Finance Business Partner - Bristol

Job Introduction

DACBeachcroft has an exciting opportunity for an experienced, qualified accountant to join our Finance team as a Finance Business Partner on a full-time, permanent, hybrid basis in our centrally located Bristol office. 

The Finance Business Partner provides financial information, analysis and support to the Business Services functions, working closely with a number of different stakeholders including Directors of Business Service Departments, the Chief Operating Officer (COO), the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and other senior members of the Finance Management team.

The Finance Business Partner role reports to the Head Of Group Financial Reporting & Control and has one direct report, the Assistant Finance Business Partner.

We are a Disability Confident employer and guarantee to interview anyone with a disability, long term health condition or neurodiversity whose application meets the essential criteria for the role as set out in this advert.  If this applies to you contact disabilityconfident@dacbeachcroft.com in confidence, quoting the reference number for this vacancy in the subject box of your email, and a member of the team will be in touch. 

We are happy to talk flexible working and have in place a Flex-forward working scheme. We would encourage you to talk to us about our approach to flexible working during the hiring process if you would like to explore this further.

Role Responsibility

Business Partnering:

• Ownership and control of month-end reporting on Overhead Costs for the Group (portfolio of c.£100m)
• Working with the wider Group Financial Reporting team to ensure the reporting is timely, accurate and robust.
• Interpreting data, both financial and non-financial and understanding the impact of these on the business.
• Working closely with key stakeholders (overheads budget holders) to ensure they understand their budgets, can effectively track their spend and make timely decisions.
• Presentation and delivery of monthly results to relevant stakeholders, highlighting variances and agreeing necessary actions to ensure overall delivery of budget.
• Supporting and partnering key stakeholders, including Directors of Business Service Departments, the COO, the CFO and other senior members of the Finance Management Team, recognising different stakeholders have different needs and requirements.
• Communicating and translating complex financial / non-financial ideas to people outside the finance function.
• Continually seeking to develop and improve reporting to meet business needs.

Budgeting, Forecasting and Strategic Planning:

• Owning the Business Services budgeting and forecasting process in line with the Group timetable, with completion of reports and commentaries as required.
• Managing the relationship and communication with key stakeholders throughout the budget process.
• Supporting overhead budget holders in the preparation of their budgets and forecasts.
• Liaising closely with international finance colleagues to ensure joined up approach to Overheads Budgeting and Reporting.
• Co-ordinating with the Finance Business Partnering team to ensure the Overheads Budget and Forecast can be easily consolidated into the Group models.
• Supporting the modelling of the Cash Flow Overheads Budget including capital expenditure.
• Providing the COO with regular progress reports during the Forecast and Budget process.
• Overseeing the Group Assistant Accountants in preparation of the Budget detail.

Decision Support:

• Providing timely, relevant and robust analysis and data to the Business in support of strategic decisions.
• Advising and challenging, where appropriate, in order to add value in terms of the analysis and commentary produced.
• Understanding the business trends for individual projects in order to support appropriate costing
• Leading the provision of robust financial modelling for individual projects, tracking of actual spend to business plan and highlighting any variances.
• Ensuring correct classification of OPEX and CAPEX project spend.
• Ensuring complex multi-year contracts are correctly accounted for.

The Ideal Candidate

• Qualified accountant (CIMA, ACA, ACCA or equivalent) with relevant post qualification experience is essential.
• Experience of Finance Business Partnering in a similar role would be desirable.
• Experience of working in a law firm or other professional services organisation is desirable and would be highly advantageous.
• The ability to work collaboratively with the business and challenge where appropriate.
• Previous coaching/mentoring of junior staff.
• Ability to add value and build strong working relationships with key stakeholders across the firm.
• Strong and confident communication skills, both orally and in writing, with the ability to interact with senior members of the business.
• Experience of providing monthly management accounts and value adding commentary.
• Strong financial modelling and Excel skills with PowerBI experience advantageous.
• Experience in budgeting and forecasting.
• Able to convey complex financial and accounting concepts in a clear and straightforward manner.
• Organised and able to handle multiple demands and deadlines simultaneously.
• Self-starter, keen to take ownership, solve problems, learn and grow.

About the Company

We're a leading international legal business with over 3,000 colleagues and a diverse range of capabilities. We're market leaders in insurance, health and real estate but with a full-service offering, including growing Financial Services and Tech capabilities. We represent a wide range of clients – from household names to government departments and NHS bodies. We act for nearly all of the top-20 UK and global insurers, we're market leaders in the provision of strategic, commercial and regulatory advice to providers and commissioners in the health sector, and in real estate we advise all of the UK’s top-five housebuilders.

We are a fast-growing international business with offices around the globe.  In addition to our 11 UK offices, we also have offices in Dublin, Madrid, Paris, Milan, Rome, Singapore, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Miami, plus a broad network of affiliations across the globe. 

Working with us

Our vision is to be leading business advisers, recognised for our insight and our outstanding commitment to clients, and for being the place where talented people want to work. Combine this with our supportive culture and hybrid working model, and you have: a Life that Works.

Our flexible approach means that we help our colleagues to be their best at work, while recognising that they have all sorts of different interests and commitments outside work.

We pride ourselves on our supportive, approachable culture. We are trusted, appreciated as individuals and embraced as part of a team. At DACB, we don’t just accept your differences, we celebrate and advocate for them. From bespoke solutions for our clients, to treating you as an individual. Our strength comes from your diverse ideas and bringing the ‘whole you’ to work. So if you’re good at what you do, come as you are!

Note for Recruitment Agencies – the DAC Beachcroft LLP resourcing team is responsible for managing all current vacancies through direct hiring and referrals.  Whilst we do work with recruitment agencies, we will formally release those vacancies to instructed agencies deemed best placed to assist us.  Speculative CVs sent by any agency to any DAC Beachcroft employee without a specific request by the resourcing team will not be accepted and no introduction fee will be applicable.  Our resourcing team can be contacted at recruitment@dacbeachcroft.com.

DAC Beachcroft