Senior Finance Business Partner

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Senior Finance Business Partner

Contract: Permanent, Fulltime, 35 hours per week

Location: London, United Kingdom

UK hybrid working - a minimum of 40 % of working time is spent face-to-face (London office, external meetings or travel).

60/40 hybrid working at WaterAid means roughly three days wherever you work best and two days together in person.

Salary: £57,415 - £60,436 per annum

About WaterAid:

WaterAid is an organisation dedicated to transforming lives through sustainable and safe water, sanitation and hygiene. Their vision is a world where everyone, everywhere, has access to these essential resources. Central to their work is the belief that water, sanitation and hygiene are not just basic needs but fundamental human rights that underpin dignity and opportunity for all. They aim to drive meaningful change by improving access and promoting hygiene practices in communities around the world.

About the team:

The Senior Finance Business Partner role sits within the Management Accounting team in WaterAid's UK Finance team.

The UK Finance team manages WaterAid UK's financial operations and supports budget holders in delivering their plans. This is achieved through two functional areas: Management Accounting and Financial Accounting. The Management Accounting team is responsible for all financial planning and reporting across the WaterAid UK member, ensuring that effective financial decisions and long-term plans are aligned with the delivery of the 10-year strategy.

About the role:

This role will be a key strategic advisor and will be responsible for high-level planning conversations with WaterAid UK's largest income generating directorate. As the Senior Finance Business Partner supporting the Communications and Fundraising Directorate, you will help shape the strategic direction of the fundraising team. The Communications and Fundraising Directorate is responsible for raising funds to support WaterAid's mission across several activity areas, with a budget of approximately £70 million in income and £25 million in expenditure.

The role will support the Communications and Fundraising Directorate through the following activities.

Strategic, Partnering, Planning and Modelling:

• Owning relationships with key senior stakeholders within the Communications and Fundraising Directorate, including the Executive Director and their Senior Leadership Team.

Annual Budget Preparation and Quarterly Forecasting:

• Work with the directorate to build realistic and detailed financial plans, supporting and challenging the inputs in forecast and budget templates.
• Own directorate-specific timelines for delivering financial forecasts and budgets, including mapping out both key planning meetings and on-system processes.
• Contribute to central planning processes, including key inputs and assumptions, ultimately working with the Head of Management Accounting to build a consolidated picture of WaterAid UK's performance for the Executive Director Team.

Monthly Reporting and Variance Analysis:

• Collaborate on the development and maintenance of automated reporting for the directorate in Power BI. Ensure self-service reports are relevant and accurate, working with system support teams to resolve any inaccuracies.
• Regularly engage with budget holders to ensure that spending and income are on track against plans.

Income Recognition:

• Work closely with both the Finance Systems team and Data Operations to ensure CRM data is complete and accurately reflected in the month-end close position, overseeing the monthly recording of both unrestricted and restricted income streams.

Cost Coding:

• Work with the Financial Accounting team to ensure that accounting processes correctly reflect the directorate's position at each month-end, including reviewing or posting quarterly accruals and other material journals.
• Identify any material errors in nominal coding or other financial accounting processes through review of management information and regular engagement with directorates.

Ad-hoc Support:

• Support relevant directorates, where required, on ad hoc projects or operational items, including team restructuring, establishment reviews, training, and induction for new budget holders.

Requirements

Person Specification:

Essential skills:

• Completed a professional accounting qualification (ACA, ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA). We are also open to part-qualified candidates with appropriate professional experience, ideally with the intention of completing their remaining exams. WaterAid is committed to developing staff through professional qualifications and providing training opportunities.
• Experience of strategically partnering with senior stakeholders (ideally at Executive Director level), along with senior leadership teams. This includes providing appropriate data for decision-making and having the confidence to use insights to challenge forecasts and predictions.
• Ability to analyse large quantities of data to identify trends and key drivers, supporting better decision-making and challenging the proposed course of action where appropriate.
• Keen interest in information systems and integrations, with the ability to understand new processes quickly, particularly as part of monthly processes involving complex data, such as CRM integration, and to identify any anomalies.
• Experience of formulating, overseeing and reporting on operational plans, including KPIs, and leading on performance reporting across a range of financial metrics.

Desirable skills: Although not essential, we would also prefer you to have:

• Working knowledge of a budgeting and forecasting system
• Experience of using Power BI.
• Working knowledge of SUN Vision Excel, or a similar multi-dimensional accounting system.

View the full job description here

Closing date: Applications close on Sunday, 20th, 2025. First round interviews will be the week commencing Monday, 28th July 2025.

How to apply: WaterAid is working with Robertson Bell on this appointment. Click the link below to apply for the role

Job - Senior Finance Business Partner Robertson Bell

Can I use Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology in my application?

At WaterAid, we strongly advise against using AI technology at any stage of the recruitment process. Our goal is to ensure a fair and transparent process that provides every applicant with an equal opportunity to succeed. We value hearing about your unique experiences and perspectives in your application, and, if shortlisted, during the interview as well.

Pre-employment screening

To apply for this role, you must be able to demonstrate your eligibility to work in the respective country. All pre-employment checks will be carried out according to local law and WaterAid's Safer Recruitment policy. All UK based roles require a basic Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.

Benefits

• 36 days' holiday (including 8 Bank Holidays)
• Option to buy an extra 5 days' annual leave.
• Employer pension contribution up to 10%.
• Flexible and hybrid-working arrangements.
• Season ticket loan.
• Free annual eye tests.
• Pay As You Give charitable-giving scheme.
• Enhanced parental leave (maternity, adoption/surrogacy, shared parental and paternity).
• Sabbaticals.
• One paid volunteer day each year.

Our Global Commitment:

Our people promise

We will work with passion and focus to make sure everyone everywhere has clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene. WaterAid is a place of purpose - where people have a real commitment and shared responsibility for the impact we have. We are a global community with diverse backgrounds and perspectives, motivated by inspiring, stimulating work. We are determined to be a place where people feel safe and able to contribute their voice and truly live our values.

Equal Opportunities

We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, beliefs, customs, traditions, ways of life and status. This includes, but is not limited to, race, ethnicity, caste, colour, gender, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth, disability status, neurodiversity, age, marital and family status, sexual orientation and gender identity, health status, place of residence, economic and social situation.

Safeguarding

We are committed to protecting everyone we come into contact with. We have a zero- tolerance approach to abuse of power, privilege or trust across our global work, and to any form of inappropriate behaviour, discrimination, abuse, bullying, harassment, or exploitation. Safeguarding the people and communities we work with, our staff, volunteers and anyone working on our behalf is our top priority, and we take our responsibilities extremely seriously. All offers of employment are subject to satisfactory references and appropriate screening checks (which can include counterterrorism, safeguarding and criminal records checks).

Together, we'll change the world through water.

Join us and be part of the change.