This job posting is for up to 7 Finance Business Partner roles in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills located in London and Sheffield. The roles will involve partnering with business areas to ensure financial governance and provide financial analysis to inform decision making. Key responsibilities will include managing budgets, developing business cases, and leading a team of finance professionals. Ideal candidates will have an accountancy qualification and experience analyzing complex financial information and translating it for non-finance audiences.

1. Job title Finance Business Partner
Department Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Business Area Finance
Number of Vacancies Upto [7]
Location: City/Town London - Sheffield
Location: Building/Site 1 Victoria Street London, St Paul's Place Sheffield
Grade Grade 6
Contract Fixed term for two years if coming from OGD
BIS G6 Finance Business Partner
Person Specification
BIS Finance is looking for high-calibre finance professionals with the necessary experience, skills and personal
qualities for upto [7] Grade 6 Business Partner roles across the department. This is an important role in the group
finance team requiring an ability to gain credibility, provide financial management as well as an excellent opportunity
to play an important and active part in the strategic direction of BIS. We will provide you with the opportunity for an
interesting and worthwhile career and support you with training and development.
As a Finance Business Partner in BIS the role focuses on protecting value, driving value and adding value.
The post holders will partner and collaborate with a range of stakeholders, acting as the face of finance and taking
finance to the heart of decision making, by bringing together policy with financial and commercial awareness and
analysis. As a critical friend to the business, they will ensure stewardship of public funds, efficient and effective use of
budgets and provide Ministers and officials with insightful financial analysis to inform decision making.
In line with Functional Leadership, the post holder will maintain dual reporting lines, maintaining relationships with
multiple stakeholders and reporting into senior management in both Finance and the business areas, providing
constructive challenge to ensure financial governance, control and alignment is maintained, with balanced
commercial and professional reporting.
The posts are spread across the following groups:
Business and Science Group works with business sectors on common issues through industrial strategies and sector
partnerships, managing relationships with individual companies to bring in investments, promote exports and
overcome problems before they lead to disinvestment. The Groups acts as the voice of small business across
Government, listening to and understanding the needs of small businesses and ensuring these are reflected in how
Government develops policy. It also works with other government departments, business, the research community to
create an open and dynamic innovation culture across the UK and beyond. Through investment in research, it helps
foster growth and tackle societal challenges, from particle physics to arts and social sciences.
Skills, Deregulation and Local Growth Group brings together expertise in business regulation, local growth and skills
to create benefits for the economy and society. It works to create the conditions for businesses to grow and
individuals to succeed while reducing the impact of regulation on business. It works with further education providers
and employers to give students the skills they need and reform and improve the quality of apprenticeships. It also
supports the development of Local Enterprise Partnerships, leading for BIS on Cities through BIS Local. Through the
delivery partner Skills Funding Agency, the group invests nearly £4 billion to upskill the workforce, particularly
amongst our young people, to push forward BIS’s growth agenda.
People, Strategy and Higher Education Group helps build a confident and capable BIS that has maximum impact, is
highly respected, works on the longer term strategy and growth agenda and connects people to opportunity and
prosperity through higher education. The Group has specific responsibility for higher education, human resources,
communications, change, policy delivery reform, and the BIS board and committee structures.
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2. Economics and Markets provides a professional lead for the work of economists, operational researchers and
statisticians across BIS. It supports BIS policy, strategy and delivery to help the UK’s businesses by developing policies
to promote the UK’s economic growth and looks after company law, financial reporting and corporate governance
frameworks. The group also ensures that the UK’s international trade and investment policy interests are well
represented at the negotiations on the EU and US Free Trade Agreement, World Trade Organisation and other trade
agreements and that the export control operational targets are met. It works to ensure that the UK has a competitive,
efficient and effective labour market to encourage business success and growth. It promotes markets for consumers
and growth by using a range of competition and consumer policy interventions. The group is also responsible for
Regional Growth Fund, Industrial Development, Devolution and Economic Shocks, and Local Growth Analysis
Key Duties
Each post holder will lead a team of Grade 7 GBP and Assistant Finance Business Partner to manage their
portfolio and step in for the Group Finance Deputy Director when required.
