Finance Business Partner

Reporting to the Financial Performance Manager, this role is responsible for acting as a strategic financial business partner to the senior management team. This role will be both responsible and accountable for providing insightful financial information, advice and guidance to guide decision making, drive efficiency and mitigate risk across all project activities. This role will collaborate with and influence senior managers and cross-functional teams through robust professional advice and guidance to deliver operational and financial efficiencies through strategic initiatives and new ways of working. This ensures the organisation can manage its costs effectively whilst improving efficiency in a complex and evolving industry.

Main Responsibilities

• Lead strategic financial planning, budgeting and forecasting processes to align with corporate objectives, internal controls, and compliance with all regulatory standards.
• Provide strategic financial analysis with commentary insights to influence key business decisions, enhance operational efficiency, and optimise performance across the organisation.
• Define, track and analyse financial key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics, supporting insights that drive accountability and continuous improvement.
• Drive value creation by providing expert financial and commercial support during contract negotiations and the execution of commercial strategies.
• Develop and present dynamic financial templates with forecast scenario based analysis to help the business prepare for various potential outcomes and navigate uncertainty.
• Conduct rigorous feasibility studies to evaluate and inform the adoption of new finance and operational processes, ensuring they deliver measurable returns.
• Lead and champion key business transformation initiatives, including digital and automation projects, to enhance reporting capabilities and operational efficiency.
• Act as a trusted financial advisor to senior management and cross-functional teams, translating complex financial data into actionable business insights.
• Ensure the integrity of financial data and systems by maintaining a robust internal controls framework and ensuring strict compliance with all regulatory and accounting standards.
• Proactively collaborate with internal and external auditors to manage and mitigate financial risks, ensuring transparency and accuracy in all financial reporting.
• Help motivate a high-performing finance team, fostering a culture of innovation, continuous improvement, and professional growth.
• Mentor and support junior members of the management accounting team, empowering them to adapt existing processes to optimise and drive productive business discussions within the senior management team.
• Elevate the organisation's financial acumen by designing and delivering targeted training programs.

You’ll Need:

• Fully qualified accounting qualification (CIMA, ACCA, ACA).
• The ability to review complex financial data, conduct in-depth variance analysis, and leverage expertise in tools like Workday Finance and advanced Excel.
• A deep intellectual curiosity to understand business operations, commercial drivers and market dynamics – and the ability to translate that into understandable actions for your customer group – enabling you to directly link financial data to strategically beneficial business outcomes.
• The ability to anticipate future challenges and opportunities and develop a proactive, solutions oriented mindset to solve complex problems and navigate ambiguity whilst ensuring your client group is kept informed, involved and supported in their work.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills to present complex financial information with authority and confidence.
• Proven ability to build strong relationships, influence key stakeholders, and negotiate effectively without direct authority, acting as a trusted advisor to the business.
• Championing Lean and Six Sigma methodologies to help identify and implement process improvements that drive efficiency and reduce waste.
• The proven ability to support the delivery of complex projects, including finance transformation, process improvement initiatives, and system implementations, by driving change and managing cross-functional teams.
• Extensive and demonstrably successful experience in a strategic finance business partner role, driving key business decisions and influencing return on investment outcomes.
• Expertise in leading and managing end-to-end financial planning cycles, including long-range strategic planning, annual budgeting, and rolling forecasts.
• Proven experience of leading and delivering cross-functional projects, ideally with exposure to capital projects, to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
• Proven ability to develop and inspire a team of finance professionals and foster a high-performance culture.

We know the communities we serve are diverse. We recognise creativity comes from diversity not similarity. That’s why we are enthusiastic about creating inclusion across age, race, gender, ethnicity, religion and identity. You will experience our dedication to equal opportunities and fair treatment for all through your recruitment, employment and career progression with South East Water.

Benefits package:

• Excellent Stakeholder pension scheme, up to 10% employer contribution.
• 5 weeks holiday plus bank holidays per annum, increasing to 6 weeks with length of service.
• Flexible annual leave policy to buy or sell holiday leave.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Health cash plan.
• Life assurance.
• Wellbeing related benefits.