Senior Finance Business Partner (interim)

Summary: The Senior Finance Business Partner role is an 18-month fixed-term contract focused on enhancing financial business partnering within a charity. The position requires leading a team of finance business partners to ensure financial objectives align with the organization's strategic goals. The role emphasizes collaboration, financial stewardship, and the development of effective financial reporting and management processes. The postholder will engage with senior management to drive financial performance and accountability across the organization.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the Finance Business Partners to provide high-quality financial information and support.
• Develop and evolve the charity's business partner model to align with strategic changes.
• Build collaborative networks to champion financial stewardship among non-finance managers.
• Influence senior managers to share knowledge for data-driven financial planning.
• Recruit, manage, train, and develop a team of finance professionals.
• Identify areas for improvement and ensure action is taken.
• Support the development of financial reporting across the organization.
• Provide high-quality management accounting data and reports to stakeholders.
• Act as the finance change manager for strategic projects.
• Enhance monthly management accounts review and reporting processes.
• Advise on capital purchases and contribute to capital strategy planning.
• Oversee budgeting and forecasting processes and ensure alignment with financial systems.
• Contribute to statutory accounts and liaise with external auditors.
• Develop policies and procedures for strong financial controls.
• Carry out any other reasonable duty as required.

Key Skills:

• Fully qualified member of a recognized professional accounting institute (ICAEW, ICAS, CIMA, ACCA).
• Experience in financial and management accounting for medium to large international organizations.
• Proven leadership and team management skills.
• Experience in developing finance business partnering.
• Advanced knowledge of Microsoft applications, especially Excel.
• Proven track record in financial risk management.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Able to build and maintain collaborative relationships with stakeholders.
• Ability to challenge and influence at all levels.
• Knowledge of charity accounting and taxation regulations is desirable.
• UK full valid driving licence and valid passport for overseas travel are desirable.

Salary (Rate): £60,000 yearly

City: Bristol

Country: UK

Working Arrangements: hybrid

IR35 Status: fixed-term

Seniority Level: Senior

Industry: Finance

Detailed Description From Employer:

18-month fixed-term contract

• Interim Senior Finance Business Partner 18-month Fixed-Term Contract
• Paying £55,000-£60,000
• Responsible to: Head of Finance
• Directly Responsible for: 4 x Finance Business Partners

Overall Purpose The Senior Finance Business Manager plays a pivotal role in leading the evolution of the finance business partnering within the charity to ensure key financial objectives are achieved to deliver the organisation's strategy and change agenda. The post holder will be customer focused on delivering professional and timely financial support and be fully integrated with the core activities within the organisation, whilst challenging and holding budget managers to account. Furthermore, the postholder will contribute to developing a culture of strong financial stewardship, promoting the need for economy, efficiency and effectiveness in all aspects of the charity's worldwide business. This is a high-profile role and the postholder will be expected to build collaborative partnerships and maintain strong relationships with the Executive, Senior Managers and their teams across the organisation and its subsidiaries.
Main duties and responsibilities:

Lead the Finance Business Partners to discharge their responsibilities by providing high-quality financial information, expert advice, training, support and challenge in respect of financial management reporting and risk mitigation, to ensure senior managers and budget holders are able to meet their key operational and strategic business objectives.

Develop and evolve the charity's business partner model to align with strategic changes in the way the charity operates, ensuring it is fit for purpose, efficient and effective.

Build collaborative networks to actively champion financial stewardship amongst non-finance managers by developing support, education and coaching for operational managers and budget holders to understand business partnering and to facilitate the successful delivery within their areas of responsibility.

Influence senior managers to share knowledge and information to inform data-driven financial planning and forecasting.

Effectively recruit, manage, train and develop a team of finance business partner and assistant business partner professionals, setting SMART objectives and managing performance, including timely performance reviews; ensuring the team understand their contribution to the charity's strategic objectives and their own roles and responsibilities.

Recommend and identify any areas for improvement or additional training or development for business partners and assistants and ensure this is actioned.

Support the development of financial reporting for the organisation so that information flows from individual operational reports through to charity-wide financial forecasting (including overseas subsidiaries), holding to account those responsible for delivery. The post holder will ensure a clear articulation of reported risks with mitigation.

Develop the provision of information, using data analytics, dashboards, and financial modelling to provide high-quality management accounting data, reports and advice to stakeholders across The Donkey Sanctuary within required timeframes, ensuring cost centre managers are aware of month-end income and expenditure performance against budget, future cash flows, and any other essential information.

Acts as the finance change manager for organisational strategic projects impacting the design of the financial systems/processes, actively championing and leading the delivery of benefits to achieve measurable improvements in operations.

Develop an enhanced monthly management accounts review and reporting process increasing focus on the balance sheet.

Providing advice and guidance as a trusted adviser on capital purchases; member of the Capital Strategy and Planning Group.

Responsible for the smooth running of budgeting and forecasting processes and production of detailed annual budgets and regular re-forecasts, ensuring alignment with Financial Accounting systems and processes.

Contributing to the production of the statutory accounts and regulatory reports and its subsidiaries, liaising with the external auditors to ensure all end-of-year-related information is provided within the scope of the audit timetable.

Development of enhanced policies, processes and procedures to ensure strong financial controls. Ensuring the smooth running and continual development of these processes and procedures to support the effective operation of all parts of the organisation

Carrying out any other reasonable duty as may be required.

LocationThe working pattern for this role will combine working on site and working from home (hybrid) under our guiding principles for such roles. There may be occasions when the post holder is requested to work at another location considered reasonable by the charity.
Essential;

Current fully qualified active member of a recognised professional accounting institute (ICAEW, ICAS, CIMA, ACCA) with extensive post-qualification experience

Experience in financial and management accounting for a medium to large international organisation, including multi-currency group financial reporting, budgeting, and forecasting.

Experience of successfully leading and motivating teams, managing workloads, prioritising and meeting deadlines including performance reviews, coaching and personal development planning

Demonstratable experience of developing finance business partnering within an organisation

Advanced knowledge of Microsoft applications, including Excel (to include a proven track record in using and building Excel models for financial analysis) and Word

• The ability to analyse and address complex issues, including the need to deliver different support to different organisational areas.

Proven track record in financial risk management and evaluation of business cases and commercial proposals

Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to flex and adapt communication to suit a wide range of audiences.

Able to establish, build and maintain successful collaborative relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

Ability to constructively challenge and influence at all levels.

Desirable

Knowledge of charity accounting and taxation regulations (eg SORP 2015, VAT partial exemption)

Knowledge of international accounting and taxation (VAT) requirements

UK full valid driving licence

Valid passport to enable overseas travel.

If you're interested in this role, click 'apply now' to forward an up-to-date copy of your CV, or call Charles Maidment from the Hays senior finance team. If this job isn't quite right for you, but you are looking for a new position, please contact us for a confidential discussion about your career.
#