Commercial Finance Business Partner

Commercial Finance Business Partner

Reports to: Financial Planning Manager

Location: West London – currently operating an agile working policy with two core days (Mon and Weds) in our central office

Contract: Permanent

Pattern: Full Time (standard hours 9am – 5.30pm)

Closing date: 24/01/2024 at 10am

Interviews: Interviews will be arranged as suitable candidates are identified, so early application is strongly advised

Salary: £45,000 to £50,000 (depending on experience)

 New year, new you, new role. We are looking for a Commercial Finance Business Partner to join our Central Finance Team. At Ark we believe in the power of education to ignite change and empower future leaders. This role might be the new role you’re looking for to start the new year.

About the role:

We are looking for someone who will be resilient, flexible, and able to operate in a busy environment, and excellent at managing competing demands and priorities whilst remaining calm.

You will have responsibility for partnering our ‘income generating’ ventures, and therefore commercial business acumen will be key to the role.  

You will be expected to take the lead supporting budget holders with high-quality management information, supporting with budgeting and forecasting, as well as working with budget holders to identify opportunities for efficiency. 

Alongside ensuring internal deadlines for month-end, forecast and budget reporting cycles are met, you will develop financial models as required to incorporate scenario planning into the support you provide.  A combination of excellent excel skills combined with your experience of explaining the numbers clearly to non-finance personnel will allow you to shine in this role.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide efficient Finance Business Partnering support to various programme teams to facilitate timely recognition of planned Income and Expenditure for effective delivery of forecasts and budgets
• Lead on month-end management accounts, forecasts and budgeting for all income generating (‘ex-core’) departments in Ark Schools
• Effectively communicate the monthly finances for your specified departments with the Financial Planning Manager and Head of Management Reporting
• Regular meetings with budget holders to take them through their year-to-date figures and ensure that they understand the financial position of their department, undertaking additional analysis as necessary
• Develop KPIS for your specified departments and track alongside finances
• Prepare steering committee finance papers for your specified departments and attend committee meetings as required
• Develop finance training materials for your departments, to ensure they are supported through forecast and budgeting processes.

Key Requirements:

• Newly qualified Accountant / 1-2 years PQE
• An understanding of budgeting and forecasting and why it is so important
• Experience of producing and presenting finance reports
• Experience of developing financial modelling
• Excellent numerical and financial skills
• Strong computer skills using Microsoft Office (Excel, Word, Outlook) and financial databases
• Ability to communicate effectively and explain finance to non-finance professionals
• Meticulous attention to detail and capable of meeting strict deadlines
• Team player who is flexible and adapts well to change
• Willingness and ability to learn and operate new systems and processes and assess their effectiveness.
• Ability to plan, prioritise workload ensuring service and deadlines are met

 About Ark

We’re an international charity, transforming lives through education. We exist to give every young person, regardless of their background, a great education and real choices in life. In the UK, we’re a network of 39 schools, educating around 30,000 pupils in areas where we can make the biggest difference and we’re recognised as one of the highest achieving academy groups in the country. We want to change the lives of children everywhere, not just in our own schools. So, we create and incubate Ventures designed not only to help pupils in Ark schools, but also to improve education systems.

You’ll be joining a group of like-minded, ambitious individuals who work collaboratively and are all committed to our core mission, that every child has the potential to succeed. Having just celebrated our 20^th anniversary, we are shaping our goals for the next 20 and there has never been a more exciting time to join us.

Benefits:

• 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays, rising with each year of service up to 30 days after 3-years’ service. This entitlement is pro rata for part time employees. This entitlement excludes bank holidays
• Full office closure between Christmas and New Year
• Hybrid working, with currently two days a week in our state-of-the-art office in West London working alongside colleagues
• Regular social events, monthly free breakfast, and daily fruit
• A flexible approach to working with understanding and consideration for work life balance and personal commitments
• As an Ark employee, you will have the opportunity to be part of the TPT (The Pension Trust) scheme, our workplace pension scheme where we make an 11% contribution; you are not required to contribute towards this scheme unless you choose to.
• Depending on your role you may also be entitled to LGPS/TPS which is a defined benefit scheme where you contribute a percentage based on how much you earn (as do we) in exchange for a guaranteed amount in your pension pot every year
• Access to high-quality professional learning throughout your career, offering both face-to-face sessions and a bespoke online learning platform
• Access to Ark Rewards scheme offering savings from over 3,000 major retailers, interest-free loans available for season tickets or a bike, gym discounts offering up to 40% off your local gym and free eye tests

How to Apply:

Apply with a CV and cover letter on our online recruitment portal. Applications to be submitted by Wednesday 24^th January 2024 at 10am but please note: we will be reviewing applications on an on-going basis and this advert may close earlier than advertised depending on the level of response.

This ATS application form should take no longer 20 minutes to complete. At any time, you can pause, save, and log back in. If you have any difficulty with meeting the deadline for application, please contact recruitment@arkonline.org

Interviews will be arranged as suitable candidates are identified, so early application is strongly advised.

Ark is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people in its academies. In order to meet this responsibility, its academies follow a rigorous selection process to discourage and screen out unsuitable applicants.

Ark requires all employees to undertake an enhanced DBS check. You are required, before appointment, to disclose any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975. Non-disclosure may lead to termination of employment. However, disclosure of a criminal background will not necessarily debar you from employment - this will depend upon the nature of the offence(s) and when they occurred. To read more about Ark’s safer recruitment process, please click this link. 

We aim to build a diverse and inclusive organisation where everyone – staff and students – can do their best work and achieve their full potential. We want to reflect and represent diverse perspectives across our organisation because we know that doing so will make us stronger and more effective. To know more about Ark’s diversity and inclusion commitments, please click on this link.