Finance business partner

Band 8a · Management accountant · 578 job evaluation points

Finance business partners work as part of a directorate's leadership, often digital, data, and technology, turning financial information into decisions and making sure investment delivers value for money.

Responsibilities

Act as the senior finance adviser to a directorate's leadership team, such as digital, data, and technology.
Lead the directorate's financial plan, linking spending to priorities, workforce, and investment.
Challenge and support leaders on value for money, including supplier spending, license use, and cloud costs.
Lead business cases for major digital investments and represent finance at investment boards.
Make sure digital spending meets funding rules, spending controls, and capital and revenue limits.
Line manage management accountants who support the directorate.

Skills

Skill	Expected level	What this level means
Management accountingThis reference	Expert (4)	You can: design the organization's management reporting and costing approach present financial performance to the board and senior leaders lead the use of cost and performance information to improve value for money set standards for management accounting across the organization
Financial planning and forecastingThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: lead budget setting and forecasting for a directorate or large program model scenarios and sensitivities, such as inflation, delays, or changes in funding build multi-year forecasts for digital programs, including the running costs that follow investment present forecasts and risks to senior managers
Business cases and investment appraisalThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: lead the financial case for complex digital investments, such as a new clinical system or a move to cloud appraise options using net present value, sensitivity analysis, and risk adjustment check that benefits are realistic, measurable, and owned track spending and benefits after approval
Public sector financeThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: advise managers on funding rules, including ring-fenced and time-limited funding manage capital and revenue limits for a program or directorate prepare returns and evidence for funders and spending controls
Financial management for digital, data and technologyUK GDaD PCF	Practitioner (3)	Senior leadership skill: the UK GDaD PCF defines it with one statement, not by level. You can: Examples of leadership using this skill: own, manage and optimise budgets across digital, data and technology secure appropriate investment to deliver organisational strategy and priorities negotiate investments in shared technologies across the organisation and across government prioritising competing demands for investment in people, infrastructure and innovation across digital, data and technology to maximise value identifying risk to critical services and influencing stakeholders to increase investment to ensure they are maintained balancing short-term tactical gains with longer-term strategies to ensure value now and in the future
Creating value for moneyUK GDaD PCF	Practitioner (3)	You can: advocate for user needs, ensuring user value is balanced against cost and value for the organisation determine the benefit of a product and persuade others it's the right product to use write or contribute to business cases communicate business-value propositions help others make value-based decisions, influencing the direction of development
Commercial managementUK GDaD PCF	Working (2)	You can: act as the point of contact for contracted suppliers understand appropriate internal contacts and processes within a government department understand how and when third parties should be brought into digital, data and technology projects
Stakeholder relationship managementUK GDaD PCF	Practitioner (3)	You can: work with the team to develop and maintain an understanding of stakeholders work with the team to develop and implement stakeholder communications strategies identify and resolve issues, influence stakeholders and manage relationships effectively build long-term strategic relationships and communicate clearly and regularly with stakeholders
People managementThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: line manage a team, setting objectives and running appraisals support wellbeing and manage attendance, performance, and conduct plan the team's development and succession
Understanding health and care servicesThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: analyze how a service fits into care pathways across organizations work with clinicians, care staff, and patients to shape digital services explain the effect of digital decisions on care, safety, and staff workload

Typical qualifications and experience

A recognized accountancy qualification, with extensive post-qualification experience, including business partnering.

Band 8a outline

Knowledge: Expert knowledge of a discipline and its management.
Autonomy: Interprets organizational policy for a service; sets the team's direction.
Scope: A service area or a discipline across the organization.
Leadership: Manages a team, or leads a discipline without line management.
Accountability: A service area, its staff, and its budget.

Job evaluation (illustrative)

Factor	Level	Level summary	Points
Communication and relationship skills	5	Gives highly complex or contentious information needing developed persuasion and negotiation, presents to large groups, or communicates where there are significant barriers to acceptance.	45
Knowledge, training, and experience	7	Highly developed specialist knowledge across the range of the specialism (master's level or equivalent).	196
Analytical and judgmental skills	5	Judgments on highly complex facts or situations needing analysis, interpretation, and comparison of options.	60
Planning and organizational skills	4	Plans a broad range of complex activities or strategies, adjusting them as needed.	42
Physical skills	2	Skills gained through practice, such as standard keyboard use or driving.	15
Responsibility for patient and client care	1	Helps patients, clients, or relatives during incidental contact.	4
Responsibility for policy and service development	4	Implements policy and develops policy or services for a service or several areas.	32
Responsibility for financial and physical resources	5	Holds or sets budgets, or manages assets, for several services.	45
Responsibility for people	3	Manages a group of staff day to day, teaches core or specialist training, or gives core HR advice.	21
Responsibility for information resources	5	Designs and develops major information systems, or runs information systems for several services as the main duty.	34
Responsibility for research and development	2	Regularly does research, development, trials, or equipment and system testing as part of the job.	12
Freedom to act	5	Works within general policies, and in most cases decides how to interpret them.	45
Physical effort	1	Sitting, standing, and walking, with little physical effort.	3
Mental effort	3	Frequent concentration on unpredictable work, or occasional prolonged concentration.	12
Emotional effort	1	Rare exposure, or occasional indirect exposure, to distressing circumstances.	5
Working conditions	2	Occasional unpleasant conditions, frequent travel or outdoor work, or near-continuous screen use on most days.	7
Total (Band 8a: 540 to 584)			578

Financial resources is level 5 because the job sets budgets across several services in a directorate.