Finance Business Partner - 6 month FTC

Where you’ll work:

At OVO, we understand that a one size fits all approach doesn’t work for everyone. That’s why we created the OVO Way of Flexibility.

All our roles are hub based, providing a dedicated space for collaboration, connection and teamwork. Ideally, we're looking for candidates who can access our Bristol or London office on a weekly basis. You'll also have the flexibility to work from home.

Everyone belongs at OVO

At OVO, we are on a mission to solve one of humanity's biggest challenges, the climate crisis. And we know it takes all of us to change the world. That's why we need diverse people from all abilities, gender identities, ethnicities, ages, sexual orientations, life experiences and backgrounds to join us.

Teamworking for the planet

Everything we do here spins around Plan Zero. So, naturally, the team you’ll be joining plays a gigantic role in making that happen. Here’s how:

The OVO finance team consists of around 130 people and is split into three pillars:

Pillar 1: Foundations,

Pillar 2: Business partnering

Pillar 3: Strategic & corporate finance

This role will sit in Pillar 2 as the Finance Business Partner in the finance business partnering team. The role reports into the Senior Finance Business Partner, who in turn reports into the Head of Finance Business Partnering.

The finance business partnering team works closely with the following finance teams: FP&A, Procurement, Supplier Relationship Management, Management Accounting, and Commercial Finance.

This role in a nutshell:

You will collaborate with stakeholders, assess financial cause and effect and understand the regulatory environment. You’ll be able to hypothesise on potential value driving solutions and work with the business to implement.  

You’ll be able to risk assess and see alternative pathways, assess their credibility and capture the key cost saving or value driving sensitivities. You’ll model various solutions and make recommendations to your stakeholders. 

You will understand the wider business and engage to build business cases using your commercial acumen which considers cost reflectivity, business activities and key stakeholders

You’ll be a strong communicator who visualises financials with the user in mind so that it is engaging and relevant to the audience, creating a clear narrative throughout.

Your key outcomes will be:

Partnering

• Partner with LTs (VPs, Directors, HoDs) providing financial insight and challenge into strategic and tactical decisions as well as past business performance
• Maintain a monthly cadence for an outlook, connecting with the People & Procurement teams for full, well rounded reviews. Advising the business on course correction if actual costs stray from budget, including working with the OVO leadership team to devise plans to converge back to budget.
• Working collaboratively with senior business leaders to prepare analysis to support and constructively challenge financial decision making. This is both as requested by the business, and also ad hoc where the business partnering team spots potential opportunities.

Budgeting

• Contribute to the financial semi-annual budgeting process, working between the Business and FP&A to ensure robust financial plans are delivered in line with agreed timescales, balancing stretch and credibility. 
• Working with the people partnering team on production and delivery of company wide resource plans.
• Working with the business through annual medium term strategic outlook processes to develop 3-5 year forecasts, and in particular supporting business leaders to develop industry leading team structures which allow for best-in-class operational leverage.
• Understands and devises opportunities for cost base improvements, and presents these to the finance leadership team and the OVO leadership team.

Investment appraisal & cost governance

• Owning and leading the investment appraisal process, including business casing, pre-investment appraisal and post-investment reviews. Setting return on investment hurdles and ensuring cost governance over material projects.
• Working with the tax team and the business to support R&D tax claims.

Representing the finance team

• Representing the finance team in regular conversations with the business and liaising back with the individual specialist areas of the finance team on matters arising around the business. The candidate will update the finance leadership team on a regular basis on matters which they have become aware of and which impact the finance team.
• Striving to improve the business and our finance processes to allow better insight and more focus on value adding activities

You’ll be a successful Finance Business Partner here at OVO if you…

• Finance professional with experience of solving business issues of similar scale and complexity  
• Ability to Interpret and assimilate multiple data sources to provide meaningful insight and appropriate recommendations and clear actions
• Effectively communicating financial performance to operational colleagues to embed financial understanding within the business
• Influence strategy and translate this into actionable programmes, opportunities or activities that result in improved profitability or risk mitigation
• Able to manage multiple complex projects/processes simultaneously commercially focused on ability to make fair returns from our customers

Let’s talk about what’s in it for you

We’ll pay you between £45,000 and £55,000, depending on your specific skills and experience. If your expectations are a little different, have a chat with us!

We keep our pay ranges broad on purpose to give us, and you, flexibility to match your experience to our zero carbon mission.

You’ll be eligible for an on-target bonus of 15%. We have one OVO bonus plan that focuses on the collective performance of our people to deliver our Plan Zero goal. 

We also offer plenty of green benefits and progressive policies to help you feel like you belong at OVO…and there’s flex pay. It’s an extra 9% of your salary on top of your core pay to use as you like. You can take it as cash, add to your pension, or choose to spend it on a huge range of flex benefits.