Location

Department Name

About Network Rail

🌟 Join Our Team at Network Rail! 🌟

Are you ready to make a difference in people's lives? At Network Rail, we connect passengers and freight customers, ensuring safe and efficient transportation across the country. We're an organisation where people truly matter, and when you join us, you matter to us and millions of others. Click here to watch our inspiring video to learn more about us!

We're dedicated to building a diverse and inclusive organisation that reflects the passengers we serve. To achieve this, we're committed to becoming an open, diverse, and inclusive workplace, leveraging the skills and expertise of our talented workforce. Together, we strive to create a safe and accessible railway for everyone. Discover more about the importance of Diversity and Inclusion at Network Rail by clicking here..

Investing in our people is key to enhancing the safety, reliability, and efficiency of our railway system. If you're passionate about making a meaningful impact, then this opportunity is for you!

We're also a Disability Confident Leader employer and we'll try our best to adapt the process and offer a reasonable alternative to help support people with disabilities access, apply and interview for roles.

 About the function…

You will be working within Group Finance in the Finance and Systems Process team. In this role we will be looking for the successful applicant to be involved with the new reporting software, creating training videos and helping with its role out. In addition, you will be involved with the assurance review process across the wider business and other ad hoc tasks.

Brief Description

🌟 Join Our Team as a Finance Business Partner in Manchester! 🌟

Are you ready to take your finance expertise to the next level? We're on the lookout for a dynamic Finance Business Partner to join our growing team in Manchester. In this permanent role, you'll be an integral part of the supported business leadership team, making a real impact under the guidance of our Financial Controller/Senior Finance Business Partner.

About the role (External)

🚀 What's in it for you?

✨ Diverse Responsibilities: Your day will be anything but ordinary! As a Finance Business Partner, you'll wear multiple hats - from providing financial advice to senior budget holders to being the go-to expert in accounting practices for your function.

🤝 Collaborative Environment: You won't be working in isolation. Engage and influence senior team members, fostering a collaborative spirit that helps everyone understand their financial position better.

💡 Strategic Impact: Your work will directly contribute to informed decision-making. Deliver expert business reviews, identify commercial risks, and proactively manage opportunities to drive efficiency and achieve targets.

🌐 Corporate Governance Champion: Be the guardian of corporate governance in your cost centres. Conduct deep dives, review compliance, and protect the business from legal or negative consequences.

🌈 What's an average day like?

As a Finance Business Partner, your day will be a blend of exciting responsibilities:

📊 Financial Guidance: Lead and provide financial advice to senior budget holders, ensuring they understand the impact of results and forecasts against budgets.

🔍 Expert Accounting Practices: Be the function's expert on accounting practices, advising on financial results, and preparing accurate accruals, transfers, and adjustments.

🔒 Risk Management: Proactively manage commercial risks, influencing decision-makers to reduce potential impacts on the business area.

💼 Performance Management: Manage central accounting functions to deliver efficient and effective services for your cost center area.

📈 Strategic Planning: Build detailed plans, manage business plans and budgets, and identify opportunities for value-added analysis.

📑 Investment Recommendations: Collate, investigate, and make recommendations for investment appraisals and business case analysis.

What essential skills and experiences are required?

The successful candidate for this role will be required to be/have: -

1.     Demonstrate strong understanding of business needs and relevant application of accounting standards

2.     Membership (Or working towards a membership) of a relevant accounting body (CIMA/ACCA) or equivalent experience

3.     Expert knowledge and experience of creating and maintaining accounts and annual budget

4.     Significant experience within relevant finance disciplines

5.     Strong excel skills and use of data manipulation

6.     Strong interpersonal and communication skills

7.     Ability to interpret technical accounting regulations into everyday language

8.     Demonstrable effective influencing skills at a senior level

9.     Significant understanding of financial control and risk

10.  Excellent technical finance and accounting knowledge

For a full list of the key accountabilities and essential/desirable criteria, please click apply and you will be taken to the network rail external site where you can see the attached Network Rail Job Description.

