Finance Team Structure
Job purpose
The Finance Business Partner is an essential part of a high-performing customer-focussed Finance Business Partnering team. The role supports the Head of Finance Business Partnering with all aspects of business planning and reporting for Sport England, ensuring the highest quality with an efficient process. As part of this, the role ensures compliance with a robust system of internal financial controls and Sport England’s requirements for managing public money.
Through the preparation of monthly reporting, insightful analysis, financial modelling and the provision of budgetary advice they enable effective decision making, with a strong understanding of implications on financial impact, most effective use of resources and corporate strategic objectives. There are two roles at this level working in partnership, collaborating, and providing coverage for all aspects of the team to ensure a holistic view on all financial aspects of their areas of responsibility.
Finance is a core and complex function within Sport England with multiple income streams, dual accounting treatment, management of public money complexity and subsidiary entities. The role will embrace the complexity enabling the business to meet its strategic objectives.
Dimensions
Direct Reports: Finance Analyst
Key Stakeholders: Executive Directors, senior managers and budget holders, Finance team, NAO
Key Duties and responsibilities
Leadership & Management
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Manage and develop a direct report (Finance Analyst) through effective performance management, feedback and coaching ensuring they are accountable for their work and actions which successfully deliver their objectives to a high-quality standard.
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Drive the continuous improvement of end-to-end processes to secure efficiency and effectiveness and which builds a customer focussed, committed and high-performing team.
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With the support of the Head of Finance Business Partnering, provide a customer focused business partnering service ensuring that the appropriate financial planning, management, and accountability exists within the organisation.
Business Planning and Reporting
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Provide high quality and accurate holistic management reporting and analytics including KPIs and dashboards to Executive Directors and budget holders.
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Support the Head of Finance Business Partnering in the annual budget (circa £300million) setting process as well as monthly forecasts, providing guidance and scrutiny to ensure alignment with the organisation’s strategy and business plans.
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Ensure that all activity is subject to rigorous budgetary monitoring. Enabling decision-makers to be confident in the financial information they receive and understand the business drivers underpinning the figures.
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Review and reporting of complex and business critical cash flow models for both Lottery and Exchequer funding streams ensuring highest standards of integrity and control.
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Management, reporting and analysis of the organisation’s staff costs model, ensuring it accurately reflects organisational structure, cost base, and recruitment pipeline.
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With the support of the Head of Finance Business Partnering, provide financial advice and guidance to Executive Directors and senior managers ensuring that there is appropriate financial scrutiny and challenge to medium- and short-term financial plans and decisions.
Due Diligence
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Provide financial support, advice and challenge on investment business cases and recommendations (procurement and grants), ensuring that they meet the organisations strategy, that financial impact is fully considered, the appropriate funding is available and are approved appropriately.
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Perform due diligence on new and existing award programmes and other large contracts ensuring value for money and alignment with strategic objectives.
Financial Policy and Controls
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Provide training and support on budgets, financial processes, and controls.
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Ensure that the organisation operates at the highest standards of propriety, integrity and control and understands the ramifications of not maintaining those standards.
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Oversee the development, collation and promotion of best practice guidance and toolkits to support adherence to finance policies across the organisation.
Ad Hoc
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Work flexibly to carry out any other duties, including organisational wide projects as required, that are within the colleague’s skills and abilities whenever reasonably required.
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Follow Sport England’s policies and procedures in relation to other matters e.g., Health & Safety, Procurement and Financial control.
Person Specification
The additional skills, knowledge and experience required.
Essential
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ACA/CIMA/CIPFA/ACCA professional qualified accountant.
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Proven ability to work collaboratively with team members, colleagues and senior managers within a business partnering function.
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Excellent business partnering skills in a complex environment ideally in the public sector.
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A proven ability to communicate strongly (written, verbal and graphics) and present complex messages to Executives.
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Proven analytical skills in seeing different perspectives of a problem, producing useful information, and making recommendations. Including the use of a range of finance metrics and systems to set, monitor and analyse financial performance.
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Ability to critically appraise processes and reports and proactively identify improvements.
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Eye for detail and willing to take ownership for the quality and accuracy of information presented.
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High proficiency in Excel
Desirable
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Experience of Oracle Netsuite.
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order 1975). It will be necessary for a Disclosure to be made to the Criminal Records Bureau for details of any previous criminal convictions.
