The Finance Business Partner (FBP) is a key member of the Business Finance team, providing financial leadership, commercial insight, and robust challenge to support my client's strategic, operational, and financial objectives. The role partners closely with Business Unit (BU) owners across Farming, CEA, Property, and Central Functions to translate data into meaningful insights that drive better decisions, improved performance, and long-term value creation.
The FBP acts as the link between Finance and the wider business—ensuring clarity, accountability, and alignment between operational delivery and financial outcomes.
Key responsibilities:
Business Partnering & Strategic Insight
- Act as a trusted advisor to BU owners, providing high-quality insight, analysis, and constructive challenge.
- Build strong relationships across the business to embed a performance-driven culture.
- Support the Head of Business Finance in strengthening business partnering capability and behaviours.
- Help BU owners understand performance drivers across revenue, cost, margin, and cash.
- Support annual budget setting, medium-term planning, and forecasting.
Performance Management & Analysis
- Translate business goals into clear financial plans, KPIs, and measurable targets.
- Consolidate, analyse, and interpret BU-level results to identify risks, opportunities, and trends.
- Lead the preparation of monthly Business Performance Review (BPR) inputs for assigned BUs.
- Provide clear, concise commentary to articulate variances and root causes.
- Assess unit economics, operational efficiency, and cost structures.
Commercial Support & Investment Appraisal
- Prepare and review financial models and business cases to support commercial and operational decisions.
- Evaluate capital investments, commercial proposals, and strategic initiatives.
- Conduct scenario modelling and sensitivity analysis to support decision-making.
- Ensure rigour, consistency, and integrity of financial assumptions.
Reporting, Governance & Continuous Improvement
- Support the development, refinement, and delivery of BPR packs and reporting dashboards.
- Ensure KPIs and financial metrics remain accurate, relevant, and aligned to business needs.
- Challenge legacy reporting and contribute to a shift towards forward-looking, insight-led analysis.
- Deliver timely, accurate financial information to senior stakeholders.
Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement
- Work closely with BU owners, FP&A, Controlling, and senior Finance leadership.
- Support non-finance teams in managing budgets and improving financial accountability.
- Communicate complex financial information clearly to stakeholders with varied financial literacy.
Process, Systems & Data Improvement
- Identify opportunities to streamline processes, automate reporting, and strengthen controls.
- Support improvements in ERP systems, data flows, and financial tools.
- Champion standardisation, data quality, and best practice within Business Finance.
Personal
- Technical Skills
- Essential
- Fully qualified accountant (CIMA/ACCA/ACA) or equivalent commercial finance experience
- Nearly qualified would be considered if exceptional (but with expectation that candidate would be qualified within the next 6 months at most)
- Strong analytical capability with the ability to interpret data and tell the story behind the numbers.
- Advanced Excel skills and confidence handling complex datasets.
- Commercial mindset with a proactive, solutions oriented approach.
- Experience supporting operational or commercial teams in a business partnering capacity.
- Ability to work in a fast moving environment and manage competing priorities.
- Strong communication and influencing skills.
- Ability to challenge constructively and drive accountability.
- Experience in working in a capital intensive/manufacturing environment (understanding of inventory and production cost)
- Desirable but not essential
- Familiarity with ERP systems (e.g., SAP, NetSuite, Sage Intacct) and planning tools
- Power BI or other data visualisation experience.
- Experience in agriculture, food production
- Other skills
- Curious, analytical, and committed to continuous improvement.
- High integrity, professionalism, and role ownership.
- Able to simplify complexity and present insight clearly.
- Collaborative team player with confidence engaging senior stakeholders.
- Confident in approach to lead and challenge operational stakeholders in a positive, profession and constructive manner
Location
