Senior Finance Business Partner - Work from Home in London

Collinson is the global, privately-owned company dedicated to helping the world to travel with ease and confidence. The group offers a unique blend of industry and sector specialists who together provide market-leading airport experiences, loyalty and customer engagement, and insurance solutions for over 400 million consumers. Collinson is the operator of Priority Pass, the world's original and leading airport experiences programme. Travellers can access a network of 1,500+ lounges and travel experiences, including dining, retail, sleep and spa, in over 650 airports in 148 countries, helping to elevate the journey into something special.

We work with the world's leading payment networks, over 1,400 banks, 90 airlines and 20 hotel groups worldwide. We have been bringing innovation to the market since inception – from launching the first independent global VIP lounge access Programme, Priority Pass to being the first to sell direct travel insurance in the UK through Columbus Direct and creating the first loyalty agency of its kind in the travel sector with ICLP. Today we still invest heavily in innovation to ensure that we continue to deliver superior customer experiences.

Our mission is focused on doing good beyond profit, which for us means we seek out opportunities for our people to share in our success and that we give back to the communities and people within which we work. Never short of ambition, the success of our business is delivered through the diverse and talented team of over 2,200 global colleagues.

Purpose of the job

The Senior Finance Business Partner is a senior finance leadership role responsible for partnering with the Global Strategic Partnerships team to drive commercial performance, support strategic decision-making and enhance financial outcomes across the business. Working closely with the VP Commercial Finance – Partnerships and senior stakeholders across the Global Strategic Partnerships organisation, the role provides financial leadership on strategic partner relationships, investment decisions, commercial initiatives and growth opportunities, ensuring decisions are supported by robust financial analysis, commercial insight and a clear focus on value creation.

The role acts as a trusted deputy to the VP Commercial Finance – Partnerships & Overheads, supporting engagement with executive stakeholders and business leadership through the provision of meaningful financial insight, strategic challenge and performance recommendations. The role will play a key part in shaping commercial strategy for strategically important Tier 1 and Tier 1A partnerships while driving accountability for financial performance across the organisation.

Alongside business partnering responsibilities, the role is accountable for leading the ongoing evolution of the Partnerships Finance function, managing a team of 3 Finance Business Partners. This includes developing consistent ways of working across regions, improving the quality, timeliness and relevance of financial reporting, strengthening governance frameworks, driving process standardisation and implementing continuous improvements across planning, forecasting and performance management processes.

The role will work closely with FP&A, Commercial Finance, Tax, Operations, Product, Legal and Contracting teams to improve financial insight, develop meaningful performance metrics and create scalable finance processes that support both strategic decision-making and operational excellence.

Key Responsibilities

• Act as the senior finance partner to the Global Strategic Partnerships team.
• Partner closely with the VP Commercial Finance – Partnerships & Overheads to support strategic planning, executive stakeholder engagement and business performance management.
• Support the development and execution of growth strategies for strategically important Tier 1 and Tier 1A partnerships.
• Influence business decisions through commercial insight, financial analysis and constructive challenge.
• Support commercial negotiations, contract discussions and strategic partner reviews.
• Develop compelling financial insights, recommendations and performance narratives for senior leadership.
• Drive improvements in Partnership financial analytics and KPIs by partnering closely with the Finance Analytics team to develop new models such as Lounge Profitability.

Finance Leadership & Team Development

• Lead, coach and develop a team of three regional Finance Business Partners.
• Build organisational capability across the Finance Business Partnering team.

Finance Excellence, Standardisation & Continuous Improvement

• Lead the continuous improvement agenda across the global Partnerships Finance function.
• Drive standardisation of forecasting, budgeting, month-end analysis and performance reporting processes across all regions.
• Improve the efficiency, quality and scalability of Finance Business Partnering activities.
• Develop strong partnerships with SMEs across Finance, including FP&A, Commercial Finance and Tax.

Reporting, KPIs & Performance Insight

• Drive improvements in management reporting to deliver more relevant, actionable and timely insights.
• Develop and implement meaningful KPIs aligned with business strategy and operational objectives.
• Partner with FP&A teams to improve the design, usability and accuracy of financial reporting.

Governance, Controls & Investment Management

• Own governance processes and financial stewardship across the Partnerships Finance function.
• Ensure appropriate financial controls are embedded within planning, forecasting, reporting and decision-making processes.
• Improve visibility, accessibility and governance of business cases and investment decisions.

Cross-Functional Operational Improvement

• Champion operational improvements that enhance business performance and Finance effectiveness.
• Collaborate with Operations, Contracting, Tax, Commercial Finance and other specialist teams to deliver sustainable improvements.

Knowledge, skills and experience required

• Educated to degree level or equivalent & Qualified Accountant (ACCA/ACA).
• Highly numerate.
• Financial Performance Analysis and Spend Management.
• Budgeting and Forecasting.
• Business Case Analysis, Development and Assurance.
• Comfortable working in a matrix environment.
• High level of Commercial Acumen.
• Strong analytical capability.
• Track record of dealing with ambiguity.
• Strong influencing and communication skills at a Sr. level.
• Must be fluent in English, multi-language skills welcomed.
• Excellent interpersonal communications, good listener, persuasive manner.
• Detail focused with strong organisation and planning skills.
• Excellent MS Excel skills.
• High personal levels of motivation and delivery orientated focus.
• A proactive, forward looking and challenging mindset.

Essential Experience

• Experience in developing robust business case models for investment decisions and new products.
• Experience working in a complex matrix business environment with senior management with demonstrable skills in challenging and collaborating with this type of stakeholder.
• Demonstrable experience of driving value through effective analysis and management of financial information.
• Ability to interact with and develop working relationships internally and externally to achieve best outcomes for the business and customer.
• Experience at building relationships at senior management level.
• Keen interest and demonstrated experience driving process improvement and change.
• Dedication to continuous improvement on controls, processes and overall governance.

Collinson is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes differences in all their forms including: colour, race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, neurodivergence, family status, age, individuals with disabilities and people from all backgrounds, cultures and experiences as we strongly believe this contributes to our on-going success.