Head of Shared Services - Finance - 6 months

Head of Shared Services – Finance – 6 months
Head of Shared Services – Finance – 6 months

The location of the role is Manchester / London / remote. Travel between the sites will be required.

The pay rate on offer is GBP900 – GBP1000 (negotiable).

The client is an iconic, multinational high–street retailer.

Job purpose

To lead, set direction and engage the Business Service Centre (BSC) and the Finance Systems & BI team, in delivering the finance transformation strategic plans.

Set the strategic direction for finance data and lead the Finance Systems group in provision of value–add data systems to drive value through commercial insight which influences and enhances business decision making.

Engage with senior finance and business stakeholders to develop strategy, principles and policies and implement initiatives to maximise the quality and value of business information.

Key accountabilities & responsibilities

Identify, develop and drive improvement initiatives including the creation and delivery of opportunities to further enhance the value of the business service centre and finance systems proposition.
Lead and maximise opportunities across finance to ensure the effective delivery of business change; support business growth with pace and control.
Establish strong relationships with senior stakeholders to ensure ownership across the Group is clear.
Lead improvement initiatives around the quality and delivery of the client's business information.
Drive consolidation of activity across the Group, developing centres of excellence whilst also driving efficiencies.
Active member of the Finance wider leadership team, driving relationships across locations and functions to develop a collaborative working culture with greater engagement across the Finance group.
To keep up–to–date on industry activity and leading practice around effective use of business information and achievement of business process excellence.
Lead a governance process to action results and make decisions on the level of risk acceptable to the business as part of SAP Governance Risk and Compliance (GRC).
Monitor and report on performance measures for business information, to drive policy compliance, ensuring consistency, accuracy, completeness and timeliness of data.
Manage and deliver cost base in line with expectation for accountable areas.
Provide control for operational process reporting to ensure the potential value of information within SAP is maximised.
Take responsibility and ownership for BSC function, focusing on key operational metrics, tight financial controls, driving efficiency gains from the centre and delivering within the business operating model.
To ensure delivery Business Service Centre whilst developing a motivated and committed team and delivering on control and cost commitments.
Develop organisational capability to deliver business change requirements within the BSC and finance systems, building capability, talent and engagement across the centre.
Build a strong talent pipeline to secure expertise for now and future requirements
Strategically lead in protecting the business' brand in all 3rd party relationships
Ensure appropriate process compliance to the BPO model and that measures are integrated into the BU specific Corporate KPIs.

Key experience

Job knowledge – specialist skills, experiences, qualifications, specific systems or practices relevant to the role, latest function specific knowledge
Business knowledge – level of commercial awareness, economic, commercial, political experience, industry specific knowledge to differentiate the business from competitors
Problem solving – analytical skills, ability to direct, lead and deliver solutions that go beyond existing ways of doing things
People & Leadership skills – communications, leadership and talent development skills.

Essential experience

Qualified Accountant
Knowledge and experience of working in mature shared service environment.
Robust influencing skills to ensure that process excellence is a priority in the business.
Strong leadership skills, ability to engage and inspire large and diverse teams.
Is able to make sense of complex issues, systems and processes.
Experience in process re–engineering, control environment enhancement and delivery of efficiency.
High level of risk awareness and appetite for informed risk taking.

Desirable experience

Knowledge of business processes and systems as well as the underlying commercial drivers.
Agile and copes well with ambiguity
Is a recognised expert in business services field