Finance Business Partner COO Directorate

Finance Business Partner COO Directorate

Company Description/ Business Unit
Job Title: Finance Business Partner COO Directorate
Location: Basingstoke - Hybrid 2 / 3 Days per week
Employment Type: 12 Month FTC - Maternity Cover
Grade: L6

AA Summary
The AA is one of the UK's most well-known and trusted brands. We provide a range of services to millions of customers, from roadside assistance, financial services to insurance and driving lessons. Our mission is to help keep Britain moving, and we're looking for dedicated individuals to join our team. Ready to level up your internal career?

This is the job
Reporting directly to the Head of Finance, COO this position is crucial for the financial planning and management of our recently expanded department. You'll provide essential decision support and strategic planning with key stakeholders, driving the COO function to the forefront of the AA's Transformation capability. Your expertise will be instrumental in managing the accounting process, producing insightful management accounts, and delivering accurate MI to the COO. You'll ensure forecasts are both precise and attainable, challenging directors to meet financial targets and providing timely, relevant reports to guide the COO Leadership team.

In addition to financial planning, your role will involve supporting and challenging directors in their respective areas to optimise resource allocation and achieve organisational goals. If you're ready to make a significant impact and help shape the future of our COO Directorate, we want to hear from you!

What will I be doing?

• Responsible for financial decision making in the COO area, ensuring an even split between resourcing projects/changes and managing staff/non-staff costs. Collaborate with directors to plan, make decisions, and understand the impact on the total COO P&L.
• Support the Finance Director of the COO Directorate with regular and ad-hoc decision support requests, including financial modeling and other accounting tasks. Provide detailed financial analysis and insights to aid in decision-making processes.
• Prepare and consolidate month-end management accounts for the COO Function, including CIO, CDO, CDCO, CMO Procurement, and COO Central. Create accounts necessary to support the Finance Director with a comprehensive view of financial performance and the latest financial plans.
• Create monthly Management Information (MI) reports and review them with COO function directors. Report and explain monthly division results to directors, partner with them to achieve financial targets, and integrate findings into ongoing decision support and planning processes.
• Develop insightful reporting through a process of innovation and continuous improvement. Ensure that the reporting is trusted and valued by the business, building confidence and trust among COO division directors.
• Manage all resource postings into the SAP accounting system for capex and COO opex. Understand, model, and communicate the COO "Supply view" of resources outside of finance, providing valuable insights for resource planning and allocation.
• Interface with the CPMO and Investment Finance team to calculate and provide resource cost forecasts, feeding into the capex planning process. Serve as the source of the "Supply view" of resources for the Transformation function, enabling effective project planning and resource allocation across the AA Group.
• Own the accounting process for Internal Labour Capitalisation, including day rates calculation and communication. Ensure accurate and consistent charging of internal resource costs to all AA projects, maintaining transparency and accountability.
• Track and challenge divisional directors' opex initiatives within the COO opex, such as departmental restructurings and third-party cost savings. Ensure that the plans deliver the intended benefits and hold instigators accountable for their implementation and outcomes.
• Ensure that Balanced Score Card KPIs are uploaded as required into the BPC system, gaining appropriate input from the COO Finance team. Monitor and report on the performance of COO KPIs, providing insights and recommendations to the GEC.
• Perform miscellaneous accounting duties, including the upload of budget and forecast data to the BPC system. Manage month-end processes, ensuring the accuracy and completeness of financial data. Conduct financial modeling and analysis to support strategic decision-making and planning. Convert accounting capex spend to cash capex spend, providing accurate and timely financial information.

What do I need?

• Qualified accountant (ACCA/CIMA/ACA) with at least 3 years' experience gained in similar working environment
• Highly numerate with good communication skills, both verbal and written with strong report writing skills
• Experienced stakeholder engagement / management of Directors
• Experience of working with IT Finance systems (e.g. SAP, BCP)
• Strong excel modelling skills, with a drive to automate / systemise processes
• Initiative to find solutions and improve ways of working - research external best practice and bring new ideas
• Able to work unsupervised and outside defined scope of the role
• Highly accurate, thorough and reliable
• Proactive in dealing with problems, people and tasks
• Self-motivated, highly organised and methodical with attention to detail.
• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Enthusiastic and personable
• Able to meet tight deadlines and deal with the prioritisation of conflicting requirements
• Competency using PowerBI (Desirable)

Additional information
If you're interested and need further details, feel free to reach out to the Talent Acquisition Specialist, Daisy West or the Hiring Manager, Stephen Brewer. They can provide additional information and answer any questions you may have.
Don't miss this opportunity to advance your career! Apply today and become a valuable part of our success story.