Finance Business PartnerMillwall

Finance Business Partner

Finance

Job Title Finance Business Partner

Department Finance

Reports To Head of Finance

Location The Den

Contract Type Perm, 35 hours per week, Monday to Friday 9am-5pm

Salary Competitive

ROLE OVERVIEW

Millwall Football Club are looking to recruit a commercially minded, proactive and self-motivated Finance Business Partner to take ownership of financial planning and analysis across their designated budget areas. The role reports to the Head of Finance and will put finance at the heart of commercial decision-making. The successful candidate will hold an ACA, CIMA, ACCA or equivalent professional accounting qualification, or be at finalist stage. They will partner with Heads of Department, building robust budgets and forecasts, explaining performance, and identifying opportunities to grow income and deliver cost savings. The role also owns the month-end processes for their budget areas, including accruals and prepayments. The role sits within a restructured finance team, in which a dedicated Finance Operations team owns transactional processing, cash and controls. The Finance Business Partner will work with the data produced by the Finance Operations team to provide analysis, insight and commercial challenge to the wider business.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

The role includes, but is not limited to: Business partnering and FP&A

• Act as a Finance Business Partner to budget holders and senior stakeholders, providing clear financial insight, commercial challenge and practical support to non-finance colleagues to inform decision-making.
• Lead the budget and forecast process for the relevant budget areas, securing input and buy-in from heads of department, and work with the Head of Finance to consolidate these with cost forecasts into the overall Club budget.
• Analyse revenue performance and its drivers, including attendances, pricing and yield, season ticket and membership trends, hospitality and event utilisation, and sponsorship delivery, and recommend actions to grow income.
• Prepare matchday forecasts ahead of each home fixture and report actual matchday performance afterwards (attendance, ticketing, hospitality and catering income, and matchday costs), explaining variances to the relevant heads of department.
• Provide financial modelling, pricing analysis, cost-benefit analysis and post-investment reviews to support commercial initiatives and wider business planning.

Reporting and month-end accounting

• Assist with identification of the Club’s accruals and prepayments and prepare the related month-end journals, working with budget holders to capture all costs alongside the Head of Finance.
• Own the production of the monthly management accounts pack, with clear commentary on performance against budget, forecast and prior year, for review and presentation by the Head of Finance.
• Account for revenue at month end, including deferred income (season tickets, sponsorship and hospitality packages), the accrued income register and revenue cut-off.
• Review ticketing income reconciliations and gate statements prepared by the Finance Operations team, and use the data to explain matchday performance.
• Work with the Finance Operations Lead to make sure revenue is invoiced promptly, agreeing billing triggers with commercial teams and supporting the resolution of disputes with sponsors and commercial partners.

Controls and improvement

• Support month-end, year-end and audit processes, acting as the main contact for auditors on revenue.
• Act as back-up approver for payment runs and provide cover for the Head of Finance on cashflow forecasting.
• Lead improvements to financial models, reporting tools and systems so that information is accurate, timely and easy for stakeholders to use.
• Undertake other duties consistent with the role and the Club’s needs.

PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential

• Qualified accountant holding an ACA, CIMA, ACCA or equivalent qualification, or at finalist stage
• Able to influence key stakeholders up to Director level, with strong interpersonal skills
• Highly numerate and analytical, with advanced Excel, financial modelling and report-writing skills
• Strong attention to detail, able to translate complex information into clear, understandable messages
• Capable of managing workloads independently, delivering on time and to a consistently high standard

Desirable

• Experience of budgeting, forecasting and management reporting, ideally with a focus on revenue
• Experience in professional football, sport, hospitality, events or ticketing
• Experience of pricing, yield or commercial performance analysis