Finance Business Partner London, England
Job description
Salary: Up to £65,000 per annum, plus benefits
Location: Hybrid working with a minimum of 2 days office based (Southwark / Stratford / Victoria, London)
Contract Type: Permanent TfL contracts, or 6 / 12 month Fixed Term Contracts*, with the possibility of permanency
About us
Our finance function is evolving to ensure a sharp focus on Transport for London’s (TfL) core business priorities. We’re doing this by building a strong Chief Finance Officer team, integrating finance, procurement, commercial and the Business Services Function (delivering everyday finance and HR services) to provide stronger strategic and commercial excellence across our business. Finance is central to TfL’s vision and values, progressing roadmaps for Colleague, Customer, Finance and Green, building on Our Foundation of delivering performance and investment milestones.
TfL plays a key role in shaping what life is like in London. Our transport infrastructure and public transport network is admired around the world. We are literally changing London for the future – making it one of the best cities to live, work and visit. Over 3 billion journeys were made across our transport network in 22/23 and we do all that we can to keep our city moving, growing and working. To meet the needs of our customers, now and for the future, we’re providing the modern and affordable transport network London needs. To support this, our multi billion pound programme to make our services more reliable, frequent and accessible includes introducing new trains, building a new road tunnel under the Thames, and investing in congestion and air quality initiatives on our roads through our healthy streets approach.
About the role
There are a number of exciting opportunities across all of our modes of transport, including London Underground, Buses, Streets and Rail, plus a number of key roles supporting other operations and TfL’s property division. You will be expected to be fully embedded in the business and be a trusted and influential member of the team. We expect our Finance Business Partners to provide comprehensive finance support, shaping strategic and operational decision making by providing insight, challenge and advice
There are a variety of operational and project roles, however all will have significant budgets and require you to work collaboratively and cross-functionally. Utilising financial services provided by the Business Services Function to provide management accounting you will be expected to manage multiple conflicting agendas and ensure that you employ robust, timely and accurate financial information to drive decision making.
Reporting into a Senior Finance Partner, you will be responsible for supporting the provision of a customer focussed financial service ensuring budget holder and business needs are met, alongside ensuring that decisions are effectively planned and executed and any risk is minimised. Your key stakeholders will be Operational and Project Leads and you will participate in the decision making process at operational and portfolio programme boards.
You will be a sounding board for new initiatives, helping to identify risks and opportunities and have the ability to explain financial concepts to non-finance people.
About you
You’ll be an experienced, commercially savvy finance professional, within a large multi-million pound complex operational organisation. You’re driven to add value to the business and improve business efficiency.
You’ll likely have experience of delivering consolidated financial and business operational performance reports to divisions to drive financial performance, reduce costs and drive income. Ideally, you’ll have experience of providing the financial stewardship on large-scale commercial contracts and/or experience of labour cost management across a large operating business and/or property experience. You’ll also have the gravitas to influence a variety of stakeholders and have a solid understanding of project management, programme management office, procurement and supply chain processes and practices.
You’ll continuously be championing and leading by example, showing strong values. As we are evolving it is crucial for our finance colleagues to display positive behaviours for current stakeholders to collaborate with, and to constantly look to raise the bar internally. Efficiency, productivity, innovation and customer service lie at the heart of what we do. We are excited about the journey we’re on and we are looking for people who believe in our journey too.
- Be a key, visible point of contact for the budget holders within the business area and overcome silo working through partnering approach providing an integrated view on financial performance and financial input into decision making
- Responsible for providing key management reporting and information for the business area to support decision making and achieving business objectives
- Undertake the collection, collation and challenge of financial and other planning information with supporting risks and opportunities to inform the financial planning process encompassing short and long-term plans for the business area
- Provide ad hoc analysis and insight on business performance, including using investment and project appraisal techniques, to support effective decision making and the delivery of objectives.
- Utilise Business Services Function team to ensure that financial transactions are correct, and policies adhered to
- Interface with local and central finance teams to ensure an efficient and effective finance service.
- Be an active member of the Finance community, contributing to the continuous improvement and added value of the finance function.
Skills, Knowledge & Experience
- Variance and Financial/Budgetary Analysis
- Forecasting
- Systems and Software
- Cost Accounting
- Risk and control
- Professional Accounting principles and standards
- Management reporting and external reporting and ad-hoc communication
- Commercial acumen
- Educated to degree level or equivalent
- Numerate and experience and understanding of Finance and accounting
- Qualified or part Qualified CIMA, ACCA
- Experience at building relationships at with stakeholder at all levels of the business
- Experience in managing long term capital investment projects
- Extensive experience working in a challenging business environment which is going through major structural changes
- Demonstrable skills in challenging and collaborating with this type of stakeholder.
- Experience of integrated ERP accounting platforms (SAP) able to manage, use and manipulate data and information to enable effective reporting, planning, financial management and control.
- Demonstrable experience of driving value through effective analysis and management of financial information
Equality, diversity and inclusion
We are committed to equality, diversity and inclusion. We want to represent the city we serve, which will help us become a more innovative and efficient organisation. Our goal is to make our recruitment as inclusive as possible. We are a disability confident employer who guarantee an interview to any disabled candidate who meets all of the essential criteria. We also use anonymising software that removes identifying information from CVs and cover letters to make the process fair.
Application Process
Think carefully about the skills, knowledge and experience in the advert and cover this in your CV and cover letter. Word format preferred, please do not include any photographs or images.
The closing date for applications is 23:59 on Sunday 18th June 2023
Benefits
In return for your commitment and expertise, you will enjoy excellent benefits and scope to grow. Rewards vary according to the business area but mostly include:
- Final salary pension scheme
- Free travel for you on the TfL network
- Reimbursement of 75% of the cost of a standard class Ticket for National Rail travel from home
- 30 days annual leave plus public and bank holidays
- Private healthcare discounted scheme (optional)
- Tax-efficient cycle-to-work programme
- Retail, health, leisure and travel offers
- Discounted Eurostar travel
- As a fixed term contractor we can offer you a choice of pension arrangements. If you choose not to take our final salary pension scheme you will be paid an allowance on top of your salary, subject to Tax and National Insurance. We will share all the details with you at offer stage and the choice will be yours based on your circumstances. Depending on what you choose you can add up-to 14% to your salary.
