Commercial Finance Partner

Commercial Finance Partner

The Works is a unique place to… well… work. We are a proactive and hardworking bunch. We’ve built an environment that’s busy, fast-moving and full of energy. Our atmosphere is welcoming, friendly and inclusive. If you are the kind of person who is as crafty, caring and can-do as we are, then this is the kind of culture for you.

Reporting to the Senior Commercial Finance Manager, this role sits within an existing commercial team of four. In this key role you will develop a good understanding of the key drivers of the business to enable you to effectively deliver insight, challenge, add value and influence strategic business decisions. You will be responsible for building strong relationships and business partnering with senior managers and their teams, providing financial insight to support their commercial decision making.

Key Responsibilities

·         Dedicated Business Partner to The Works management team, building partnerships and strong relationships with all senior managers and their teams

·         Providing financial support to commercial decision making. Delivering analysis and insight that links financial reports to business strategies, covering sales and margin, marketing investment, channel performance, benchmarking our store portfolio, and operational labour models

·         Improving the impact, and understanding, of financial reporting on business performance; providing options and scenarios for business decisions

·         Providing effective commercial support  to ensure key operational, commercial and financial targets are delivered

·         Key leadership role in supporting the budgeting and forecast processes, providing support and challenge for budget holders, high-lighting risks and opportunities, and ensuring alignment with business objectives

·         Assisting with the development of new MI reporting, systems and processes, embracing continuous improvement

·         For areas of responsibility, ownership of the monthly management accounts and reporting to the board

Requirements

A fully qualified ACA/CIMA/ACCA, with commercial business partnering experience, you will be able to demonstrate the following:

Essential:

·         Motivated and self-sufficient, using initiative to be pro-active

·         Naturally inquisitive and confident to challenge both accepted assumptions and processes

·         Collaborative approach with excellent communication and interpersonal skills to be able to liaise with and influence colleagues at all levels

·         Commercially astute with a strong desire to understand the key levers in the business, and an ability to interpret numbers into meaningful insight, and communicate to the business

·         Ability to professionally challenge the business to make improvements to operational and financial performance

·         Experience of budgeting and forecasting processes including reviewing and challenging commercial targets with budget-holders

·         Strong Excel and analytical skills, with attention to detail and able to work at pace under time pressure

·         Confidence to initiate process improvements and the tenacity to see them through to completion

·         Strong organisational skills, flexible and able to adapt quickly to deliver a fast turnaround on ad-hoc tasks

Desirable:

·         Experience in a retail environment or similar fast paced organisation is a clear advantage

·         Experience in using MI tools such as Cognos, TM1, Aptos

Remuneration package

·         Salary £50k to £55k dependent on experience

·         33 days holiday (inclusive of Bank Holidays)

·         Company pension contribution

·         Hybrid working averaging 2 days per week in the office but flexing with requirements

·         25% colleague discount

·         Cycle to work scheme

·         Holiday purchase scheme

·         Employee Assistance Programme

·         Life Assurance

·         Healthcare Cash Plan

·         Free Car Parking

·         Charity Giving - Pennies from Heaven and Give as you Earn

Finally, the bit "About The Works"

We are people who do!

Here at The Works, we are building a working environment that’s fun, friendly, and supportive - all at the same time. It’s somewhere that’s designed for people who love getting busy, whether that’s helping customers, meeting new challenges, or building a rewarding career.

It’s a place for people who know how to roll their sleeves up, get creative, and put their passion and imagination to work…People who do!

We are the UK’s leading family friendly retailer of value gifts, arts, crafts, toys, books and stationery. With over  500 stores nationwide together with a brilliant online store, we’re here to offer our customers a unique and enjoyable shopping experience, built on our core principles of value, variety and quality. You will find our stores in a huge and diverse range of locations; on high streets, in shopping centres, on retail parks, and as concessions (usually in garden centres). We are also one of the few value retailers with a full featured online store that helps our customers to shop how they want, when they want, 7 days a week.

Oh....and we are super proud  to be a Sunday Times 2020 Top 25 “Best Big Companies” to work for. 

It all means that we have built the kind of working environment that is the perfect place for people who love our products to build a career. It is somewhere you can put your proud and passionate, inclusive and accessible, confident and honest, fun and creative, and nimble and driven approach to work.

And if you can roll up your sleeves, get on with any job, and meet any challenge, it’s also somewhere you can thrive.

