West Midlands Combined Authority Hiring for Finance Business Partner Job at Birmingham, England Full Time

Permanent | £54,371 – £61,194 per annum + exclusive benefits

Permanent
Hours of Work: 36.5 per week
Reference number: WMCA00555
Salary: £54,371 – £61,194 per annum
Closes: 2022-02-06T11:59:00

Are you a finance professional looking to step into a true Finance Business Partner position?

As Finance Business Partner, you’ll lead the finance business partner service to a designated Directorate, acting as a trusted advisor and critical friend.

You’ll provide clear, authoritative and impartial professional advice and objective financial analysis to the Directorate, Members, Partners and Stakeholders, as well as colleagues in the Finance Directorate.

This isn’t a transactional role, but is one for those looking to really partner with the your directorate and support future financial planning for the organisation.

What will you be doing?

Lead the principal financial advisory service to your designated Directorate, acting as a trusted adviser to senior stakeholders and providing professional finance services to meet statutory requirements on behalf of the S151 officer
Lead the provision of finance support, advice and challenge to your designated Directorate
Provide value-added services, linking operational data and statistics to financial data to provide meaningful analysis for decision making (e.g. unit costs, cost drivers, benchmarking, KPIs etc.)
Support successful partnership working within the WMCA and with external organisations to deliver outcomes for service users
Provide specialist technical financial expertise and advise on complex business matters
Provide positive leadership to a finance team, managing a performance culture focused

Our Finance & Business Hub provides essential high-quality, responsive, and agile enabling services to the West Midlands Combined Authority and its directorates in areas such as human resources, procurement, commercial investments, assurance and appraisal, financial control and administration, and financial and business planning and performance reporting.

We are a cohesive team of forward thinking, insightful, innovative and high-performing professionals who, through our consultative and business partnering approach, influence, support and coach managers and senior leaders to help them achieve business objectives. By doing so, we help to ensure sound decisions are made and it is in this capacity that we are seen as a respected point of contact within the organisation.

About you

About you

You’ll be a finance professional who has a good understanding of business processes and governance gained through extensive experience of finance planning, controlling and reporting.

Being able to build and maintain effective working relationships with senior stakeholders is key to leading a true business partner function.

We are also looking for

CCAB qualified accountant (or QBE)
Understanding of local government finance and financial systems, including the Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the UK, and understanding of relevant legislative frameworks
Knowledge of finance systems and the development of financial reporting
Extensive experience of providing a high-quality finance service within a tightly constrained financial environment
Broad understanding of service delivery models, concepts and principles, as well as IT and business solutions, gained through business exposure in a diverse range of organisations or services
Evidence of supporting sustained organisational change to deliver effective outcomes for service users
Understanding of political processes and experience of managing politically sensitive matters
Experience of, or ability to acquire, a deep understanding of the business and services offered by the designated Directorate

About us

Our role in the West Midlands has never been more important and in these extraordinary times we’ve shown we can step forward, speak up for our region and bring people together. Everything we do is focused on making life better for people in the West Midlands – that’s our reason for being here and it drives every move we make. We lead and support others to deliver our shared future vision for the region – a happier, healthier, better connected place to live and work.

We fully believe that we are only as great as the people who work for us and are committed to providing a positive, healthy and inclusive working environment where our people feel valued and respected. We’re ambitious, forward thinking and determined to find better ways of working, always leading the way in what we do. We trust and support each other to get the job done, and encourage creativity, originality and curiosity from those who work with us.

We are a “Leaders in Diversity” accredited organisation, are in the Inclusive Top 50 Employers List and are one of The Times Top 50 Employers for Women. As a Disability Confident Employer, we have made a positive commitment to interviewing all applicants with a disability who meet the essential role criteria. We are committed to building a team of people with varied backgrounds and experiences as we recognise that this will only benefit us as an employer, the more inclusive we are the better our work will be, and welcome applications from young people, Black, Asian and ethnic minority groups and women at senior levels.

We’re dedicated to providing a broad range of rewards and benefits and constantly benchmark our benefits packages to ensure they are attractive for all our people. As well as a competitive salary, employees also receive 27 days annual leave (plus public holidays) and access to a great pension scheme.

Furthermore, wherever possible we will offer flexible working options which assist work-life balance. We are very happy to discuss a flexible working pattern that suits your needs, so please do not let that be a barrier to applying. If your values align with ours and you’re committed to working towards creating a future we can all be proud of, we want to hear from you.

About your application

The online Application Form you’ll be asked to complete plays a key part in our recruitment and selection process. We use the information you provide to decide whether to invite you for an interview. It is important that you complete the Application Form as fully and accurately as possible. You will be asked to upload a Supporting Statement (not a CV) and this should include specific examples which demonstrate how you meet the essential criteria for the role for which you are applying.

If you would like to discuss alternative methods to the online application as a reasonable adjustment please contact the Resourcing Team by email ([email protected]).

Location

16 Summer Lane, Birmingham, B91 3SD. Hybrid working conditions are currently in place which means working remotely and coming to the office when required.

Job Type: Permanent