Junior Finance Business Partner CSM

The opportunity

The Opportunity

This is an exciting new role that was created to strengthen the Central St Martin’s Finance team at a time of sustainable growth. The successful candidate will be joining the friendly and supportive University of the Arts London (UAL) Academic Finance team that works with stakeholders across all the four UAL colleges. This is an excellent opportunity to contribute to the financial management and decision-making processes within a dynamic and creative environment.

You will play a crucial role in providing reliable financial and management information and customer focussed support to budget holders and stakeholders across Central St Martins (CSM). Collaborating closely with the CSM Head of Finance and CSM Finance Manager, you will be responsible for delivering comprehensive finance business partnering services. Your main responsibilities include supporting; annual budget setting, the financial year-end process, quarterly forecasting, monthly reporting and ensuring adherence to established principles and agreed timelines. You will also provide insightful commentaries and variance analysis to facilitate informed decision making.

Additionally, you will develop and maintain strong relationships with an assigned group of senior managers to understand their plans, deliverables, and operational challenges. You will contribute to the process improvements and the development of financial transparency, accountability, and engagement across the College. You will be able to assist in the enhancement of monthly reporting packs by evaluating reporting needs and proposing updates as required. Furthermore, you will conduct business analysis for course validations, new course development, resource allocations, and team structure changes.

About You

This versatile role will be suitable for someone who is actively studying towards a professional accounting qualification and is looking for the next step in their career. You will need to demonstrate relevant work experience and strong knowledge of financial controls and procedures. Experience in financial planning, budget setting, forecasting, and variance analysis is essential, along with the ability to produce user friendly management report within tight deadlines.

You should be a strong team-player who can also work independently without supervision and have a proven track record of offering and implementing improvements. Your strong planning and organisational skills will enable you prioritise effectively and manage resources to achieve both short and long-term objectives. Additionally, you should have excellent oral and written communication skills, with the ability to convey complex financial information to non-finance staff in a clear and meaningful manner.

About you

What does the candidate need / Your profile should include:

• Previous experience in a Management Accounting or Financial Planning and Analysis role
• Good knowledge of financial process and procedures
• Actively studying towards a professional accounting qualification (ACCA; CIMA or equivalent)
• Excellent MS Office skills especially Excel, Word and Outlook.
• Knowledge of Finance Information Systems (Agresso / Excelerator desirable)
• Effective communication skills
• Pro-active attitude

If this role sounds like the desired next step in your career but you feel that you do not cover every single one of the requirements, please apply and let us decide.

Please note that we might need to close the application process earlier if the number of applications reach a maximum number, so apply today.

Please check the JD for further details and if you have any queries about this role or need any reasonable adjustments for your application, please contact Leila Farrance, Resourcing Adviser via email PSOstaffRecruitment@arts.ac.uk.

What we offer

We are UAL

About us  

For the fourth year running, University of the Arts London is the world’s second University for Art and Design in the QS World University Rankings. As one of the largest universities in the UK, our diverse and talented community comprises of over 5,000 academic, professional, and technical staff. Together we are all committed to nurturing creativity and deploying it to help solve the world's problems. 

We are passionate at supporting all our staff to fulfil their full potential and develop their expertise, so the successful candidate will receive a fully funded study support along with the opportunity to develop in practice all the skills that are required for the completion of a professional accounting qualification.

We also offer hybrid and flexible working practices, and excellent staff benefits with 2-3 days working from our iconic offices at London, Kings Cross.

Finally, we appreciate people spend a large amount of their time at work, so we are passionate about creating a welcoming atmosphere with loads of opportunities for socialising: from breakfasts celebrating the team’s achievements, through team’s visits of our famous Degree shows to a walking group at lunchtime or just a drink with colleagues after work. We believe people work better together when they feel accepted and appreciated. This is why we are championing inclusion and diversity and promote collaboration and knowledge sharing.

Our culture