaders make informed, evidence-based decisions that maximise lifesaving impact and the responsible stewardship of donor funds through leading the development, delivery and continuous improvement of high-quality strategic finance partnering, robust challenge and long-term financial planning for the RNLI.Your role This is an exciting opportunity to make a real difference. You will be coming into this new role at an interesting time as we shape the organisation to take on the challenges of the future with the delivery of our 5-Year Plan (2026 to 2030) in support of our overall RNLI strategy. As Strategic Finance Partnering Manager you will contribute to the achievement of the RNLI's 5-year plan and overall vision to ensure affordability and value for money for the organisation. The successful candidate will lead and develop a high performing Strategic Finance Partnering capability across the RNLI, ensuring consistent, high-quality financial support, challenge and decision-making. You will hold senior partnering responsibility for a key directorate, as well as providing leadership, coaching and resilience across the wider partnering function. This role is an enabler to the wider Finance Planning and Analysis function, alongside working collaboratively with the whole Finance and Corporate Services directorate, ensuring alignment.

• Proven experience in senior finance business partnering or a comparable strategic finance role.
• Experience of successfully influencing, supporting and constructively challenging senior leaders in a complex organisation.
• Demonstrable experience of leading, coaching or developing finance professionals and building consistent standards and high performance across a team.
• Experience supporting significant business cases, investment decisions, forecasts, budgets and long-term financial planning.
• Strong understanding of financial controls, governance and the practical application of value-for-money principles.
• Experience translating complex financial and organisational information into clear advice and recommendations.

If this sounds like you, and you are someone who is an influential and trusted finance leader, combining strong organisational knowledge with sound judgement and constructive challenge.

In return, you will be part of an extraordinary team and have the satisfaction of playing a significant role in driving forward the business of the RNLI: saving lives at sea.

In line with our values and our commitment to supporting the development and progression of our people, this opportunity is currently only available to RNLI staff and volunteers. If we are unable to make an appointment through this process, we will consider opening the role to external applicants.

The RNLI is a charity with the purpose to save lives at sea with a vision to save every one. We provide a 24-hour lifeboat search and rescue service, lifeguards, fundraising, and drowning prevention. Our frontline lifesavers and fundraisers need a dedicated, professional and talented team behind them, and that is where you come in. This is your chance to join that team and help save lives every day.

Our staff and volunteers have been saving lives at sea without prejudice for 200 years. We respect and value diversity of background, skills and perspectives within our teams, and consider it essential to help us deliver a world-class lifesaving service.

We are an inclusive organisation and welcome applications from everyone.

In addition to having the skills needed for the role, we also look for applicants who share our commitment to living our RNLI values (trustworthy, courageous, selfless, and dependable), and helping us work towards Our Vision: To save Every One.