Finance Business Partner

Job Description

Base salary: £47450 pa to c.£59300 pa depending on skills and experience. In addition, we offer flexible benefits fund of 20% which is paid on top base salary and is fully pensionable, as well as a range of competitive benefits – check them out in the Benefits section on our website.

HS2 Ltd endeavours to ensure everyone working for us and with us feels included, thrives and achieves their full potential. In practice, this means we are positive and inclusive about making adjustments, providing flexible working, encouraging our staff networks to flourish and providing personal and professional development opportunities.

As a Finance Business Partner you will provide assurance and challenge, driving accountability and focus on cost control throughout the directorates you support. Provide oversight, control and direction to your team (if applicable) and ensure appropriate Finance support to promote effective decision making and performance management of Direct and Indirect Costs.

About the role:

Corporate Governance/ Managing Public Money

• Provides guidance on the application of governance within area
• Acting as the Chief Financial Officer’s (CFO) representative at monthly review meetings
• Review and financial endorsement of Change and Investment Papers, challenging all risks/opportunities, ensuring programme impacts are clearly identified and any associated costs recorded
• Representative on investment change panels
• Providing assurance to senior management that reported expenditure and contract payments are appropriate.

IFRS Accounting / National Audit Office (NAO)

• Provides input to development of policies and Enterprise reporting and planning development
• Provides guidance on appropriate IFRS accounting treatment of transactions (prepayment/accruals/liabilities)
• Provides justification and supporting evidence of accounting adjustments to NAO Auditors as required.

Financial Reporting/ Month/ Year end

• Oversee the month end financial accounts close
• Prepare the accounts and plan for year-end audit

Complete monthly analytics of contract spend and accruals held and challenge budget holders

• Provide budget variance commentary
• Review and assure Programme Board Packs.

Funding/Cash Flow

Review and challenge emerging forecasts and monitor against Spending Review (SR) funding

• Propose remedial actions to business as required
• Work with supply chain finance leads and HS2 commercial to improve Actual Cost of Work Performed (ACWP) and cash flow data
• Develop Cashflow forecast reporting for DfT, challenge the supply chain submissions.

Business Planning/Forecast

• Support and maintain the Business Planning and forecasting process, providing guidance on planning principles and expectations as provided by HS2 business planning
• Provides assurance to the business that data provided by cost management/commercial is reliable.

Budget Management

• Supports business in determining the appropriate disaggregation and delegations
• Facilitate system changes required and reporting requirements for budget management.

Workforce Costs & Indirects

• Provide Workforce Actual costs and forecast information to inform programme cost estimates
• Challenge budget holders to achieve workforce objectives and optimise resources.

EDI

• Actively promote and embed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in all your work and support and comply with all organisational initiatives, policies and procedures on EDI.

About you:

Skills:

• Communication skills: ability to interpret and communicate complex financial issues to non-financial colleagues and to secure compliance with Managing Public Money.
• Stakeholder management skills, with the ability to engage, communicate and develop consensus with both internal and external stakeholders up to Executive level.
• Influencing skills: ability to influence key decisions.
• Ability to critically review and challenge forecasts, assessing them for their affordability, value for money, timing and impact on programme delivery.
• Ability to use ERP systems, utilising data analytics software and complex Excel models.
• Ability to ensure effective financial controls within a major project.

Knowledge:

• Qualified Accountant with experience of operating in a complex environment.
• Knowledge of Government accounting requirements (DEL/AME funding) to ensure compliance of business plans within delegated authority.
• Knowledge of accounting systems and the ability to develop and manage off-system analyses and records.

Type of experience:

• Experience of driving output focused, activity-based budgets and forecasts.
• Supporting the process for development of the annual business plan and budget setting processes within funding caps set by the Spending Review.
• Qualified Accountant with experience of operating in a complex environment which may include infrastructure projects.
• Part of a team delivering finance business support to the programme teams and HS2 Ltd directorates.
• Experience of working in large complex projects in delivery.

The post-holder is expected to behave at all times in a manner consistent with the HS2 values of Safety, Leadership, Integrity and Respect.

It is expected that you will actively promote and embed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in all your work and support and comply with all organisational initiatives, policies and procedures on EDI.

As HS2 Ltd do not hold a sponsorship license from the Home Office, we are not able to provide sponsorship to any applicant. Applicants must already have the Right to Work in the UK at the time of application and our process involves a Right to Work validation prior to the interview stage. Note, there are certain types of time-bound visas that we cannot accept.

Any offers made to applicants will be subject to satisfactory completion of pre-employment checks which include Nationality & Immigration Status, employment references, DBS, Financial and Education checks.

We ask for a variety of detail in your online application; however, we perform the first assessment of suitability for a role based solely on the information in your CV. In a further development of our efforts to create a more diverse workforce, your CV will be anonymised and personal information will be removed during the first stage of the application review. This removes bias from the process and makes it even more important that you attach an updated word version of your CV for each new application ensuring you include evidence directly related to the criteria in the job advert.

Watch this video on how we remove bias in the recruitment process: Removing bias in the recruitment process (youtube.com)

Any applications received after the closing date will not be considered.

About Us

High Speed 2 (HS2 Ltd) will be the UK’s new high speed rail network. As well as improving capacity, the new scheme will shorten journey times between a number of Britain’s major population centres, boost the economy and create thousands of jobs.

HS2 Ltd will create a skills legacy and develop a diverse range of talent. We aim to be a leader in EDI practice by creating a safe & inclusive working environment for all our staff – living our values of Safety, Respect, Integrity and Leadership.

In practice, this means we are positive and inclusive about making adjustments, providing flexible working, encouraging our staff networks to flourish and providing personal and professional development opportunities.

HS2 Ltd is also a safety-critical organisation. Employees are required to ensure reasonable care of their own and others’ health and safety by taking personal responsibility for working to our ‘Safe at Heart’ programme principles and following safe working procedures at all times.

HS2 Ltd endeavours to ensure everyone working for us and with us feels included, thrives and achieves their full potential.

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