Business Operations Manager

Why this job matters

This role is all about driving our quest for operational simplicity and efficiency. Supporting the unit to ensure resource costs are aligned to the correct workstream and that all costs are recovered appropriately, but also ensuring accurate forecasts are provided to allow effective financial and business planning.

You will skillfully streamline financial processes. You’ll have a track record of simplification, and you’ll handle budgeting, accurate forecasting of financial trends, and ensure budgets are realistic during crucial project phases.   You will also lead / support on Business Operations projects - Your can-do attitude and knack for making complex matters understandable will truly elevate our efforts to be Personal, Simple, and Brilliant.

Joining us as a as a Commercial & Operations Specialist isn't just about a job – it's an opportunity to be a crucial part of our commercial transformation. You'll gain exposure to senior leaders, make an impact on our financial landscape, and shape the trajectory of our projects.

What you’ll be doing

• Budget Management: you will ensure all resources are allocated and accounted for, in line with available budget, effective change control, risk identification and management, and providing effective and accurate reporting and analysis - critical to driving business decisions.
• Accurate Forecasting: You hold the reins of precision, ensuring monthly forecasts align with predetermined budgets. Your close collaboration with unit leads senior managers and project managers guarantees the quality and reliability of these forecasts.
• Effective Billing: You are tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that units you support wholly and efficiently recover costs in accordance with approved funding.
• Comprehensive Financial Reporting: Through close collaboration with Project Managers, you produce financial reports that are easy to understand, upholding the highest standards of accuracy.
• Proactive Risk Management: you continuously identify, track, manage, and report financial risks, issues, and opportunities, thereby fostering financial resilience.
  Business Operations – the role will require you to lead, or support on any number of business operations initiatives which may or may not be commercial in nature. 

The skills you'll need

• Problem solving – you will be required to identify issues and deliver solutions,
• Strong track record of managing budgets
• Ability to demonstrate specific opportunities to transform and simplify a business approach to managing finances
• Creating and delivering reports which are well used, timely and appropriate
• Risk management – you need to call out and manage risks, and deliver good and bad news
• Ability to identify problems, or opportunities for improvement, and deliver effective solutions
• Storytelling with data: strong skills in building the case for change, drawing on data and analytical techniques where appropriate, and communicating this to business audiences.
• Organised & detail orientated –strong understanding of incoming funding and how you manage the spend/costs throughout the year.
• Stakeholder management – as the person responsible for ensuring that we meet scorecard KPI’s you’ll need to work closely with other teams and challenge where necessary. The role will be aligned to support a number of units and you will be the trusted commercial partner / SME for those units.
• Reporting – creation of reports that are useful, accurate and unambiguous.
• Commercial acumen: Knowledgeable in business strategy and the drivers of organisational performance, financial literacy (e.g. business KPIs, business cases)

Our leadership standards

Looking in:
Leading inclusively and Safely
I inspire and build trust through self-awareness, honesty and integrity.
Owning outcomes
I take the right decisions that benefit the broader organisation.

Looking out:
Delivering for the customer
I execute brilliantly on clear priorities that add value to our customers and the wider business.
Commercially savvy
I demonstrate strong commercial focus, bringing an external perspective to decision-making.

Looking to the future:
Growth mindset
I experiment and identify opportunities for growth for both myself and the organisation.
Building for the future
I build diverse future-ready teams where all individuals can be at their best.