Finance Business Partner in Twickenham

Working at the RFU means being part of the 'bigger picture' at England Rugby: to be rooted in our purpose, which is to enrich lives, introduce more people to rugby union & develop the sport for future generations. If our purpose resonates with you, and you recognise the value that sport can bring to people's lives, we'd love to work with you.

An opportunity has arisen for a Finance Business Partner to join our Finance team.

The Role

We are looking for a Finance Business Partner to join our Finance Department team. The role provides financial oversight for all the RFU's investment in Rugby, from community programmes and participation initiatives through to professional rugby funding and the investment in building winning England teams. It ensures that plans, forecasts, funding commitments and governance reporting are robust, affordable and aligned to agreed priorities, helping the organisation understand where investment is delivering value and where action is required.

Some key responsibilities include:

• Strategic business partnering and decision support: Own the finance business partnering relationship with designated Executive leads, directors and budget holders, translating financial performance into clear commercial insight, challenge and decision support. Provide strategic financial input into investment appraisals, business cases, funding proposals and scenario modelling, including recommendations on affordability, return, risk and alignment to strategic priorities. Challenge budget holders on spend, value for money, investment priorities and delivery risks, ensuring decisions are supported by clear financial evidence and agreed ownership of actions.
• Financial analysis, planning and reporting: Lead the preparation, review and presentation of monthly management information, rolling forecasts and narrative commentary for designated areas, using analysis and reporting inputs prepared with support from the Management Accountant. Retain accountability for the financial overview, risks, opportunities and recommended actions for designated areas; the Management Accountant provides supporting analysis, reconciliations and underlying financial schedules. Lead annual budgeting and periodic reforecasting for designated areas, ensuring plans are robust, sustainable and aligned to the RFU's overall strategy, with the Management Accountant supporting data preparation, historical trend analysis and cost category tracking.
• Board reporting and panel responsibilities: Prepare, review and present financial information, analysis and commentary for various Boards, committees and senior governance forums as required. Ensure Board and committee reporting is accurate, timely and clearly explains financial performance, risks, opportunities, funding implications and recommended actions. Act as Chair of the Champ Financial Regulation Panel, ensuring financial matters are reviewed with appropriate rigour, independence and governance oversight. This includes oversight of the club Financial Assurance Programme. Coordinate with finance colleagues, the Management Accountant and relevant business stakeholders to ensure supporting information is complete, reconciled and fit for governance review.
• Funding, governance and financial control boundaries: Review and challenge payments, grants and funding commitments to players, clubs and third parties to ensure they are in line with contractual obligations, approved budgets and agreed governance. Lead quarterly reporting of RFU spend against third-party funding requirements, including Sport England or equivalent funders, drawing on transactional reports and reconciliations maintained by the Management Accountant where required. Maintain a clear boundary between Finance Business Partner ownership of financial insight, challenge and recommendations, and Management Accountant ownership of accounting support, reconciliations, journals and month-end evidence.
• Stakeholder engagement: Build trusted relationships with Executive leads, directors, budget holders and finance colleagues, acting as the senior finance contact for designated areas. Communicate financial performance, risks, opportunities and required actions to non-finance stakeholders in a clear, practical and accessible manner. Ensure the business understands ownership of budgets, forecasts, savings plans and financial commitments, escalating material issues where required.
• System and process improvement: Identify and implement improvements to management reporting, forecasting and business partner processes, agreeing any accounting, systems or month-end changes with the Financial Control team and Management Accountant to protect data integrity. Use financial systems and reporting outputs to improve the quality, timeliness and consistency of insight provided to the business. Support improvements that strengthen accountability, reduce manual work and make financial information easier for the business to understand and act upon.
• General: Actively collaborate with colleagues to contribute to the development and delivery of the current strategic, business and operational plans. Act as an ambassador for, and promote the best interests of the RFU, including the promotion of our culture and core values - This Rose Means Everyone: Put The Team First, Shape The Future, Respect Each Other. Undertake other duties as may be required from time to time as are consistent with the responsibilities of the post and the needs of the organisation.

