Finance Business Partner

Hybrid arrangements by agreement, site presence for client meetings and relationship building. Contract / working pattern: Hybrid. Office attendance expected on average 1 day per week, with several days per week initially during induction and stakeholder onboarding.

Main Purpose of the Role

The London Borough of Bexley has started its transformation programme, called Future Bexley. In the face of increasing demand and costs, and constrained resources, we are thinking differently about how we work and what we do. We see this as an opportunity to invest and transform, rather than cut services or quality. Bexley residents are at the heart of what we do. This role will work across the transformation portfolio and provide expert and detailed analysis of our current financial position in defined areas such as our commercial and traded activities, contracts and operations. This is a very practical, hands-on role requiring the ability to develop models, but then see them through to fruition. You are to provide expert, hands-on financial and commercial business partnering across a portfolio of transformation projects, with an initial focus on commercialisation (income generation, fees and charges, trading models, contract and commercial arrangements, and cost reduction opportunities). You will develop and challenge business cases, build financial models, and provide robust reporting on costs, savings, and benefits realisation to support timely, evidence-based decisions. The role operates in a local government context and requires a good understanding of, strong stakeholder management, clear communication to financial and non-financial audiences, and the ability to assess complex situations from a commercial, business and finance perspective.

Key Responsibilities and Accountabilities

• Provide proactive financial analysis and support to each Transformation project across the programme lifecycle (discovery, design, delivery, implementation, and post-implementation review).
• Act as the finance lead for option appraisal and commercial decision-making, ensuring proposals are affordable, deliverable, and aligned to the Council's financial strategy.
• Provide financial input to programme governance (Programme Board / leadership meetings), ensuring decision-takers receive relevant and balanced information at the right level.

Key Deliverables / Outcomes

• High-quality business cases and option appraisals for commercial and transformation initiatives.
• A working, embedded programme cost and savings capture process with clear ownership, evidence standards and reporting cadence.
• Financial models that clearly articulate costs, savings, income, payback, risks and sensitivities.
• Decision-maker-ready reporting and briefings that enable timely, confident governance decisions.
• Improved clarity and consistency of data used to track transformation benefits.

CCAB qualified accountant (or equivalent) or demonstrable equivalent experience in a senior finance/commercial role. Evidence of continuing professional development.

Essential Experience, Knowledge and Skills

• Strong understanding of local government finance principles, including budgeting/forecasting, MTFS impacts, and the practical constraints of public sector decision-making.
• Proven experience of developing and challenging business cases, financial appraisals and modelling techniques.
• Demonstrable commercial acumen: ability to evaluate income generation, pricing/charging approaches, commercial delivery models, and contract/value-for-money considerations.
• Advanced analytical capability: able to interpret complex datasets and draw clear financial and commercial conclusions.
• Hands-on modelling and reporting skills (advanced Excel; experience with Power BI and/or similar reporting tools desirable).
• Track record of working independently as a self-starter, owning end-to-end analysis and producing high-quality outputs to deadlines.
• Strong communication and influencing skills with the ability to explain finance to non-finance colleagues and challenge assumptions constructively.
• Demonstrated ability to find, cleanse, reconcile and join data across disconnected systems and 'messy' sources.

Desirable

• Experience supporting a transformation programme (cost reduction, operating model change, service redesign, digital change).
• Experience of working on commercial projects (fees and charges reviews, traded services, cost recovery models, income optimisation).
• Experience of presenting finance sections for governance reports (boards/committees/cabinet-style decision routes).
• Familiarity with local authority finance systems and data environments (ERP/general ledger, purchasing/AP, HR/payroll, contract registers).