Finance Business Partner – Corporate Hub

UKRI; Swindon; Hybrid; GBP 46,000; Full time

Job description

UK Research and Innovation

Salary: £45,272 per annum.
Hours: Full time or Part time (minimum 30 hours per week)
Contract Type: Open Ended.
Location: Polaris House, Swindon, Wiltshire (Hybrid Working) Min 1 day per week in the office.

Closing Date: 29th April 2025

Purpose of the role

This is an exciting opportunity to be part of the Corporate Hub Finance Business Partnering team which has responsibility for building and creating insights around UKRI Corporate Hub’s operating expenditure (OpEx) to numerous senior stakeholders: UKRI Corporate Hub Operational Leadership Team (OLT), UKRI’s Change Boards and Committees, Corporate Hub SLTs, local budget holders, as well as DSIT and Central UKRI Finance.

This is a high-profile and supportive team, with high expectations, and a real focus on making a difference. A clear desire to seek continuous improvement opportunities and provide an outstanding service to our stakeholders is required by the post holder. The successful candidate will have a well-rounded opportunity to deepen their Finance Partnering skills and increase their overall visibility in the organisation by having the opportunity for regular engagement with some of UKRI’s most senior stakeholders within the Change portfolio, including the Chief Finance Officer.

You will need to build strong relationships with the organisation to ensure that financial information and advice provided is simple, accurate, insightful, forward thinking and enables decision making.

This is a pivotal time to join the team as we support stakeholders to move towards a multi-year budgeting cycle and a new spending review settlement. The post holder will also have an opportunity to support UKRI in changing the way we manage OpEx budgets and the processes we follow.

The post holder will focus primarily on UKRI’s Change budget, where the projects and programmes aim to generate future efficiencies within UKRI. The post holder will have the opportunity to provide financial reporting and FBP support in relation to lifecycle reporting, benefits realisation and UKRI’s Efficiency story.

Key Areas of Accountability

Leadership / teamwork / collaboration

• Build & maintain good working relationships with colleagues & partners across the various Finance functional areas and non-Finance areas, and subsequently provide suitable input and advice in a format targeted to the relevant audience.
• Support Budget Managers and Senior Leadership Teams to effectively manage their budgets through the provision of timely, accurate and complete financial information, advice, and constructive challenge.
• Understand the linkages and dependencies between the different OpEx budget types, actively working with Finance colleagues to ensure that BAU budgets accurately reflect the impact of the change projects upon completion.
• Work with colleagues across UKRI to seek opportunities for improvement, change and efficiency within Finance, strengthening internal controls, financial analysis, and effective management of the Change programmes and promoting a culture of teamwork.
• Be the first point of contact for Change, and deputise for the Head of Finance, when required.
• Provide leadership and support to colleagues within the core Corporate Hub FBP team, particularly the apprentices who rotate in the team annually.

Delivery / programmes / projects / process

• Perform a range of reporting and control functions, positioning Finance to work with the business and link budgets to delivery plans and business cases.
• Help deliver the UKRI budgets change activities, working collaboratively across internal partners and stakeholders to align with the collective targets and deliverables.
• Work with the budget holders to advise on OpEx budgets, delivering financial advice and support on finances during the year for those budget holders.
• Communicate the importance of Finance to partners at all levels, and use strong business awareness to present insightful information and analysis to support effective longer-term decision-making and deliver outcomes in line with UKRI priorities.
• Presentation of written finance papers to senior stakeholders on a regular basis.
• Manage annual and multi-year budget setting and forecasting cycles, including the provision of monthly management accounts and the month end cycle.
• Responsible for leading finance reviews with budget holders providing key management reporting and ensuring the financial results are challenged to ensure accuracy and are fully understood.
• Ensure compliance with internal financial, DSIT and HMG controls within assigned business areas.
• Have a strong understanding of the financial risks, pressures, and opportunities both in year and in future years to ensure effective financial decision-making in these areas.

Other

This job description is intended to provide a broad outline of the main duties and responsibilities only. The post holder will need to be flexible in developing the role in conjunction with their line manager. The post holder may be asked to carry out any other delegated duty or task that is in line with the post.

Essential skills, qualifications & experience

(S) – Assessed at shortlisting
(I) – Assessed at interview
(S&I) – Assessed at both shortlisting and interview

Qualifications:

• Qualified Accountant (ACA/CIMA/ACCA/CIPFA), actively working towards qualification, or equivalent experience (QBE). (S)

Experience & knowledge:

• Strong understanding of accounting and finance and demonstrable experience of working in delivering effective financial management & reporting (S&I)
• Very good IT skills, including good knowledge of Microsoft Office, in particular Excel (I)
• Experience of financial modelling & controls (S&I)
• Demonstrable experience of month and year-end processes - accruals and prepayment calculations, variance analyses etc (S&I)
• Demonstrable experience of working as part of a wider-business, consulting with senior stakeholders, utilising an in-depth understanding of business priorities and effectively working with partners to meet organisational and financial objectives (S&I)
• Experience in provision of high quality written and oral advice suitable for senior level decision makers (S&I)
• Proven experience in the preparation of complex budgets, forecasts and financial plans (S&I)
• Understanding of the role of governance, risk management and assurance in project delivery (I)

Skills & abilities:

• Ability to build relationships with senior partners and influence them with impact and professional credibility
• Strong experience of developing effective working partnerships and offering challenges where necessary to senior decision-making groups
• Line management and leadership skills
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Personal resilience and a confident approach, willing to apply good judgement to solve issues and find solutions independently
• Highly developed team working skills, able to form effective working relationships quickly
• Ability to respond calmly under pressure and to make impartial and well-considered judgments in complex situations
• Good organisational skills, able to manage and prioritise own and others’ workloads and meet deadlines in a very timely manner
• Flexible in nature and able to work on several differing priorities at once

About UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)

UKRI launched in April 2018, UKRI is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).

Our organisation brings together the seven disciplinary research councils, Research England, which is responsible for supporting research and knowledge exchange at higher education institutions in England, and the UK’s innovation agency, Innovate UK. Together we build an independent organisation with a strong voice and vision to ensure the UK maintains its world-leading position in research and innovation. More information can be found at www.ukri.org.

Choosing to come to work at UKRI means that you will have access to a whole host of benefits from a defined benefit pension scheme, excellent holiday entitlement, access to employee shopping/travel discounts and salary sacrifice cycle to work scheme. For more details, visit Benefits of working for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).

The role holder will be required to have the appropriate level of security screening/vetting required for the role. UKRI reserves the right to run or re-run security clearance as required during the course of employment.

How we support EDI in the workforce

At UKRI, we believe that everyone has a right to be treated with dignity and respect, and to be provided with equal opportunities to thrive and succeed in an environment that enables them to do so. We also value diversity of thought and experience within inclusive groups, organisations and the wider community. For further information, please visit ‘How we support EDI in the workforce’.

Disability Confident Employer

As users of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy/ies. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.

How to apply

Online applications only preferred for this role. Please submit a CV and covering letter which clearly outlines how you fulfil the criteria specified along with your motivation for UKRI and the role. Ensure that the job reference number is included in the filename description of each document uploaded. Note that failure to address the above criteria or submit an application without a covering letter may result in the application not being considered. Assessment will only be based upon the content of your submitted covering letter and CV and not the ‘experience’ section of the application.

UKRI seeks to ensure it creates and maintains a system of openness, fairness and inclusion – a collaborative, trusted environment, which is attractive to and accessible to everyone who is interested in developing their career with us.