As a Finance Business Partner, you will support the Heidelberg Site Operations Teams and the COO & HQ functions. You will be a key member of the Planning & Analysis Team within Finance, responsible for providing budgeting, forecasting, and analysis support.
Main Duties and Responsibilities
You will report to the Senior Financial Analysis and Controlling Specialist within the Finance team who will be your line manager.
Teams supported as a Finance Business Partner

You will provide financial support to the following key budget holders together with their teams:

• The Head of Operations & Administration, Heidelberg– including Facilities Management, Kinderhouse, Food Services, Hotel and guest houses, Transport and reception.
• The COO – including HR, Legal, Finance, Health and Safety etc.
• The Director General for HQ funciton teams – including Coucil Secretariat, Strategy, Communications, External Relations etc.

Budgeting and Forecasting.
Working within the parameters of allocated ‘top down’ budgets, you will be responsible for tracking expenditure with budget holders, drafting budget changes and highlighting requirements with budget holders within teams for review with the senior section / unit budget holders. The role will be responsible for preparing budgets for timely upload into the into the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system keeping any changes and amendments up to date after appropriate approval and sign-off.
The post-holder will be expected to lead the preparation of periodic reforecasts of income and expenditure in line with the financial calendar and in consultation with team budget holders and senior section/unit leaders. You will collaborate closely with cross-functional teams, including non-finance experts, to ensure clear communication and effective understanding of financial concepts and data. This may also include explaining to non-financial staff about financial policy rules and regulations, the broader financial control environment and acting as a custodian of the budget setting, approval and monitoring process.
Financial Reporting and Analysis
This role will be responsible for reporting to overall budget owners on a periodic basis on variances to budgets, both on an actuals and forecast basis. You will also feed this information back to Finance for the purposes of organizational alignment, site or EMBL reporting.
You will support budget holders with financial analysis and modelling on an ad hoc basis to aid effective management decision-making and planning.
Financial system hierarchy maintenance.
A core element of this role will be to keep the cost centre hierarchy aligned with reporting requirements and to request the opening and closure of cost centres as required. You will update and keep structures aligned with the requirements and outcomes of the “Financial Management Information for budget holders and decision-makers” review.
Finance budgeting, modelling and analysis requirements
You will work with the responsible Finance teams centrally to input into the high-level budget planning process as required for short to mid-term high-level budget monitoring, longer-term planning for the Indicative Scheme (5-year EMBL wide budget setting process supporting the research programme) and other financial models as needed.
Supporting the introduction of a new financial Enterprises Resource Planning (ERP ) system.
The transition from SAP to Workday will significantly impact and improve our budgeting, forecasting, and reporting processes. This role will play an important part in supporting Finance and budget holders with the rollout and changeover to Workday as directed by the overall Workday deployment team. This will involve providing input on the specific requirements of the teams you support, ensuring that the Workday configuration aligns with their needs. You may be involved in roll-out training for the teams you represent in support of the Implementation team. You will also be involved in post-implementation reporting activities.
Supporting projects, Continuous Improvement initiatives and troubleshooting issues.
Finance is from time to time impacted by the implementation of new or updated policies, processes and systems. This role will contribute to the successful implementation of new or updated finance policies, processes and systems, acting as a subject matter expert and actively participating in the implementation process on matters that impact the finance, reporting and financial control environment. The role will liaise with teams from across the organisation to ensure practical solutions to financial-related requirements and problems are developed and implemented as the needs of the research, service and administration team’s change.
Team management responsibilities.
This role does not have any line-management responsibilities.
Travel:
Minimal travel beyond Heidelberg is anticipated, although travel to broader team meetings at other sites may be required from time to time.
You have

Essential Skills and Experience:

• Background in Financial Business Partnering in a comparable field to those identified in the job description above.
• Ability to build, maintain, and manage relationships with key clients, understand their needs and address their concerns.
• Ability to collaborate effectively while also demonstrating self-initiative and ownership of tasks.
• Strong communication skills to explain financial data to non-financial audiences.
• Highly motivated, resilient, and driven to achieve established goals.
• Excellent problem-solving and numerical skills with a focus on data analysis.
• Be able to deliver difficult messages to a wide range of leaders and managers

Technical Skills:

• Understanding of budgeting, accounting principles, and financial reporting.
• Strong command of Excel functions
• Risk, compliance and control environment knowledge

Qualifications

• Accountancy Qualification or University degree in finance or related field.

Language skills

• Fluency in German and English: Excellent written and spoken communication skills in both languages.

You may also have

• Experience with ERP systems (SAP or Workday) is desirable.
• Experience in working in an international organisation is advantageous

Why join us
EMBL is curiosity-driven, community-oriented and international. As an inclusive, equal opportunity employer, we believe that diversity enables us to collaborate more effectively and be innovative in our approaches. We are, therefore, committed to creating an inclusive and flexible culture - one where everyone can realise their full potential and make a positive contribution to our organisation.
We encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing team – we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and personal experiences reflect the diversity of the populations that our science serves. We actively encourage applications from all genders and cultures, ethnic groups and all demographics to help us avoid perpetuating biases and oversights at this transformational point in our people strategy.

Enjoy lots of benefits:

• Financial incentives: Salary free of income tax, Monthly family, child and non-resident allowances, annual salary review, pension scheme, death benefit, long-term care, accident-at-work and unemployment insurances
• Flexible working arrangements
• Private medical insurance for you and your immediate family (including all prescriptions and generous dental & optical cover)
• Generous time off: 30 days annual leave per year, in addition to public holidays
• Relocation package including installation grant (if applicable)
• Campus life: Free shuttle bus (select sites), on-site library, subsidised on-site gym and cafeteria, casual dress code, extensive sports and social club activities (on campus and remotely)
• Family benefits: Kindergarten (Heidelberg), 10 days of child sick leave, generous paid maternity/parental leave and monthly family & child allowances
• Benefits for international newcomers: Visa exemption, education grant for private schooling, financial support to travel back to your home country every second year and a monthly non-resident allowance.

What else you need to know

• International applicants: We recruit internationally and successful candidates are offered visa exemptions. Visit our

International Applicants
page,
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Diversity and inclusion: At EMBL, we strongly believe that inclusive and diverse teams benefit from higher levels of innovation and creative thought. We encourage applications from women, LGBTQ+ & individuals from all nationalities.

• How to apply: To apply please submit a cover letter and a CV through our online system. We aim to provide a response within two weeks after the closing date.

Closing Date
13/03/2025

Please refer the Job description for details