Qualifications, Skills & Experience

The skills and attributes outlined in this description are not exhaustive and we welcome candidates who can bring different relevant experiences to the role.

Essential:

• Qualified accountant (CIMA or ACA), with relevant post-qualification experience in finance business partnering, financial planning and analysis, or a comparable senior finance role.
• Strong experience of leading budgeting, forecasting, monthly management reporting and financial performance analysis, including the ability to identify risks, opportunities and recommended actions.
• Proven ability to provide commercial challenge and strategic decision support to senior stakeholders, including investment appraisal, scenario modelling, affordability assessment and value-for-money analysis.
• Experience preparing clear financial analysis, commentary and recommendations for Executive leads, Boards, committees or equivalent senior governance forums.
• Ability to build trusted relationships with senior non-finance stakeholders, communicate complex financial information clearly, and influence budget ownership, prioritisation and accountability.
• Experience reviewing funding, grants, payments or financial commitments against budgets, agreements, governance requirements and control expectations.
• Advanced financial modelling, data analysis and reporting skills, with the ability to improve the quality, consistency and timeliness of management information.
• Ability to demonstrate a collaborative and partnered approach to working, with a commitment to actively contributing to and building an inclusive culture through day-to-day behaviours.
• Committed to embodying the ethos our culture by using our three core values - Put The Team First, Shape The Future, Respect Each Other - to guide your day-to-day decisions, actions and interactions.
• Committed to actively contributing and building an inclusive culture in your role and day to day behaviours.

Desirable:

• Proven skill of MS PowerPoint.
• Exceptional and proven level of MS Excel skills.
• Some experience on ROI would be advantageous.
• Systems experience on Oracle would be advantageous.
• Experience working in a finance role in the sports industry would be advantageous.

Additional Information

We want you to have every opportunity to demonstrate your skills, ability and potential. If there is anything we could do to support you through your application or to provide the best environment for your interviews, including assistance or adjustment, please reach out to recruitment@rfu.com.

About Us

About England Rugby England Rugby or Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby in England. We deliver three core activities, and our purpose is to enrich lives, introduce more people to rugby union and develop the sport for future generations. Our core activities are Rugby - supporting rugby from grassroots to performance level, Commercial - building partnerships and hosting matches and events, Running the business - ensuring our organization and people can thrive.

Our Culture At England Rugby, one of our core objectives is to drive rugby union to better reflect the diversity of society. We are aware that rugby, and sports in general, has not always been as welcoming an environment for everyone as we would like, and we are working hard to make rugby a more inclusive space for all identities. We believe hiring people from underrepresented groups into positions at all levels is vital to creating spaces and initiatives that better support those identities. We would love to see applications from disabled people, LGBTQIA+ people, people from ethnically diverse communities, people of faith, people from lower socio-economic backgrounds, and women and non-binary people. We know that representation is more than just getting people through the door, it's about keeping people by responding to structural barriers relating to identities and valuing the insights that different lived experiences bring. We have network groups that provide peer-to-peer support and drive forward change internally. We support colleagues to develop, and each colleague has access to a personal coaching platform that can provide same-day one-to-one coaching. We are pushing ourselves to create a more inclusive culture every day through role modelling our culture and core values; This Rose Means Everyone: Put The Team First, Shape The Future, Respect Each Other. We know that flexible working is important to our colleagues, so our guiding principles are designed to support everyone to work in the way that suits them, their teams, and the organisation in the best way.

What we can offer you We are proud of the range of benefits we can provide: A variety of corporate discounts, Priority access to purchase match tickets, 25% discount in Rugby Store and EnglandRugby.com, 25 days of annual leave, Your birthday day off, Free access to the stadium gym, Life assurance of 4x your basic salary, income protection scheme and Employee Assistance Programme that offers anonymous and confidential, emotional and practical support 24/7, Pension Scheme; the RFU will double match your individual contribution up to 10% of salary, Ride-to-work scheme, eyecare vouchers, season ticket loans and so much more.