This is an exciting opportunity for an ambitious individual who wants to be part of a progressive, customer-centric team which works closely with the business to provide budget assurance and performance improvement whilst challenging and influencing the leadership teams in managing their areas.
About the role
This role sits within the Finance Business Partner team which supports CMS leadership teams with accurate, timely, insightful and relevant financial planning advice to ensure the business is making informed business decisions to support its strategic growth plans. We aim to be an effective and efficient business partnering service, working in conjunction with other colleagues across the professional leadership team to drive strategy and deliver operational excellence.
In this role, you can expect to get involved in a variety of work including:
Financial Planning
- Annual planning and budgeting
- Quarterly reforecasting
- Executive Reporting to Senior Management in the Firm at regular Business Review Meetings
- Longer term strategic reviews of offices and teams to support profitable growth
Business Partnering
- Serving as the link between the Partnership and the Finance department.
- Proactively working with Office Managing Partners, Practice Group Leaders and their leadership teams and partners to provide financial expertise and support, e.g. attendance/presentations at partner and leadership meetings
- Providing financial mentoring and training to newly promoted partners/laterals/promotion candidates/new firm joiners.
- Engage with wider Finance projects/initiatives to be the PG/Region representative
- Providing necessary financial support to ensure strategic business development, client retention and increased client profitability within the practice groups (BD).
- In conjunction with the working capital team, keep abreast of any issues within the practice group and assist in resolution / meetings. Being able to articulate any budget risks of any significant working capital issues.
- Equity Review - understanding metrics
Financial Analysis
- Enabling the practice group and regions to achieve their objectives, make decisions and plan appropriately through the effective understanding and application of financial analysis.
- Delivery of monthly finance MI which contains insightful commentary and analysis. Monitoring performance against long-term strategic and short-term operational plans and assisting the partners formulate the necessary actions to be taken to achieve agreed financial targets.
- Effective presentation to practice group leadership teams. Conducting thorough annual financial reviews.
- Advising the practice groups in building business cases for required initiatives, such as lateral hires, practice area and geographic expansion
- In conjunction with Finance Business Partner colleagues, supporting the Financial Planning and Decision Support team in the overall financial management of the practice areas.
- Advanced ad-hoc analysis as required to help maximise profitability across the group around realisation, fee earner utilisation and working capital.
About you
We will invest in your ongoing training and development to support your professional goals and help you to thrive in your role from day one. Our opportunities are open to all suitably qualified applicants, so to be considered for this role, you must meet the following skills and experience:
- ACCA / ACA / CIMA qualified with a minimum 4 years post qualified experience
- Experience with supporting and influencing senior stakeholders
- Advanced MS Office suite user (particularly Excel)
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills
- The ability to remain calm and focussed under pressure
- Excellent soft skills including the ability to influence or challenge senior stakeholders when necessary
- A continuous improvement mentality to support development of self, colleagues and business processes and interactions
- Attention to detail as well as an ability to see the bigger picture which considers any cross-business implications
- A collaborative team-player who is transparent and has a straight forward approach
Equal opportunities
At CMS, we place diversity and inclusion at the centre of our culture and the heart of our organisation. As a firm we recognise, celebrate, and embrace the diverse talent our society has to offer because we know that to solve big problems, we need the best and brightest minds available to us. In support of this goal, we commit to actively breaking down barriers which stand in the way of those from diverse backgrounds and play our part in levelling the playing field.
We are a Level 2 Disability Confident Employer, and we actively encourage applications from people with disabilities, whether visible or invisible. We are committed to promoting equality of opportunity throughout our recruitment process and in every element of the employee life cycle. If you require assistance, or if you would like to discuss any accessibility requirements or adjustments as part of the recruitment process, please contact Steve Paine at who will be happy to support you.
Ready to apply? Here are the next steps.
We look forward to receiving your application online via the CMS careers site. Please contact our Talent Acquisition team if you have any questions.
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