Senior FP&A & Business Partner

Caledonian Sleeper – Glasgow

Permanent, Full Time, 37.5 hours per week – Hybrid working 2 days in the office

Competitive salary plus benefits 

At Caledonian Sleeper, we have a fantastic position available for a Senior FP&A & Business Partner to join the team in Glasgow. 

This is a great opportunity for an enthusiastic and motivated finance professional to join the Caledonian Sleeper Finance Team. In this new role, you will collaborate with the Head of Finance and the Financial Reporting Manager to provide proactive business partnering with operational managers and lead the development of precise financial forecasts and budgets for the business.

A critical initial focus will be partnering with our Business Transition programme team to oversee the transition of the FP&A function from our current third-party provider, leveraging your expertise to implement best practices.

The ideal candidate will have a solid background in finance business partnering, financial planning and modelling, as well as cash flow planning and management. Strong analytical, influencing, communication, leadership, and problem-solving skills are essential, along with a keen attention to detail. This role will support the Head of Finance and the wider Caledonian Sleeper business in enhancing financial insight and awareness to facilitate decision-making throughout the business, as well as in establishing and tracking financial targets.

Joining the Finance team now presents an exciting opportunity as we redefine our Finance operating model, systems, and practices!

Main Accountabilities:

• Delivering high-quality, value-added business partner support to operational managers.
• Building strong relationships with operational managers to influence their financial decision-making.
• Managing the annual rolling financial forecast for CSL, making necessary adjustments to reflect updates to the full-year position.
• Taking full ownership of the annual CSL budgeting process, including the model, timelines, and stakeholder input management.
• Addressing any ad hoc financial planning requests from the parent company (SRH) or the Scottish Government.
• Forecasting and monitoring CSL cash flows to ensure sufficient cash availability at all times.
• Developing and managing forecasting for CSL capital projects to provide clear full-year and multi-year positions.
• Driving continuous improvement in FP&A by identifying and implementing best practices, process enhancements, and system solutions.
• Leading the establishment of an FP&A/business partnering team within the finance department, offering support and leadership through coaching, training, and feedback.
• Effectively managing deadlines, prioritizing your workload and that of your team, and delegating tasks as appropriate.
• Collaborating closely with the Financial Reporting Manager to create reports that provide valuable insights and actionable recommendations.

As part of this role, you may also be asked to travel to other stations as and when required. 

What you’ll need to do the role:

Qualifications:

• Qualified accountant.

Skills, Knowledge, and Experience:

• Accounting and Finance Expertise: Demonstrated understanding of accounting principles, financial reporting, and compliance. Ability to prepare and analyse financial data to derive insightful information, with experience in financial modelling.
• Leadership and Communication Skills: Ability to lead and motivate the FP&A team, providing coaching, feedback, and training while resolving any issues or conflicts. Effectively communicate with both internal and external stakeholders, proactively building strong relationships.
• Process Improvement and Systems Proficiency: Drive continuous improvement initiatives within the finance function by identifying and implementing best practices, process enhancements, and system solutions. Proficient in utilising financial software and tools to create accurate and accessible forecasts.
• Strategic and Critical Thinking: Capability to assess and analyse business dynamics from both operational and strategic viewpoints, adding value by constructively challenging and influencing to drive positive change.

Additional features of the role:

• Familiarity with the Record to Report (R2R) process will be beneficial.
• Experience with Dynamics 365 and Power BI will also be an advantage.
• Previous involvement in forecasting and budgeting related to IT system implementations or changes would be helpful.
• Experience in team management and a proven track record of driving positive change is a plus.

What we offer

• Competitive salary 
• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Free Scotland wide rail travel with ScotRail for the employee and eligible family members 
• Allocation of complimentary tickets each year for Caledonian Sleeper travel 
• Railway Pension Scheme