Finance Business Partner - Professional Services & Cross Cutting in Sheffield

The University of Sheffield’s Department of Finance develops and implements dynamic financial strategies to support the University’s aims while maintaining sound financial oversight. We are recruiting a Finance Business Partner in Professional Services & Cross‑Cutting Finance to work closely with research and innovation colleagues, providing pragmatic advice to optimise funding and reporting.

Main duties and responsibilities:

• Work with RPI leadership to monitor, manage and forecast a portfolio of internal and external funds.
• Prepare accurate income and expenditure forecasts on a monthly and quarterly basis, analysing variances against budget/forecast and recommending actions or mitigation.
• Collaborate with the Internal KE Funding Manager in RPI and academic leadership to ensure oversight, governance and operational delivery of available funding (including HEIF, Impact Acceleration Accounts, ring‑fenced elements of other grants).
• Develop a strong understanding of the terms of available funding and how to deploy it to achieve the University’s strategic goals.
• Lead on financial reporting and dissemination to academic awardees, schools, RPI and other finance colleagues.
• Attend and contribute to relevant committees, panels and meetings, taking the lead on finance reporting and recommendations for future action or change.
• Attend funding panels to develop an understanding of academic aims and objectives and advise on financial risks and opportunities.
• Ensure a streamlined and efficient system for setting up and monitoring approved projects, notifying recipients of awards and responding to queries or issues.
• Work with the Internal KE Funding Manager in RPI to ensure awardees receive clear information about expected timelines, outputs and deliverables.
• Consider process and operations proactively, refining them constantly to maintain the lightest possible touch approach while allowing RPI colleagues to evaluate the impact of awarded funds.
• Maintain professional working relationships with recipients of funding to monitor project progress and spend, identifying and resolving problems or delays early and recommending remedial action as required.
• Regularly forecast available funds and report via RPI to academic leadership.
• Prepare reports for funders annually and at the end of each cycle, ensuring policy and operational changes align with funder expectations.
• Prepare monthly and year‑end reconciliations, including reserves and provisions; coordinate year‑end procedures across departments.
• Line‑manage at least one staff member and support the Finance Manager with workload allocation across the team, ensuring objectives and deadlines are met and productivity is optimised.
• Carry out other duties commensurate with the grade and remit of the post.

Person Specification:

• Demonstrate sound working knowledge of the key principles of financial management; skills and experience in financial forecasting, budget monitoring and control, and month‑end routines. (Essential – Application/interview)
• Qualified or part‑qualified accountant (CIMA, ACCA or other equivalent qualification), e.g., part‑qualified CIMA – Operational level completed. (Essential – Application/interview)
• Evidence of working collaboratively as part of a team, considering the impact of your working style on others. (Essential – Application/interview)
• Evidence of strategic thinking to optimise available funding. (Essential – Application/interview)
• Evidence of commitment to continuous improvement across a range of processes. (Essential – Application/interview)
• Proactive with the ability to work to multiple deadlines, organising team resources and prioritising workloads. (Essential – Application/interview)
• Evidence of forming and maintaining good professional working relationships and facilitating collaborative working with colleagues across different functional areas, demonstrating curiosity and consideration for others. (Essential – Application/interview)
• Proven ability to communicate complex financial information to a non‑financial audience, including producing high‑quality financial reports. (Essential – Application/interview)
• Excellent IT skills, particularly with Microsoft Excel, and experience using finance systems and reporting solutions in an operational environment. (Essential – Application/interview)
• An awareness and interest in issues facing the Higher Education sector and experience in managing funding from external bodies. (Desirable – Application/interview)

Benefits:

• A minimum of 41 days annual leave (including bank holidays and closure days) with the ability to purchase additional days.
• Flexible working opportunities, including hybrid working for some roles.
• Generous pension scheme.
• A wide range of discounts and rewards on shopping, eating out and travel.
• A variety of staff networks providing opportunities for social interaction, peer support and personal development (e.g., Race Equality, LGBT+, Women’s and Parent’s networks).
• Recognition Awards to reward staff who go above and beyond in their role.
• Commitment to your development with access to learning and mentoring schemes integrated with the Professional Services Shared Skills Framework.
• A range of generous family‑friendly policies:
• Paid time off for parenting and caring emergencies.
• Access to menopause support in the workplace.
• Paid time off and support for fertility treatment.
• And more.

We are a Disability Confident Leader. If you have a disability and meet the essential criteria for this job you will be invited to participate in the next stage of the selection process.