Senior Finance Business Partner

University of Sussex; Brighton; On-site; GBP 47,000 - 57,000; Full time

Job summary

A prestigious university in Brighton is seeking an experienced Senior Finance Business Partner. The successful candidate will provide strategic financial support, analyze business opportunities, and facilitate financial planning for senior leaders. A strong background in the Higher Education sector and excellent communication skills are essential. The role offers a competitive salary between £47,389 and £56,535 and is focused on developing sustainable financial plans and facilitating decision-making across various university initiatives.

Qualifications

• Must be able to explain complex financial concepts to non-financial colleagues.
• Experience supporting senior leaders in strategic decision-making.
• Proven track record in budgeting, forecasting, and planning.

Responsibilities

• Provide expert financial support to strategic business development initiatives.
• Collaborate with business leaders to formulate sustainable business plans.
• Support the development of income-generating activities across portfolios.

Skills

Analytical skills

Effective communication

Financial planning

Interpersonal skills

Education

Experience in the Higher Education sector

Experience in a large organization

Tools

Reporting tools

IT systems

Job description

Senior Finance Business Partner Ref: 41452 (Strategic Development Initiatives)

Brighton, UK

Hours

Full time, 37.5 hours per week. Requests for flexible working options will be considered (subject to business need).

Grade 8 starting at £47,389 to £56,535 per annum (with a discretionary range dependent upon skills and experience)

Contract Type

Permanent

About the role

An exciting opportunity exists to join the University of Sussex as its Senior Business Partner, delivering services to support strategic business development initiatives. This new role will provide expert advice and strategic financial support to the University’s senior leaders, underpinning delivery of the University’s Strategy 2035 and ensuring sustainable financial performance objectives are met.

You will support and advise on financial planning, taking a prominent role in analysing and evaluating strategic business opportunities, supporting the development of proposals with directors of service and academic business leads for prioritisation by the University’s Executive, and formulating financially sustainable business plans for implementation. You will primarily support the development of new business opportunities and improve the performance of existing initiatives and projects. You will work across academic and professional services portfolios, collaborating with business leaders and budget holders, to support the ongoing development of a portfolio of income generating activities and services, based on and around core higher education provision and research activity, as well as other commercial operating activities.

You must be a confident communicator able to work effectively with academic and non‑academic stakeholders. You must be an enthusiastic collaborator who embraces team working and is able to leverage support and expertise from colleagues across core business partnering teams. You will provide critical business partnering support in the development of strategic ideas and options ensuring a high level of financial credibility and building excellent financial literacy and practice across the University alongside fellow Senior Finance Business Partners.

You must have an analytical mind and be experienced in presenting financial information for decision making in a succinct and digestible form by a non‑financial audience. You will be familiar with the development and use of reporting tools and data‑driven decision‑making processes. This must include a high level of competence to build business cases and define models in support of decision making for strategies and specific initiatives.

About you

You will be an experienced finance business partner that can demonstrate effective organisational, analytical and interpersonal skills. You will have experience of the Higher Education sector and be used to working in a similarly large and diverse organisation. You are an excellent communicator and able to explain complex financial information to non‑financial colleagues.

You enjoy identifying and solving problems and use IT systems and tools to deliver solutions. You have experience of working to support senior business leaders and budget holders to make strategic decisions, with a proven track record in forecasting, budgeting and planning financial outcomes.

About our Division

The Finance Division is led by the Director of Finance who reports directly to the Vice Chancellor. We employ some 80 staff who provide high quality financial and commercial services which support both the day to day running of our schools, services, and the development and delivery of the University’s strategic aims.

Our staff work in partnership with academic, professional service colleagues, and students to understand their priorities and needs. We maintain efficient and effective services, systems, and processes, assist in identifying and exploiting commercial and strategic opportunities, manage financial risk and improve ‘spending power’ through negotiation of favourable commercial terms. We work hard to equip staff across the University with financial capability and confidence to ensure that the University makes the best use of resources for our students and research partners.

Our university is situated off the A27, next to the beautiful South Downs where you will enjoy everything that our 150‑acre campus has to offer. We are accessible by public transport; Falmer train station is a five‑minute walk to campus and several bus stops are located within campus. We also have dedicated cycling paths and encourage our staff to use these with our offering of a cycle to work scheme.

Sussex is a renowned, multi‑accredited, research‑led International University and this is only possible because of the people that work here. Whether you are a member of Faculty, part of a Professional Services team or a Student, it’s our people that make us great and we want you to be part of that.

The University requires that work undertaken for the University is performed in the UK.

This role may be eligible for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker route. The assigned SOC code is 1131 and the going rate is £75,100. Eligibility for sponsorship will depend on the salary offered and whether the candidate holds an existing Skilled Worker sponsorship which began before 4 April 2024.

Immediate start subject to contractual notice periods.

Fixed Term Contract Duration

If you are experiencing any issues using our application portal or if you require adjustments to be made to the selection process, please contact us on [phone] or [e-mail] to discuss your requirements.