Finance Business Partner

Job Introduction

We’re looking for an exceptional Finance Business Partner to help us make a difference to our planet.

As our Finance Business Partner, the job may be suitable for hybrid working, which is where an employee works part of the week in the office and part of the week from home. This is a voluntary, non-contractual arrangement and the location advertised will be your contractual place of work.

Our opportunity is full time, 37 hours per week.  Our people are at the heart of what we do and we'll do our best to agree a working pattern that works for everyone.

World changing work

From science to technology, from meteorology to management, and from planning to communication, our expertise helps us stand out as the authority on weather accuracy and climate prediction. We help individuals, industries and government to make better decisions to stay safe and thrive. This is the Met Office. This is who we are.

• We’re a force for good - focusing on our environmental and social impact
• We’re experts by nature - always learning and developing to do things better
• We live and breathe it - putting our purpose at the heart of decision-making
• We’re better together - understanding partnerships and inclusivity make us greater
• We keep evolving - pushing boundaries to make tomorrow better for our customers

Your world of expertise

You will be part of the Finance Business Support team who are responsible for providing the Met Office with expert financial guidance, control and best practice to support key decisions at all levels to deliver corporate objectives.

The team consists of 7 Finance Business Partners, supported by a team of assistants, and managed by the Head of Finance Business Support. The successful candidate will be expected to work closely with the Executive Directors, Associate Directors and Business Managers providing expert financial advice on matters such as investment appraisal and bids, to ensure effective financial management and control in the Met Office.

Your key duties

• Advise managers in the preparation of investment appraisals, business cases and bids to ensure integrity/accuracy and good presentation.
• Review and monitor Met Office finances to ensure accuracy of numbers in line with standards and to highlight risk.
• Facilitate the production of budgets, plans and forecasts to ensure affordability and balanced risk.
• Provide expert financial support/advice to colleagues and managers to enable effective financial management. 
• Undertake project-based work for specific strategies/business initiatives. 
• Control expenditure in line with budgets/approved expenditure by providing financial concurrence to purchase requisitions, staff recruitment, credit notes and credit approvals.

Why join us

Our work is life-changing, often life-saving and always life-enhancing. The Met Office is accredited as a 'Great Place to Work UK 2023' and in addition has achieved a place on both the UK's 'Best Workplaces in Tech' and 'Best Workplaces for Women' lists.

As our Finance Business Partner, your total reward package will be up to £72,530 annually, which includes:

• £52,799 base pay
• An outstanding Civil Service pension, with an average employer contribution of 27%
• Annual Leave starting at 27.5 days (plus Bank Holidays) rising to 32.5 days (plus Bank Holidays) after 5 years and option to buy or sell up to 5 days per year of annual leave

Essential Criteria, skills and experience:

1. Qualified accountant (e.g., ACA, ACCA, CIMA), with relevant post qualification experience - demonstrating ‘you live and breathe’ the Accountancy profession.
2. Highly effective verbal and written communication skills; demonstrating your ability to influence and constructively challenge at a senior level - demonstrating 'we're better together'.
3. Keen analytical mind and the ability to be imaginative and proactive in meeting the requirements of the role – showing ‘we keep evolving’.
4. Demonstrable ability to provide clear concise financial analysis for a non-finance audience.
5. Experience of month end, forecast and budget processes - demonstrating ‘experts by nature’.
6. Experience of providing advice to Managers in the preparation of investment appraisals, business cases and bids to ensure integrity/accuracy and good presentation - demonstrating ‘experts by nature’.

Desirable Criteria

We encourage you to apply if you believe you meet our essential criteria, but we’re also keen to discover if you have:

1. A good understanding of the Met Office's business activities and priorities.
2. Experience of working in a programme and project environment and structure.

How to apply

If you share our values, we’d love to hear from you. Apply below using your CV and a Cover Letter/Supporting Statement with evidence against each of the essential criteria. We recommend candidates use the CARL method (Context, Action, Result and Learning) for presenting evidence of experience and skills.

Closing date Monday 06/05/2024 at 23:59 with first stage interviews commencing from 27/05/2024. You will hear from us once the closing date has passed.

How we can help:

If you are considering applying and need support to do so, please contact us via careers@metoffice.gov.uk. You can request adjustments either within your application or by contacting us. Should you be offered an interview, please be aware there may be a selection exercise which could include a presentation, written test or a scenario-based activity. You can select in your application to be considered under the Disability Confident Scheme. To be invited to interview/assessment under this scheme, your application must meet the essential criteria for the role.

We understand that great minds don’t always think alike and as an equal opportunities employer we welcome applications from those with all protected characteristics. We recruit on merit, fairness, and open competition in line with the Civil Service Code.

We can only accept applications from those eligible to live and work in the UK - please refer to GOV.UK for information. We require Security clearance, for which you need to have resided in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5 years to be eligible. You will need to achieve full security clearance within your first 6 months with us.