The Role
Partner with senior leaders to provide financial insight, challenge, budgeting, forecasting, planning, and performance reporting. Lead financial input for procurement and tender processes, support restricted income reporting and audit readiness, analyze risks and opportunities, and improve financial systems, controls, processes, and reporting. The role also contributes to organizational planning, investment decisions, and sustainable resource allocation while building strong relationships across the charity.
Summary Generated by Built In
We're the UK's specialist blood cancer charity and our vision is clear: we’re here to beat blood cancer. We fund world-class research; provide information and support to patients and their loved ones; and raise awareness of blood cancer.
We’re looking for a Finance Business Partner to join our Finance Planning & Analysis and Business Partnering team, within the Finance & Strategy directorate at Blood Cancer UK.
This is a fantastic opportunity for a newly qualified accountant, or someone with relevant experience, to take the next step in their career. You’ll join at an exciting time for the organisation, as we deliver the ambition of our current strategy and increase our investment in research and other areas of our work. You’ll build trusted relationships with senior leaders and a diverse range of teams across the organisation, from those delivering our work for people affected by blood cancer to our brand and support teams. You’ll gain broad organisational exposure and a clear view of how financial decisions affect the work we deliver. You’ll help teams make better decisions and maximise the impact of our resources, taking ownership of financial performance reporting, budgeting, forecasting and planning for your areas, while influencing plans and helping shape how resources are allocated to best support people affected by blood cancer.
You’ll also support key investment and procurement decisions, helping teams to understand the financial opportunities, risks and implications of their plans. You’ll have the freedom to identify and deliver improvements to our financial processes, systems and reporting, while contributing to wider organisational initiatives.
We’re looking for someone confident in building strong relationships, communicating financial information and providing thoughtful, constructive challenge. You’ll be collaborative, curious and solutions focused, with the confidence to ask good questions and the ambition to keep developing your skills. You may already have business partnering experience, or you may be looking to use the skills you have developed elsewhere to take your next step. Experience in the charity sector is welcome, but it is not essential.
Most importantly, you’ll want to use your finance skills to help us make the greatest possible difference for people affected by blood cancer.
Regular attendance at our London office is required, approximately once a week, with occasional travel for internal and external meetings and events.
Please submit your CV and a 1–2 page cover letter to apply for the Finance Business Partner position.
Key Responsibilities
- Partner with senior leaders in the directorates to provide financial insight and challenge, enabling informed decision-making and alignment with strategic goals.
- Act as the finance lead for procurement and tender processes organisation-wide, working with stakeholders to assess costs, affordability and value for money and provide sound financial advice.
- Lead budgeting, forecasting and long-term planning processes for the directorates to ensure accurate, sustainable financial plans that support delivery of organisational objectives.
- Support with the development and oversight of restricted income reporting and processes to ensure donor and statutory compliance and integration and work with mission and fundraising teams to develop long-term funding propositions and proposals that support sustainable income generation.
- Support the delivery of monthly financial reporting for the directorates, providing timely insight and driving improvements to reporting.
- Monitor and analyse performance for the directorates against budget to identify risks and opportunities and advise senior stakeholders on mitigations and investment decisions.
- Improve financial systems, tools, processes and controls to increase efficiency, enhance data quality and strengthen financial insight across the directorates.
- Support year-end reporting and audit processes by preparing reconciliations and analysis to ensure accurate statutory reporting and audit readiness.
- Contribute to organisation-wide financial planning by supporting the Head of Financial Planning & Analysis on cross-directorate projects, consolidated modelling and planning initiatives.
Skills, Knowledge and Expertise
Knowledge
- Qualified or Part qualified (ACA/ ACCA/ CIMA/ CIPFA), actively working towards qualification
- A thorough understanding of the basic, and a good understanding of the more advanced, accounting concepts relevant for a charity
Skills
- Ability to communicate confidently with stakeholders at all levels within and outside finance
- Significant and creative problem-solving skills, based on the analysis of complex data, and with a focus on driving value
- Ability to present and interpret financial data objectively in a way that is practical and understood by the business whilst providing constructive challenge
- Confident excel user, with enthusiasm to improve skills, including VBA.
- Willingness to work both independently and collaboratively on projects, as best suits the task, within a broad and diverse team.
- Capacity to manage multiple deadlines and discrete pieces of work simultaneously and the willingness and ability to change direction on a piece of work and / or priorities at short notice.
Experience
- Experience in finance business partnering or a similar role.
About
HOW TO APPLYWe ask you to send us a CV and cover letter. In your cover letter, we'd like to know why you're interested in working with us at Blood Cancer UK. It's also helpful if you tell us why you think you are a great candidate for this role based on the skills, knowledge and expertise section above. Your cover letter doesn't have to be too long, 1-2 pages is ideal. Please don't add photos or graphics to your CV, as we use blind shortlisting at this stage of the process.Full details about our recruitment processes, including how we use blind shortlisting and what to expect at each stage of the process can be found on our website. Sometimes we close our vacancies early, usually because we have had a lot of great applicants, so we’d always encourage you to apply early rather than wait until the deadline.WHY WORK AT BLOOD CANCER UK?We're the 9th best charity in the UK to work for according to Best Companies 2021! We started because of Susan, we’ll get there because of you.Blood Cancer UK was started by one family who lost their daughter, Susan, to blood cancer, and that history and sense of family continues to shape who we are today. When you join Blood Cancer UK, you don’t just become an organisational employee – you become part of a collaborative community dedicated to funding research into beating blood cancer that includes some of the most inspiring people you’ll ever meet. And we’re not that far away from beating blood cancer. We’re confident we can do it within the next generation, and this makes us hugely ambitious and gives us a sense of real urgency. It also means we’re changing quickly as an organisation as we constantly challenge ourselves and strive to become more and more effective. This pace of change means working here isn’t for everyone. But if you’re excited by the chance to work in a fast-paced, agile and supportive environment with the focus and ambition to beat blood cancer this could be the place for you! We focus on results rather than time spent at a desk, so we deliver more for people affected by blood cancer.Blood Cancer UK offers the chance to work for and with people affected by blood cancer, and the opportunity to advance your career and develop your skillset whilst taking on exciting new challenges and making your mark. EQUALITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSIONWe are committed to actively promoting equality, diversity, and inclusivity. Read our statement which reflects our strong drive to change in this area. To this end we would welcome approaches from individuals from underrepresented groups, including minoritised communities, and applicants with a disability, to better reflect the community we serve and help broaden our perspectives. You can read some examples of how we can support you through the application and interview process here.
Skills Required
- Qualified or part-qualified ACA, ACCA, CIMA, or CIPFA accountant, actively working toward qualification
- Thorough understanding of basic accounting concepts relevant to charities
- Good understanding of advanced accounting concepts relevant to charities
- Ability to communicate confidently with internal and external stakeholders at all levels
- Significant and creative problem-solving skills based on complex data analysis
- Ability to present and interpret financial data practically and objectively while providing constructive challenge
- Confident Microsoft Excel user, with willingness to improve skills including VBA
- Ability to work independently and collaboratively on projects
- Ability to manage multiple deadlines and competing workstreams, adapting priorities at short notice
- Experience in finance business partnering or a similar role
- Regular attendance at the London office, approximately once per week
- Charity-sector experience
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The Company
What We Do
Blood Cancer UK is a UK-based charity dedicated to beating blood cancer, including leukaemia, lymphoma, and myeloma, by funding research and supporting those affected.