• Act as the key liaison point between finance and the rest of the organisation and, at times, external bodies.
• Build in depth understanding of the business, how they work, their end to end processes and unit costs.
Understand the performance and customer priorities for the business and the critical path for their delivery
through collaboration and continued relationship building with colleagues across the business.
• Lead in the translation of policy decisions and proposals and strategic objectives into financial impact, risks and
opportunities and communicating this effectively to senior stakeholders to support decision making.
• Lead the problem solving and provision of trusted advice and options of how they may be overcome to reach a
positive solution.
• Drive financial management and insight by taking the outputs and deliverables from management accounting
to identify possible areas for focus, develop hypotheses for what might be driving budget variances and in doing
so develop cost mitigation, income generation or risk management strategies.
• Assess the organisation and financials looking backward to support management reporting, have strong
understanding of the current position and work closely with the business to understand the organisation’s
forward look to enable planning.
• Transform information into insight to aid the decision making process, through the analysis of complex
information.
• Use strategic and commercial acumen to champion a culture of effective strategic decision making and risk
management to underpin strong financial performance for both business as usual and projects and programmes.
• Work closely with projects and programmes to develop business cases and in doing so work as an integral part
of the project or programme, sitting on its board and ensure that a sound commercial case for development is put
forward.
• Ensure that risk management, internal control and governance procedures are followed, for both projects and
programmes and BAU activities, and act at the first line of defence for financial management.
• Work collaboratively in an integrated and interdependent way, to improve financial capability and
understanding across the organisation.
• Lead and develop a team of high calibre and high potential finance professionals
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3. Key competencies
Seeing the Big Picture
• Able to work closely across BIS teams and wider cross-Government stakeholders to ensure high quality
financial advice drives strategic decision-making.
• Ability to review information and evaluate evidence available at a strategic level, understanding the impact on
Ministerial priorities and the Directorate’s operating environment including that of its partner organisations.
Leading and Communicating
• Provide financial leadership within the policy space and with partner organisations, helping teams complement
and reinforce one another and ensuring a culture of good financial management.
• Ability to set the direction of own work area, taking tough and sometimes unpopular decisions, seizing
opportunity to add value and implement change and supporting the development of the team.
Delivering Value for Money
• Demonstrates significant experience and knowledge of managing budgets and be able to analyse and
recommend spending options to the Director and the wider senior management team, understanding key drivers,
constraints, identifying savings and allocating resources against key priorities.
• Ability to analyse, interpret and communicate complex financial information to facilitate management decision
making.
• Excellent understanding of accounting and budgeting requirements in central government and associated
reporting requirements.
Making Effective Decisions
• Working accurately with detail whilst maintaining a strategic overview is essential, particularly to provide
workable solutions in an area where stakeholders often have conflicting views.
• An evidence based and objective approach to financial decision making
• Proactive approach to understanding latest policy developments and anticipating financial issues
• Ability to review information at a strategic level, understanding the impact on priorities, translating these into
overall strategic direction of own work area.
Collaborating and Partnering
• The candidate must be a strong team player, demonstrating capability to build a network of colleagues,
contacts and organisational partners in order to achieve progress on objectives and shared interests.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills, including the ability to put complex financial issues into
layman’s terms for non-specialist audiences, including senior officials and Ministers.
• Ability to seek constructive outcomes in discussions, balance a firm stance with a willingness to compromise
when beneficial to progress
Delivering at Pace
• Maintain effective performance in difficult and challenging circumstances, encouraging others to do the same
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4. • Clarify who is responsible for delivering outcomes, monitor delivery and reward success
Qualifications
Accountancy qualification (ACCA, ACA, CPFA or CIMA) completed or in progress would be expected for this role,
[alternately an equivalent qualification by experience to a high level]. This is a key financial role and requires strong
technical ability.
Selection process
The initial selection process will include:
• a formal panel interview; and
• a presentation on a topic of the selection panel’s choice.
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