Finance Business Partner

Norton Rose Fulbright; Newcastle upon Tyne; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 75,000

Job description

Practice Group / Department:
Finance Business Partnering

Job Description

We're Norton Rose Fulbright - a global law firm with over 50 offices and 7,000 employees worldwide. We provide the world's preeminent corporations and financial institutions with a full business law service. At Norton Rose Fulbright, our strategy and our culture are closely entwined. We know that our expansion will mean little unless it is underpinned by truly global collaboration and we understand that pioneering work only takes place when our people have room to move and think beyond boundaries. As well as the relevant skills and experience, we're looking for people who are innovative, commercial and value the work that they do.

The role provides the opportunity to continue the development of finance business partnering in Norton Rose Fulbright LLP (NRF) through commercially driven finance support to the IT Function.

Reporting to the Senior Finance Business Partner - Business Services, and working in a small team of three (Senior Finance Business Partner, Finance Business Partner and Finance Analyst), the role supports the Chief Information Officer (CIO) in driving financial performance, supporting strategic decision-making, and ensuring effective financial management within NRF's IT function. This position requires a strategic thinker with strong analytical skills, excellent communication abilities, and a deep understanding of both finance and IT.

The Role

Key responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Collaboration with the CIO and IT leadership to understand their goals, challenges, and opportunities. Acts as a trusted advisor, providing financial expertise and guidance to achieve IT's financial objectives. In doing so build strong relationships with key stakeholders and effectively communicate financial information and insights to non-financial stakeholders.
• Leading the annual budget process for IT. In doing so the role will be responsible for:
  • Coordinating a forecast for the current year which forms the baseline against which the budget will be primarily assessed.
  • Coordinating inputs and budget assumptions from UK and EMEA teams in line with the budget timetable.
  • Providing challenge and rigour in the development of annual budgets, as well as project plans.
  • Management of the budget in the financial planning and reporting system.
  • Preparation of budget presentation templates and budget presentations, as well as supporting Budget Holders presenting budgets.
• Developing and improving monthly management reporting for the monitoring of performance against budget, including formal monthly reviews with the CIO and applicable IT Budget Holders. (Key reporting objectives include timely information and more insightful analysis).
• With a strong mandate from the CIO, drive financial accountability for Budget Holders to manage costs to budget, ensure value for money and identify any remedial actions to support budget delivery.
• Support IT Budget Holders in the development of business cases and other financial information that improve IT service delivery, addresses IT risks and/or delivers IT cost efficiencies. In doing so provide the finance "sign off" on financials presented as part of the business case.
• Establishing and maintaining robust financial procedures that support financial control objectives. Help drive commercial performance, identifying opportunities for cost efficiencies for the functions supported.
• Support the evaluation and prioritisation of IT projects. Conduct financial analysis and provide recommendations on investment opportunities, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives and return on investment (ROI). {Note activity will not initially be part of the role but is expected to be transferred to the role after 6 months}.

Key Internal Stakeholders

• CIO. The role supports the CIO and this is the key stakeholder for the role.
• IT Leadership team and IT budget Holder.
• Financial Controller and the Accounting team. The Financial Controller and team are responsible for UK accounting as well as a coordination role across EMEA. Accordingly, the role will work closely with the Financial Controller and the Accounting team to ensure accurate monthly reporting.
• People & Culture (HR) Business Partner. Working collaboratively with People & Culture Business Partners to support workforce planning for the IT.

Skills and Experience

The individual should:

• Enjoy working independently, taking full ownership of deliverables.
• Be self-motivated and self-disciplined, passionate about meeting deadlines and providing commercial insight.
• Have excellent communication and influencing skills.
• Be a good problem solver, methodical in approach and have an "eye for detail".

Experience for the role:

• Qualified accountant (essential).
• Previously held finance business partnering roles in large international organisations (essential), must know what good finance business partnering looks like (essential).
• Proven track record of managing to deadlines and delivering commercially driven financial insights (essential).
• Working in finance within an IT function or in finance in an organisation providing IT services (preferred).
• Working within a large legal or other professional services organisation (beneficial).
• Working with Tagetik or other leading enterprise performance management systems, and extracting value from that system (beneficial).

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

To attract the best people, we strive to create a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone can bring their whole selves to work, have a sense of belonging, and realize their full career potential. Our new enabled work model allows our people to have more flexibility in the way they choose to work from both the office and a remote location, while continuing to deliver the highest standards of service. We offer a range of family friendly and inclusive employment policies and provide access to programmes and services aimed at nurturing our people's health and overall wellbeing. Find more about Diversity, Equity and Inclusion here.

We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing teams. We strive to create an inclusive and accessible recruitment process for all candidates. If you require any tailored adjustments or accommodations, please let us know here.