Senior IT Finance Business Partner

Our FMCG Client is seeking an experienced, delivery-focused Senior Finance Business (IT) Partner to spearhead the development and implementation of Group-wide IT planning, governance, and cost recharge processes. In this strategic yet hands-on role, you will act as the primary finance business partner to the Group CIO and IT leadership team, reporting directly to the Group Head of FP&A.

A key differentiator for this contract is its focus on innovation: you will actively pioneer the identification and deployment of practical AI use cases and automation to redesign FP&A workflows, eliminate manual effort, and accelerate reporting cycles.

This is a highly autonomous contract position requiring a consultant who can navigate complex stakeholder environments, establish robust cost governance, and drive practical financial solutions from initial design through to final implementation.

Key Accountabilities

Financial Governance & Cost Baseline

* Cost Base Transparency:
Build a comprehensive baseline view of Group IT spend across recurring SG&A, project-related costs, capex, and exceptional items.

* Cross-Divisional Alignment:
Collaborate with individual divisions and Group IT to extract detailed cost data and assign clear ownership to strengthen financial accountability.

* Head Office Oversight:
Establish transparent reporting and tracking processes for other central Head Office functions to improve functional cost control and forecast accuracy.

Budgeting & Recharge Methodology

* IT Budget Leadership:
Act as the central financial bridge between Group IT and divisional finance teams to coordinate the end-to-end IT budget process (covering both recurring operations and project spend).

* Project Classification:
Coordinate the review of the IT project pipeline, ensuring costs are accurately classified between EBITDA, capex, and exceptional items with appropriate finance sign-off.

* Recharge Framework Design:
Design and implement a sustainable, practical Group recharge framework for IT costs across divisions, ensuring appropriate materiality thresholds and evaluating year-on-year performance impacts.

AI Innovation & Systems Integration

* Workflow Redesign:
Leverage AI agents and automated workflows to streamline recurring reporting outputs, reduce manual data manipulation, and improve data consistency.

* Systems Transformation:
Support the upcoming Head Office IFS ERP go-live by ensuring all IT and Head Office cost reporting models are fully integrated and mapped smoothly into One Stream (the Group’s consolidation platform).

* Reporting Architecture:
Ensure the future-state system environment is fully optimized to support actuals, budgets, forecasts, and recharge reporting.

Key Competencies & Attributes

* Professional

Qualification:

ACA, ACCA, or CIMA qualified accountant with a strong track record in interim FP&A, finance business partnering, or finance transformation roles.

* Cost Governance Expertise:
Deep experience designing and implementing cost allocation, recharge methodologies, and robust corporate planning frameworks.

* Stakeholder Management:
Proven capability to partner with, influence, and challenge senior leaders, including C-suite stakeholders (Group CIO).

* Systems Fluency:
Strong systems capability, ideally with experience navigating complex ERP environments (e.g., IFS) and enterprise consolidation platforms (e.g., One Stream).

* AI & Automation Mindset:
Prior technical AI experience is not required; however, you must possess a strong conceptual understanding of, and passion for, emerging AI solutions and how to practically apply them to finance workflows.

* Drive & Autonomy: A self-sufficient, delivery-focused mindset with the ability to manage change cross-functionally and translate design concepts into live, sustainable processes