SKILLS & EXPERIENCE

• Qualified Accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent) is essential for the role
• Experience of cost accounting in a multi divisional and multi departmental organisation.
• Experience of budgeting, forecasting and management accounting best practice.
• Experience of project/investment appraisal and resourcing/cost management for projects would be advantageous
• Experience of working in an Insurance or other Financial Services environment is preferred
• Experience of a Life Insurance environment would be advantageous.
• Working knowledge of IFRS 17 accounting principles would be advantageous
• Knowledge of Oracle would be an advantage but not essential.
• Strong and confident communication skills – both written & verbal
• Strong analytical skills.
• Ability to handle and manipulate large amounts of raw data into relevant and presentable formats. This will require very effective IT skills – Microsoft Office packages including Word, advanced Excel (including pivot tables, look ups), presentational packages (PowerPoint, PDF).
• Ability to present financial information in a clear and coherent manner suitable for presenting to senior management.

ABOUT THE ROLE

We are looking for a Senior Finance Business Partner to work closely with business areas across the group to provide financial analysis and commercial support to contribute to Just’s business success. This will be achieved by driving efficiencies, producing decision-supporting analysis, investment appraisal and financial planning.
In this role you will maintain strong stakeholder relationships with colleagues over a range of levels of seniority, from Executive leaders to cost centre managers. This involves being a ‘critical friend’ by supporting understanding of, and challenging, the impacts of business decisions on financial outcomes.
As the Senior Finance Business Partner you will ensure effective cost management processes and controls are maintained and improved upon where required.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Partner with the business: Maintain strong relationships including active communication and visibility with the business. Ensure you are approachable to support them to consider financial consequences to their key decisions. Help the business work through key resourcing challenges and prioritisation with a cost/value lens.
• Produce and contribute to regular MI and reporting: Ensure that MI answers the ‘so what’ and that variances are clearly explained. Proactively seek action to address undesirable variances and support the business to explore solutions. Ensure that processes by which cost information hits the ledger and MI is produced are robust and timely and improved where necessary to increase efficiency.
• Ad hoc analysis: Conduct independent deep dive/reviews of Functional cost base and financial performance to provide insight to business areas. Support project business cases and benefits appraisal.
• Forecasting: Maintain regularly updated, rolling forecasts and deliver key inputs into the annual 5 year Plan process including projections of the staff cost base, key strategic development costs and 3rd party costs.
• Cost management: Partner with the People team to uphold the approval process for new job requisitions raised. Challenge resource mix to ensure we are getting value for money and support the Procurement team in ensuring key third party relationships are appropriately scrutinised from both a commercial and risk management perspective.
• Strong business knowledge: Maintain strong business understanding including key product lines, key strategic priorities and markets in which the business operates
• Review allocations: Periodically review the allocations basis for the cost areas for which you are the lead including how this reflects changes in business structure and attribution to products and business lines. Understand how allocations flow through into key IFRS and SII financial performance metrics.