Lead Finance Business Partner

• Reporting to the FP&A Director, this role is a senior finance partner to business leadership, responsible for driving financial planning, performance management and enabling commercial decision-making across our EMEA MCT (Marketing, Consulting and Technology) capability, while also supporting and helping to co-ordinate the wider Global MCT finance agenda
• We’re looking for an experienced, hands on, commercially minded finance leader who thrives in a fast-paced, evolving environment. They will bring strong ownership and judgement, confidently supporting, challenging and influencing senior stakeholders to drive profitable growth, anticipate risks and opportunities, and translate complex financial and operational information into clear insight and action. They will continually raise the quality of planning, forecasting and reporting while driving improvements in processes and ways of working
• As a key member of the FP&A leadership team, you will lead and develop a small team while playing an active leadership role across the wider FP&A team. You will create clarity and accountability, align priorities to business and Finance goals, and lead by example to foster a collaborative, high-performing culture focused on commercial insight and continuous improvement
• Act as a trusted finance partner to senior business leaders, providing commercial insight, constructive challenge and clear recommendations to support decision-making
• Lead and support budgeting, forecasting and longer-term planning, translating business strategy and operational plans into robust financial plans and targets
• Identify risks and opportunities early, assess their potential impact and work with leadership to determine their validity and appropriate actions
• Improve forecasting accuracy and visibility through stronger assumptions, engagement and alignment with business stakeholders and flexibility of scenario analysis where relevant
• Support cash forecasting and working capital performance where relevant
• Deliver accurate management reporting, ensuring leadership has timely, and decision-useful visibility of business performance which is also aligned at a group level
• Translate complex financial and operational data into clear commercial insight, highlighting the key drivers behind performance
• Provide meaningful analysis of actuals, forecasts and variances, identifying trends, risks and opportunities and recommending appropriate actions
• Develop reporting that provides greater visibility of revenue, margin and profitability across relevant dimensions such as clients, projects, segments or product level
• Drive improvements in planning and forecasting processes, reducing manual activity and increasing consistency, accuracy and accountability
• Lead or contribute to finance transformation initiatives, working across Finance and the wider business to embed sustainable improvements
• Champion effective use of data, technology and automation (including the use of AI) to improve financial analysis and reporting
• Foster a continuous-improvement mindset, challenging existing ways of working and identifying opportunities to simplify and strengthen finance operations
• Build strong, trusted relationships across Finance and the wider business, creating alignment around priorities, performance and financial outcomes
• Work effectively across functions, teams and regions to resolve issues, improve ways of working and deliver shared objectives
• Lead, coach and develop team members, setting clear expectations and creating opportunities for growth and increased ownership
• Contribute to a high-performance culture centred on commercial insight, accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement

Benefits

• Renowned Team Days often throughout the year
• Discretionary Bonus based on company performance
• Performance Reviews every 6 months with discretionary salary increases
• Summer Away Days
• 23 standard days of holiday (+ 1 Birthday, +2 for a ‘Big Life Event’ and +1 Admin Day), closure of office over Christmas (plus Bank Holidays)
• Private healthcare (Vitality) and/or Health Care Plan (Medicash)
• Mobile phone contribution
• Sport Challenge contribution
• Gym membership contribution
• 2x annual kit drops
• Tickets to sporting events
• Lunch once a week, breakfast and continuous supply of snacks
• Private healthcare schemes
• Learning and Development opportunities, including certification in certain areas
• Cycle to work scheme

Continuous improvement mindsetSignificant experience in forecasting and budgeting cycles with ability to identify and then act on improvement to processes and outcomesDirect line management experience resulting in high performanceA proactive, hands-on approach with a willingness to roll up your sleeves and take ownershipStrong, confident communicator, with a proven track record of being able to influence senior stakeholdersAbility to work at pace and be flexible in approach to still deliver results in an entrepreneurial/high growth company environmentStrong understanding of financial management & business processesQualified accountant (CIMA/ACCA/ACA) with 8+ years relevant financial experience gained in in FP&A and/or commercial finance rolesExperience working for a SMEExperience in a people-led agency environmentExperience in sports or a related entertainment industryExperience working for global businessExperience working with revenue pipelines through CRM tools such as SalesforceComfortable with a change environment and driving automation and process changePersonal empathy with sportsExperience using a financial planning system (such as Planful, Anaplan)

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