Senior Finance Business Partner

Job Description

We have a current opportunity for a Senior Finance Business Partner on a contract basis. The position will be based in Abingdon. For further information about this position please apply.

This Senior Finance Business Partner role will play a key role in supporting both UKIFS, and UKAEA in its role as Fusion Partner, in delivering the STEP programme. This is a unique finance role that will be critical in ensuring an effective working relationship between UKAEA and UKIFS. The role will work with key senior staff in UKIFS, the Fusion Partner, and those involved in delivering the UKAEA-UKIFS Corporate Services Agreement to:

a) support UKIFS in its financial relationship with UKAEA, providing a key link between the two organisations, provide assurance on costs, support with Group level commissions, reporting up to Group on financial management, support on budgeting and financial management with FP and CSA costs and pricing, assumptions, risk, approvals required outside of UKIFS delegated authority.
b) support the Fusion Partner Office in effective financial management and reporting of all Fusion Partner costs incurred.
c) support on cost management of spend delivered through the Corporate Services Agreement
Accountabilities:
* Be an effective Finance Partner for UKIFS in its relationship with UKAEA; acting as the key point of contact for all finance related matters relating to UKIFS-UKAEA interactions
* Ensure effective financial management of work requested through the CARS system, including costing of packages requested and provision of information and key metrics to both the Fusion Partner and UKIFS
* Ensuring the Fusion Partner Segment is structured such that it meets UKAEA and UKIFS reporting needs and managing queries from across the business on ensuring correct use of codes.
* Responsibility for all meeting all monthly Group reporting requirements on forecasting relating to UKIFS and FP.
* Providing assurance to UKIFS on detail of intercompany charges
* Provision of information to UKIFS Finance and to control account managers on fusion partner spend, time booked and variance to budget and package booked.
* Provision of information to UKAEA Divisional Account Managers on package performance
* Financial Management and Business Partnering to the Fusion Partner Office.
* Line management of the Management Accountant supporting UKIFS, including mentoring, training, supervision and performance reviews etc. in line with UKAEA line management guidelines.
* Ensure provision of consistent, high quality financial information, reinforced by high quality insight and financial advice as required by the Fusion Partner
* Provide financial leadership and coaching to wider project team members as required, particularly those that are supporting the management of financial performance through forecasting or monitoring and control activities such as for timesheets and procurement.
* Build effective working relationships with senior managers and stakeholders to enable robust financial management across the Fusion Partner and UKIFS.
* Support the maintenance of a robust control environment, including responsibility for relevant balance sheet accounts appropriate to area at Group level, such as prepayments, accruals, work in progress, income in advance are fully reconciled with adequate supporting documentation available for audit purposes.
* Act as key point of contact for relevant programme audits & ensure all audit requirements are met.
* Follow up on internal audit actions and ensure they are closed out to agreed timescales
* Support finance wide initiatives, such as testing of new reports & upgrades, and other ad hoc work.
* Support the overall capability within finance by leading on initiatives and procedures which improve processes to support and manage programmes and / or enhance the technical capability of junior team members through training and coaching.

Budget Responsibility:
* None
Specific Qualifications/Experience:
Essential
* A qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA) or qualified by experience
* Experience of working closely with senior business managers & teams in a "business partner" capacity
* Experience of managing multi-million-pound government or commercial projects and associated accounting, costing and forecasting activities, understanding of project controls and management processes.
* Understand the principles of revenue recognition and accounting for grant funding
* Experience of audits of major contracts or grants
* Ability to manage a multi-funding environment and associated financial reporting
* Highly proficient in Excel (pivot tables, lookups, sumif formulas etc)
* Able to work on occasion to challenging timescales while still ensuring accuracy
Desirable
* Experience of an ERP accounting system; experience of using Unit 4 (Agresso) would be an advantage
* Experience of report writing in ERP systems, or working alongside systems developers to specify and develop reports would be very relevant
* Balance sheet review / reconciliation experience
* Team player
Other Duties:
* Provide support as required on ad hoc project work as required

Rullion celebrates and supports diversity and is committed to ensuring equal opportunities for both employees and applicants.