Finance Business Partner - AASC

Location: Warrington/Hybrid (2-3 days / week on site)
Full Time, Permanent
£85,000 - £95,000 per annum plus benefits
Company Car/ Allowance + Bonus

Here at Serco, we are seeking a Finance Business Partner for our AASC contract. The Asylum Accommodation & Support Services Contract (AASC) is the largest contract within Serco Group, with an annual turnover of approximately £700m over the past two years. This high-profile role operates in a dynamic environment, providing accommodation and associated services for asylum seekers on behalf of the Home Office.

The Finance Business Partner (FBP) is primarily responsible for the financial performance, reporting, and forecasting of the AASC contract. The FBP is deeply involved in month-end close and forecasting due to the contract's complexity and volatility, requiring frequent modelling of multiple scenarios. This high-profile role involves challenging assumptions, influencing decisions, and recommending efficiency improvements to enhance shareholder value and sustain growth.

The FBP supports Serco business leaders in delivering profitable and sustainable growth, providing dedicated, commercial, and financial decision support aligned with strategic and customer priorities.

The role reports to the Senior Finance Business Partner for the AASC contract and works alongside the AASC Financial Controller, FBP for Contingent Hotels, and FBP for Property. The role includes managing two direct reports, who are Management Accountants responsible for the NW and MEE regions. The FBP will also have a strong relationship with the Contract Director and Senior Management Team supporting AASC and will be a key member of the wider Justice & Immigration (J&I) finance team.

As part of this you will:

1. Provide commercial and financial decision support to business leaders, optimizing contract/service pricing, cash, and margin by understanding the customer landscape and their drivers.
2. Ensure accuracy of financial records and compliance, managing monthly reporting, financial plans, budgets, and forecasts, while guiding contract/service performance through ROI analysis, scenario planning, KPI analysis, and benchmarking.
3. Support new business decisions by collaborating with Pricing and Deal Architecture and Legal teams and develop customer relationships to contribute to commercial and financial negotiations.
4. Deliver contractual obligations by identifying over and under delivery, performing root cause analysis, making recommendations, driving cost optimization projects, and proactively managing financial and commercial risks.

What you’ll need to do the role:

1. An appropriate professional qualification for the role (e.g. ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent) and be a current member of that professional body. Track record of collaborating with business leaders in a complex business environment.
2. Experience of adding value in a commercially orientated bidding and contracting environment.
3. Significant financial modelling / forecasting experience and ability to lead the team on modelling best practice.
4. Evidence of ability to influence, negotiate, listen to and resolve conflicts with KEY decision makers.
5. Ability to highlight problems, offer innovative and practical solutions, and drive through their execution.
6. Strong commercial acumen, as well as a strong understanding of the relationships between key financial and non-financial business value drivers.
7. Ability to interpret and deal with incomplete data; and the capability to exercise judgement where there is ambiguity.
8. Evidence of building and maintaining strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
9. Evidence of building trust with a team; and experience of having worked successfully in a virtual team.
10. You are adaptable, energetic and a continuous learner, and can demonstrate diligence, integrity and personal gravitas.

What we offer:

1. Private medical insurance.
2. 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays.
3. Annual leave purchase scheme.
4. Up to 6% contributory pension scheme.
5. Flexible working options.
6. A Serco benefits portal offering a wide range of discounts for major high street brands in Retail, Leisure & Hospitality.
7. A range of benefits to support the health and wellbeing of you and your family such as Employee Assistance Programme, Health Cash Plans, free flu jabs and more.
8. A wealth of career development training to suit your future aspirations. These range from role specific training, leadership coaching, formal study and much more to support you to build your career with Serco.
9. A safe and supportive culture.
10. A company passionate about diversity and inclusion.

About Serco
At Serco, not only is the nature of the work we do important, everyone has an important role to play, from caring for vulnerable people to managing complex public services. We are a team of 50,000 people responsible for delivering essential public services around the world in areas including defence, transport, justice, immigration, healthcare and citizen services. We are innovators, committed to redesigning and improving public services for the benefit of everyone.

Apply
Please click on the apply button to complete your application. Occasionally we receive a large volume of applications for our roles and when that happens we sometimes bring the closing date forward, so please apply promptly to avoid disappointment.

At Serco, we see people first and foremost for their performance and potential. We are committed to building a diverse and inclusive organisation that supports the needs of all. As such we will make reasonable adjustments at interview through to employment for our candidates and strongly encourage applications from a diverse candidate pool. We are open to discussions around flexibility and flexible working. We operate a hybrid work structure in many of our business areas. We are proudly Disability Confident Leaders and holder of the Gold Inclusive Employer Standard. Disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job will be given the opportunity to demonstrate their abilities at an interview. For help with your application please contact 0345 010 4000.