Our Midlands Assurance business generate annual revenues of c.£80m and employs over c.600 people across the three offices in the region. It provides statutory audit, internal audit, risk assurance and deals work to a range of multinational, domestic, private and public sector organisations and businesses.

Working directly with the Midlands Assurance business unit leader and regional chairman, the individual in this role will provide commercially focused solutions and insight in support of the business units’ and market financial strategy. The individual will participate in local leadership meetings to provide support (and where appropriate, challenge) to the business from a financial perspective. The individual will draw on commercial and technical knowledge, and excellent interpersonal skills to drive, influence and challenge the business to achieve short and long term financial objectives. 

About the role Main areas of responsibility

Performance management & improvement

• Is responsible for providing commentary and interpretation of the monthly financial results to the Midlands’ business leaders (including Assurance business unit leader, regional chairman, segment leaders and office senior partners). Able to interpret, communicate, narrate and draw management attention to the commercial implications of business performance, succinctly and with impact.

• Monitors performance of the financial KPIs while understanding the relationship / behaviours of the non financial metrics. Employs strong business analysis skills to explore opportunities to identify underlying business issues from financial data and trends. Proposes, discusses and agrees actions with the Midlands Assurance business unit leader and leads/supports implementation of any actions to address areas of poor performance. In doing so provides constructive challenge to the Midlands’ business leaders.
  
  Of a more specific nature, is responsible for

• Driving a focus on client profitability and selectivity.

• Seeking profit/margin improvement opportunities and leading local business units implementation of firmwide or LoS specific financial performance improvement initiatives.

• Taking steps to influence business unit billing and cash collection performance.

• Working closely with Resourcing functions to provide input into the development of local business unit manpower plans including reward, recruitment and mobility strategies.

• Offering general pricing support to local business unit engagements and support the bid review process

• Providing business analysis support and financial information provision of an ad hoc nature
   

Business strategy & strategic planning

• Works closely with other functional representatives to provide input into the preparation of the financial aspects of the business plan. Helps identify, develop and prioritise delivery of the firm’s strategic and operational financial objectives within the business units, ensuring alignment with the business KPIs.

Budgeting & forecasting

• Leads and coordinates preparation of the business units’ annual budgets and forecasts in line with centrally defined guidelines, liaising with and gathering input from all appropriate sources across the business units

• Works closely with HC and Resourcing functions to provide input into the development of local BU manpower plans

Financial control & compliance

• Works in close partnership with the Financial Control centre of excellence to encourage a culture of strong financial discipline and adoption of one firm financial policies and procedures within the business unit.

People management

• Is responsible for managing the workloads of the team and setting the appropriate tone and working environment

• Works in partnership with the Finance training team and HC Leader to explore opportunities to improve the commerciality of client facing Partners and Staff

Provides input into the design, and if appropriate, delivery of commercial awareness training.

Requirements

• ACA or CIMA or ACCA qualified

• Commercially minded with a good understanding of a professional services firm business model

• Strong analytical skills and the ability to communicate articulately with impact - both written and verbal

• People management skills with a focus on career development for both self and other team members

• A strong relationship builder with a reputation for integrity and evoking trust and openness in partners, client facing staff and support staff alike

• Committed to developing mutually supportive relationships with the wider finance team and able to effectively utilise the expertise available. Recognises the importance of interacting and networking with peers to ensure an open and steady flow of information

• Action orientated, with a focus on continuous improvement in all areas of work.

• Demonstrates high energy and productivity, and able to deliver quality results with a challenging but positive and influencing style

A change manager with gravitas and credibility to influence at a senior level within the organisation

The role, based in any of the 3 Midlands offices (Birmingham, East Midlands or Milton Keynes office), will require some travel to the firm’s other offices across the Midlands on a regular basis (Birmingham, East Midlands, Milton Keynes) as well as to London.

Internal firm services

In order to deliver a first-class service to our clients, we need first-class support internally. Internal firm services is a network of specialist support professionals and includes marketing, recruitment, human capital, finance, technology, learning and development, procurement, to name but a few. Each team plays a vital role in making sure we have all the right resources, services and technology across our business.

The skills we look for in future employees

All our people need to demonstrate the skills and behaviours that support us in delivering our business strategy. This is important to the work we do for our business, and our clients. These skills and behaviours make up our global leadership framework, ‘The PwC Professional’ and are made up of five core attributes; whole leadership, technical capabilities, business acumen, global acumen and relationships.

Diversity

We work in a changing world which offers great opportunities for people with diverse backgrounds and experiences. We seek to attract and employ the best people from the widest talent pool, as well as those who reflect the diverse nature of our society. And we aim to encourage a culture where people can be themselves and be valued for their strengths. Creating value through diversity is what makes us strong as a business and as an organisation with an increasingly agile workforce, we're open to flexible working arrangements where appropriate.