Assistant Finance Manager

Behind every train that runs, every service that improves and every decision that shapes our railway, there’s a financial picture to understand. That’s where you come in.

As an Assistant Finance Manager at Northern, you’ll turn financial information into something people across the business can really use. Working alongside our Senior Finance Business Partner and wider Finance team, you’ll help the teams you support understand their performance, plan ahead and make informed decisions that get the most from every pound we spend.

This is more than producing reports and balancing the books. You’ll get close to the operation, build relationships with people across the business and help uncover opportunities to work smarter, control costs and improve the railway for our customers. With scope to influence investment decisions and shape better ways of working, you’ll see how your financial expertise makes a difference beyond the spreadsheets.

• Turning numbers into insight. You’ll help prepare accurate, timely management accounts and financial reports, explaining what the figures mean and how they connect to the day-to-day running of the business.
• Planning for what’s ahead. You’ll support annual budgets, quarterly forecasts and financial planning, helping managers understand where they stand and what needs to change.
• Making better decisions possible. You’ll produce financial analysis, business cases and investment appraisals, giving stakeholders the information they need to weigh up options and understand the financial impact.
• Finding smarter ways to spend. You’ll use your analysis to spot opportunities to improve efficiency, manage costs and make better use of resources, constructively challenging decisions where needed.
• Building financial confidence. You’ll help colleagues who aren’t finance specialists understand their budgets, take ownership of their costs and see how their decisions affect business performance.
• Keeping things accurate and compliant. You’ll support balance sheet reconciliations, maintain strong financial controls and ensure reporting follows the right accounting standards and internal processes.
• Making finance work better. You’ll look for ways to simplify processes, use automation and improve reporting so the business gets reliable information sooner, with less time spent on manual tasks.
• Working as one team. You’ll build relationships across Finance and the wider business, share knowledge and support the development of more junior colleagues. You’ll also deputise for the Finance Business Partner or Finance Manager when required.

You’re curious about what sits behind the numbers. You want to understand why costs change, what drives performance and how financial information can help people make better decisions. You’re comfortable working with detail, but you can also step back and explain the bigger picture in a way that makes sense to people outside Finance.

You’ll bring:

• Experience of producing and analysing accurate, timely financial information, with a sound understanding of accounting practices and processes.
• A commitment to developing your professional expertise, ideally through studying towards a recognised professional accountancy qualification.
• Strong communication and relationship-building skills, with the confidence to explain financial information clearly and challenge constructively when needed.
• Good organisation and the ability to manage your own workload, work independently and meet tight deadlines without losing sight of the detail.
• Strong information technology (IT) skills, including Microsoft Office. You’ll ideally be confident using Excel to analyse information and make reporting more effective.
• An interest in improving processes,…