Senior Finance Business Partner

BirdLife International; Otley; Hybrid; GBP 57,000 - GBP 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A global conservation organization based in Cambridge is seeking a Senior Finance Business Partner to lead the Finance Planning team. Responsibilities include managing budget cycles, supporting donor funding, and improving team performance. Candidates should have experience in finance team leadership and be a qualified accountant. This role offers a hybrid working model and competitive salary along with additional benefits like a generous pension scheme and professional development opportunities.

Benefits

Hybrid work model

Generous pension scheme

25 days annual leave, increasing to 28

Access to LinkedIn Learning

Employee Assistance Programme

Qualifications

• Proven experience of developing finance teams.
• Relevant post qualification experience in finance.
• Experience in Business Partnering at a senior level.

Responsibilities

• Lead and coach the Finance Planning team.
• Collaborate with the finance team for development and support.
• Coordinate budgeting and forecasting cycles.
• Monitor annual budget and provide finance information.

Skills

Team leadership

Financial analysis

Budget management

Coaching

Education

Professional accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA)

Job description

Application deadline: Friday 20 February 2026 – 23:59 GMT
Location: Cambridge, UK (hybrid working, Tuesday each week in Cambridge office)

Full-time: 35 hours per week
Contract: Open-ended

Salary: £57,000 - £60,000 per annum depending on skills/experience, plus competitive 12% pension benefit
Annual Leave: 25 days pro rata in year 1, increasing by 1 day p/a to 28 days

We’re BirdLife International, the only global Partnership conserving birds and all life on our planet. We exist to give one voice to nature, and to unite and strengthen conservation across borders.

We are looking for a Senior Finance Business Partner to take a leading role in the management and development of the Finance Planning team in a growing and decentralised organisation with international branches and subsidiary entities.

How you will do this:

• Leading, coaching, motivating and appraising the Finance Planning team.
• Collaborating with the wider finance team to provide cover, develop a team ethic and ‘one voice’ for Finance.
• Drive a customer service mentality through the Finance team.
• Coordinate the budget and forecasting cycles to standard processes and a global timetable.
• Lead the monitoring of the annual budget and the provision of finance information to department managers.
• Support donor funding activities, monitoring finances and providing supporting information for pitches to donors.
• Work with Finance leaders to develop and maintain policies and procedures to adequately manage financial risk.

What we are looking for:

• Experience of leading and coaching a team, with proven experience of developing teams to their full potential.
• Fully qualified professional accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA).
• Proven relevant post qualification experience in business, finance and team leadership.
• Experience of Business Partnering at a senior level within a charitable or commercial organisation.

To be successful in this role you’ll need to be self‑motivated with good judgement and common sense. You’ll have sound administrative and organisational skills, be excellent at prioritising and working and managing staff to deadlines.

See the full job description here.

Some of our benefits:

• We are able to offer a hybrid model of working on‑site and from home/remote for most roles, which helps to ensure a flexible work‑life balance.
• A chance to work in the award‑winning David Attenborough Building, which brings together much of the Cambridge‑based conservation community on a ‘conservation campus.’
• A generous pension scheme, up to 12% company contribution.
• Holiday starting at 25 days excluding Bank Holidays and increasing for every year of service up to a maximum of 28 days.
• Full access to LinkedIn Learning with access to more than 13,000 high‑quality, on‑demand courses.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Employee Assistance Programme, including access to Health Assured online health portal (webinars, nutritional advice, 4‑week programmes, financial wellbeing and more).

BirdLife values a diverse workforce and welcomes applications from all sections of the community. Find out more about our Diversity statement.

We are committed to building and maintaining an inclusive and supportive culture, a place where we can all be ourselves and succeed on merit. We aim to promote a more inclusive environment, which attracts all candidates and signals our commitment to celebrate and promote diversity.

We will consider putting into place appropriate reasonable adjustments for candidates who may have a disability.

Interviews:

First interviews will be held online during the week of 23 February.