How to apply (External)

A message from our Chief Executive, Andrew Haines:

‘Our passengers and freight users are at the heart of everything we do. We help connect people to their friends and families and get goods to their destination safely and efficiently. We're an organisation where people matter.  Watch our video to find out more!

We're continuing to build a diverse organisation which is representative of the people we serve. We want to harness the skills and expertise of our people and attract the best talent, to enable a safe and accessible railway for everyone. To learn why inclusion is important to us, please click here.

Duration: Permanent

Location: This role is based at Manchester Square One.

Closing date: 1st February 2024. On occasions, we may need to close the advert early based upon application volumes. Late applications will not be accepted.

Interviews will be held on a date to be confirmed

Band & Salary: Band 4C - £43,588 - £49,036

What can we offer you in return?

We have a range of benefits including:

·     28 days annual leave entitlement, plus Bank Holidays and five volunteer days

·     My Benefits – our discounted online shopping site

·     Flexible and family friendly policies and practices

·     A range of discounted offers including, Healthcare offers, cycle to work, healthcare club discounted membership and other benefits

·     Subsidies of up to 75% on rail and underground season tickets

·     A range of pension schemes

·     Two weeks paid reserve leave for our Armed Forces community

·     Training, development and employee assistance programme available

·     To learn about the benefits we offer please here.

What does our recruitment process look like?

1.        Once you have applied, our Recruitment Specialist will look at your CV.

2.        If your experience matches what we're looking for, you'll be invited to an interview /or complete a first interview using xxx a video interviewing platform, you can complete your interview anytime that works for you. /or complete an assessment.

3.        If you ace your video interview/or assessment, you'll be invited to face to face interview with the hiring manager.

About our people and the recruitment process… 

We're an inclusive employer of choice and we welcome applications from everyone! 

We encourage our colleagues to work flexibly, as we know traditional working patterns don't always fit. If you want to consider working flexibly, just let us know and we'll do our best to help and invest in your career with us, whilst you have a healthy work life balance. 

We're also a Disability Confident Leader employer and we'll try our best to adapt the process and offer a reasonable alternative to help support people with disabilities access, apply and interview for roles.’

Visit Evenbreak’s Career Hive should you need accessibility support to apply or should you require any reasonable adjustments/modifications, please contact iRecSupport@networkrail.co.uk and have your IRC number ready as this will be required.

As an arm’s length department of the UK Government, Network Rail is required to comply with a well-established pre-employment vetting process for all prospective employees. Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks require prospective employees of Network Rail to meet the following requirements.

• Provide eligibility to work in the UK and identity documentation

• Complete a satisfactory 3-year employment history check

• Complete a satisfactory unspent criminal conviction disclosure check for more information regarding BPSS pre-employment related checks, please visit the UK Government website for further information - UK Government - BPSS Checks

Network Rail welcomes applications regardless of age, disability, marital status (including civil partnerships), pregnancy or maternity, race, religion or belief, sexual orientation, transgender status, sex (or gender), employment status, trade union affiliation, or another factor.

We will interview all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria.

Safe behaviour is a requirement of working for Network Rail. Applicants should be able to demonstrate their awareness of our Safety Vision

Network Rail positively embraces flexible working recognising that employees may wish to balance work and family/home life.

We’re delighted to have been named as one of The Times Top 50 Employers for Gender Equality 2023.

Drugs and Alcohol Standard:

Our Drugs and Alcohol Standard is changing as of 16.01.2023. All prospective candidates who have not been offered a conditional role by 16.01.2023 will be required to undergo and pass a drugs and alcohol test. Your application will be rescinded if you record a positive test. All positive drugs and alcohol test results for prospective candidates will be securely held on Sentinel database and a 5 year suspension from applying for a safety critical role, a role which requires PTS certification or a Key Safety role on Network Rail Managed Infrastructure will be enforced.