Senior Finance Business Partner

**JOB PURPOSE**

The Senior Finance Business Partner is responsible for supporting and managing the Finance Business Partners in conjunction with performance management, decision taking and commercial support, pricing support/product profitability analysis, product modelling/profitability, budgeting/forecasting, business case preparation and review, market/customer/competitor analysis and are a key agent of change.

**RESPONSIBILITIES**

**Business Partner Activities**
- Manage and support Finance business in their functions and output to key stakeholder to ensure consistency and accuracy
- Act as the main link between the Finance function and the business (e.g. Operations and Sales teams)
- Provide proactive business, functional and external (market, competitor and customer) insight based on in-depth business knowledge
- Solve key business problems in a timely manner
- Improve business decision making, influencing and drive optimal business outcomes
- Develop and sustain long term relationships with business stakeholders (e.g. CFO, Business Heads, BLT Group)
- Identify and challenge ways of working that impact efficient performance delivery and influence stakeholders to initiate changes with the COE and GPOs identifying gaps and close out timely manner
- Coach non finance managers for gaps identified
- Form judgements based on ambiguous and incomplete data
- Partner closely with business decision makers to gain deeper understanding of business operations (Technology, Finance, Customer Interaction Centre and Logistics) and challenges

**Compilation of Business Plan**
- Enable the compilation of the Business Plan for the Business Unit
- Facilitating and compiling the BU plans
- Integrating BU operational plans with Financial plan to enable operating plan delivery
- Influencing strategic direction of the BU through interpretation of the financial and sustainable impacts of strategic direction
- Challenging BU assumptions and strategies to ensure that these align to common realities and to those as issued by Group functions
- Review finance business partners business plans

**Governance and Financial Risk**
- Ensure appropriate governance and financial risk management
- Create business risk awareness to identify risks for the short and medium-term financial strategic objectives, and to develop and implement the necessary risk mitigating plans in line with the organisation

**Risk Management Framework**
- Provide specialist input in to financial risk matters and fulfil a governance role in accounting, tax, insurance, procurement, financial information management systems by liaising with Centres of Excellence
- Ensure the operation of robust internal control system in the BU to enhance control effectiveness and address process inefficiencies by liaising with Design Authority Team

**Customer Service**
- Manage and enhance customer service expectations and ensure continuous improvement and service
- Use a formalised process to understand customer needs
- Ensure customer needs and requirements are satisfied through appropriate systems / processes / procedures
- Initiate change to continually improve all aspect of service delivery

**Resource Management**
- Focus team on key performance areas to achieve business objectives and identify and manage risk / opportunities in this regards
- Embed appropriate performance management with direct reports

**Functional Strategy Formation**
- Contribute to the formation of a key element of functional strategy through specialist expertise and insights, to ensure that the strategy meets business needs

**Information and Business Advice**

**BEHAVIOURAL COMPETENCIES**
- Financial Acumen
- Business Insight
- Ensures Accountability
- Manages Complexity
- Instills Trust
- Optimizes Work Processes
- Organizational Savvy

**SKILLS**
- Data Collection and Analysis
- Planning and Organizing
- Assessment
- Compliance Management
- Costing and Budgeting
- Numerical Skills
- Policy and procedures
- Financial Modelling
- Risk Management
- Strategic Planning

**EDUCATION**
- Matric
- Bachelor’s degree, Qualified Accountant (CIMA/CA (TOPP) or equivalent)

**EXPERIENCE**
- Proven experience (at least 5 years) in working as a finance business partner and/or financial planning and analysis in a management position
- Experience of planning, managing and organising resources within a short/medium timescales within the overall policy framework. (Over 6 years to 10 years)
- Strong analytical skills with good proven track record of being able to develop practical recommendations from financial and data insights
- Collaboration and communication skills
- Commercial awareness and judgement