#LI-PT1

Commercial Finance Partner

The Works is a unique place to… well… work. We are a proactive and hardworking bunch. We’ve built an environment that’s busy, fast-moving and full of energy. Our atmosphere is welcoming, friendly and inclusive. If you are the kind of person who is as crafty, caring and can-do as we are, then this is the kind of culture for you.

Reporting to the Senior Commercial Finance Manager, this role sits within an existing commercial team of four. In this key role you will develop a good understanding of the key drivers of the business to enable you to effectively deliver insight, challenge, add value and influence strategic business decisions. You will be responsible for building strong relationships and business partnering with senior managers and their teams, providing financial insight to support their commercial decision making.

Key Responsibilities

·         Dedicated Business Partner to The Works management team, building partnerships and strong relationships with all senior managers and their teams

·         Providing financial support to commercial decision making. Delivering analysis and insight that links financial reports to business strategies, covering sales and margin, marketing investment, channel performance, benchmarking our store portfolio, and operational labour models

·         Improving the impact, and understanding, of financial reporting on business performance; providing options and scenarios for business decisions

·         Providing effective commercial support  to ensure key operational, commercial and financial targets are delivered

·         Key leadership role in supporting the budgeting and forecast processes, providing support and challenge for budget holders, high-lighting risks and opportunities, and ensuring alignment with business objectives

·         Assisting with the development of new MI reporting, systems and processes, embracing continuous improvement

·         For areas of responsibility, ownership of the monthly management accounts and reporting to the board

Requirements

A fully qualified ACA/CIMA/ACCA, with commercial business partnering experience, you will be able to demonstrate the following:

Essential:

·         Motivated and self-sufficient, using initiative to be pro-active

·         Naturally inquisitive and confident to challenge both accepted assumptions and processes

·         Collaborative approach with excellent communication and interpersonal skills to be able to liaise with and influence colleagues at all levels

·         Commercially astute with a strong desire to understand the key levers in the business, and an ability to interpret numbers into meaningful insight, and communicate to the business

·         Ability to professionally challenge the business to make improvements to operational and financial performance

·         Experience of budgeting and forecasting processes including reviewing and challenging commercial targets with budget-holders

·         Strong Excel and analytical skills, with attention to detail and able to work at pace under time pressure

·         Confidence to initiate process improvements and the tenacity to see them through to completion

·         Strong organisational skills, flexible and able to adapt quickly to deliver a fast turnaround on ad-hoc tasks

Desirable:

·         Experience in a retail environment or similar fast paced organisation is a clear advantage

·         Experience in using MI tools such as Cognos, TM1, Aptos

Remuneration package

·         Salary £50k to £55k dependent on experience

·         33 days holiday (inclusive of Bank Holidays)

·         Company pension contribution

·         Hybrid working averaging 2 days per week in the office but flexing with requirements

·         25% colleague discount

·         Cycle to work scheme

·         Holiday purchase scheme

·         Employee Assistance Programme

·         Life Assurance

·         Healthcare Cash Plan

·         Free Car Parking

·         Charity Giving - Pennies from Heaven and Give as you Earn

Finally, the bit "About The Works"

We are people who do!

Here at The Works, we are building a working environment that’s fun, friendly, and supportive - all at the same time. It’s somewhere that’s designed for people who love getting busy, whether that’s helping customers, meeting new challenges, or building a rewarding career.

It’s a place for people who know how to roll their sleeves up, get creative, and put their passion and imagination to work…People who do!

We are the UK’s leading family friendly retailer of value gifts, arts, crafts, toys, books and stationery. With over  500 stores nationwide together with a brilliant online store, we’re here to offer our customers a unique and enjoyable shopping experience, built on our core principles of value, variety and quality. You will find our stores in a huge and diverse range of locations; on high streets, in shopping centres, on retail parks, and as concessions (usually in garden centres). We are also one of the few value retailers with a full featured online store that helps our customers to shop how they want, when they want, 7 days a week.

Oh....and we are super proud  to be a Sunday Times 2020 Top 25 “Best Big Companies” to work for. 

It all means that we have built the kind of working environment that is the perfect place for people who love our products to build a career. It is somewhere you can put your proud and passionate, inclusive and accessible, confident and honest, fun and creative, and nimble and driven approach to work.

And if you can roll up your sleeves, get on with any job, and meet any challenge, it’s also somewhere you can thrive.

#LI-PT1