Finance Officer SZH

This job has now expired please search on the home page to find live IT Jobs.

My Client who is based in Bristol is looking for a Senior Manager with strong experience of Group Cash Planning & Optimisation for an initial 6 month contract with the potential to extend.

The Group Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) function works closely with Customer Facing Units (CFUs) and Corporate Unit (CUs) to develop stretching forecasts, provide meaningful insight into financial performance and drive action & decision making on a pan BT basis to support delivery of financial goals.

This role is critical to ensuring the BT Group consistently delivers cash performance in line with guidance / market expectations and to enable the business to make the right long term and strategic decisions when investing for the future.

The successful candidate will hold deep knowledge and expertise in developing an efficient and effective Group Cash FP&A function and in delivering opportunities to improve Cash Flow within a large and complex organisation. If you have a successful track record and a genuine passion for taking on new challenges, this role is for you.

You will be responsible for leading key activities to improve Cash & Working Capital management for BT Group. Key objectives of this role are to drive improvements in Cash forecast precision, identify & deliver initiatives to optimise working capital, enhance the level of insight & analysis into drivers of working capital performance and lead efforts to build organisational knowledge and capabilities across the business. Specific responsibilities will include:

Forecast Improvement - Drive a step change in forecast accuracy

*Consolidate, review and challenge the CFU and CU full year rolling Cash forecasts ensuring that all knowledge gained during month end is used to inform unit forecast assumptions effectively and produce outputs to distil and explain drivers of cash performance to the Group CFO & Leadership team on a monthly basis

*Consolidate, review and challenge the CFU and CU Budget / MTP Cash forecasts on an annual basis ensuring units support their 5yr plan with detailed insight, analysis and robust explanations

*Identify and investigate material forecast weaknesses to understand root cause of error

*Work collaboratively with CFUs to generate, agree and implement pragmatic and sustainable solutions to drive improvement in forecast accuracy

*Use governance to drive CFU ownership & accountability for better forecast effectiveness

*Use tracking techniques to monitor and quantify improvement in precision

*Drive tactical interventions to manage Group cash performance on an on-going basis

*Support CFUs with the continued development of their system-based quarterly Medium-Term Outlook (MTO) forecast models

*Collaborate closely with Group Finance Transformation to prioritise and deliver improved Cash & Working capital planning capabilities as part of the ERP (SAP) deployment

Optimisation - Drive initiatives to reduce working capital and improve cash flow

*Gather & analyse operational and transactional data to identify and pursue opportunities (tactical & strategic) to optimise working capital and free-up cash locked up on the balance sheet

*Work closely with CFUs, CUs, Group Billing and Procurement to propose, discuss & agree recommended improvements

*Lead and manage programmes with operational / finance teams to implement & deliver initiatives to agreed timescales

Other

*Lead efforts to enhance insight and analysis into Cash & Working Capital performance

*Lead on opportunities to automate Cash & Working capital tools & processes

*Champion and lead provision of support, guidance and training to finance and non-finance teams to drive continuous improvement in engagement, focus and effectiveness of the Cash & Working Capital organisation

*Responsible owner for other key related projects on an adhoc basis

Skills Required

*Qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CGMA)

*Deep Cash & Working Capital expertise via industry role or consulting experience

*Proven experience in leading activities to improve working capital forecast precision

*Demonstrable success in identifying and delivering projects to optimise working capital

*Previous experience in leading Cash & Working Capital reporting & planning processes

*Excellent relationship building capability

*Strong stakeholder and programme management skills

*Ability to operate and influence within a highly matrixed environment

*Excellent written, communication and presentation skills

*Strong commercial awareness, financial analysis and data mining skills

*Working knowledge of SAP and BI tools a strong advantage

LA International Computer Consultants Ltd is an HMG Approved Consultancy and operates as an IT & Engineering Consultancy or as an Employment Business & Agency, depending upon the precise nature of the work, for security cleared jobs or non-clearance vacancies, we welcome applications from all sections of the community and from people with diverse experience and backgrounds.

Award Winning LA International Computer Consultants Ltd (Recruiter Awards for Excellence - Best IT, Best Public Sector & Gold Awards) and the most prestigious award that any business can receive The Queens Award for Enterprise: International Trade 2015.