London South Bank University are partnering exclusively with Robertson Bell to recruit to a Finance Business Partner position on a permanent basis. London South Bank University (LSBU) is a modern, dynamic university with a long history of leading the way in applied education and practice-led earning. With over 17000 students and 2000 staff from over 130 countries, we work together to foster the development of graduates, ready to address business and societal challenges.
Are you ready to play a pivotal role in shaping financial decisions? As a Finance Business Partner, you will support key stakeholders through detailed reporting, insightful analysis, and actionable financial insights. In this role, you’ll provide strategic recommendations on critical financial decisions, ensuring that finance is central to decision-making at LSBU.
Key Responsibilities Include:
- Following the agreed process, conduct the annual budget setting process for the partnered units.
- Deliver finance business partnering services, including: budget setting, business case review, aiding comprehension of financial reports, financial approver maintenance, monthly forecasting, and providing advice and insight to budget holders.
- Provide ad hoc analysis to stakeholders in the partnered units. This will often include a combination of financial and non-financial data to deliver information that improves decision making and planning.
- Following the agreed timetable, produce accurate monthly forecasts for the partnered units. Follow consistent processes and templates, and engage constructively with efforts to improve the efficiency of those processes.
- For the partnered units, maintain an accurate record of financial approvers on the finance system. This includes making any necessary changes, and regularly monitoring the financial approvers to ensure they are correct.
- Review, and seek regular feedback from stakeholders on, the usefulness of the suite of financial reports available to budget holders. Pass feedback to the Head of Financial Planning & Business Partnering and the Head of Financial Reporting & Analysis.
- Using the suite of training materials developed by senior members of the team, deliver regular training to budget holders in the partnered units.
Our fantastic campus in central London is based around the historic, vibrant, and unique Elephant and Castle in the best student city in the world (QS World University Rankings, 2023). We also have specialist health campuses in Croydon and Havering.
We are highly commended as an Outstanding Entrepreneurial University (Times Higher Awards, 2022) and ranked third in the world for Reducing Inequality (Times Higher Education Impact Rankings, 2024). We are proud that our graduates are the highest paid amongst all London modern universities one year after completing their course (LEO, 2022).
The successful candidate will:
- In the final stages of becoming qualified with a professional accountancy body (ICAEW, ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA or equivalent).
- Finance business partnering to non-finance professionals.
- Working in close partnership with other professional functions (e.g. HR, IT), with a supportive and collegiate style.
- Closely following defined processes, including complex processes, requiring a keen eye for detail.
- Ability to conduct basic financial modelling, combining data from multiple sources to provide useful information for decision making purposes.
- Interpersonal skills, and the ability to put across financial information clearly to diverse audiences.
- Strong IT skills, including MS Excel.
- Good technical accounting knowledge and the ability to apply it to practical scenarios.
- Good time management skills.
The successful candidate will be based in their central London office and benefit from a hybrid working pattern.
Applications will be under constant review before the closing date so please submit your application to our exclusive agent Robertson Bell. Apply now to be considered!
Client Finance Manager
(SEO)
£42,450 - £46,636 (National)
+ £5,000 Accountancy Allowance or £2,500 Part Qualification Allowance
The Government Property Agency is the largest property holder in government, with more than £2.1 billion in property assets and over 50% of the government’s office estate. We are transforming the way the Civil Service works by creating great places to work, leading the largest commercial office programme in the UK, working towards halving carbon emissions from government offices, and achieving greater value for taxpayers. We are looking for innovative, solutions-focused people to join our team.
Representing the best covenant in the UK – His Majesty’s Government – we are leading ground-breaking programmes such as the Government Hubs Programme, Whitehall Campus Programme and Net Zero Programme, as well as delivering modern and cost-effective real estate service solutions.
Innovation and progress are at the heart of our behaviours. We foster a culture of lifelong learning, where curiosity and self-improvement are encouraged, and we’re dedicated to becoming a leading, inclusive employer both in the external market and throughout the Civil Service. Our strong emphasis on Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) is not just about driving inclusion across our organisation, it is also about ensuring our services meet the needs of government departments and the civil servants who use our spaces.
Join our dynamic and diverse team that leads with purpose, improving sustainability, nurturing social value, driving inclusivity and flexibility, and kickstarting economic growth. We are driven by purpose, and you can be part of it too: where you make a meaningful impact; where you influence; where your voice really matters; where you help to shape our future direction.
The responsibilities of the Client Finance Manager will include:
- Delivering budgets and forecasts for each client, property and tenancy, using complex data from the MRI Horizon general ledger and other systems, Hyperion and Excel tools to provide accurate and meaningful financial information
- Being accountable for financial control over property services accounting, ensuring high levels of client satisfaction by providing accurate forecasting, explanations and billing
- Maintaining a focus on process improvement, including planning and establishing new systems and processes for quarterly financial reporting to ensure clients understand their costs and bills, delivering an ongoing service that meets and exceeds expectations
- Being the key liaison between senior finance and property staff for client meetings, involving being acutely aware of the customers’ needs and acting upon them, and being proactive in problem solving and finding solutions
- Leading the service delivery to clients alongside management accountants and other colleagues, supporting the growth of the GPA, and matching resources to client demand
- Manage due diligence exercises on estate-related financial information provided by the client and interrogate to identify material financial risks to GPA and ensure correct account treatments are applied.
Key Skills & Experience
- Be proficient in Microsoft Excel skills and able to manipulate complex data sets.
- Strong attention to detail and ability to analyse and interpret significant amounts of financial data
- Ideally, have experience in client finance, including reporting to clients, managing systems and processes, working in partnership with clients to deliver results
- Experience with property management systems such as MRI Horizon, Yardi Voyager, or similar systems, in addition to Excel and PowerBI (or similar) for financial reporting is desirable
- Ideally have experience in the property industry within medium to large organisations where customer service is a priority
For more information, please apply using the link, or contact Emma Fuller at our retained search agent, Robertson Bell.
The GPA is committed to representing the communities we serve by making Diversity, Equality and Inclusion part of everything we do. To ensure that we are always recruiting and retaining a diverse mix of talent, we are particularly inviting applications from candidates who are disabled, ethnically or gender diverse, and people who identify as being part of the LGBTQ+ community.