Job Description

You will be assigned by the Finance and Contract Support Manager. Management of the Portfolio will give the candidate experience and exposure to all aspects of the Finance and Contract Support Manager role. Provide insight and influence to impact performance and maintain competitive advantage.
Key Responsibilities:

• Ensure company policies and procedures are adhered to consistently throughout the Portfolio and wider Business unit
• Continually review, maintain and improve billing, debt, work in progress, purchase orders and ledger postings against Plan, forecast, prior year, Divisional and Company results and trends
• Identify and resolve any areas of financial weakness within the Portfolio in a timely manner
• Develop targets and benchmarking processes to challenge the financial information
• Continually update the accounting system user information to ensure the integrity of its financial data
• Provide information and resolve issues raised by both external and internal auditors
• Prepare accurate reports for the Portfolio which feed into Business Unit reports in line with strict monthly company timetable including full Profit & Loss account with analysis and commentary, Balance Sheet extracts and reconciliations, and detailed Project Profitability reporting.
• Collate challenging, realistic, rolling, three-monthly Profit & Loss forecasts together with annual expectations based on the latest available management information
• Support the Finance and Contract Support Manager with the preparation of annual Business Unit plan in conjunction with the Leader and contract management
• Prepare cost-benefit reports and pro-active analytical works to facilitate continuous improvement of the Portfolio’s performance
• Any other reporting as requested by Finance and Contract Support Manager, Business Unit Leader or Divisional Management
• Recruit appropriate contract support who are trained to the correct performance standards
• Induct new contract support in line with the induction process
• Ensure the scope of the contract support role is correct and understood
• Ensure contract support adhere to company policies and procedures
• Ensure contract support are trained on the business systems applicable to the role (e.g. Dynamics AX, Excel, Concept)
• Carry out structured appraisals and ensure personal development plans are in place and include succession plans
• Measure against defined KPIs
• Hold regular team meetings with all contract support so that consistency, best practice, and ideas are shared across the team
• Identify key stakeholders, including the Central Finance team, prioritize their needs and review on a monthly basis
• Ensure issues and solutions are identified promptly, communicated to the appropriate level and resolution monitored via the our monthly Contract and Business Unit review process
• Ensure use of best practice, communication and understanding of key business messages through regular site visits with focus on underperforming contracts

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Provide financial and contract support leadership and direction in the Portfolio. This will involve personal attitude, use of skills and dissemination of knowledge
• Use specialist knowledge and experience to provide insight and influence to impact performance standards
• Implement improvements, drive change, raise standards through the direct and indirect management of staff
• Fully comprehend the financial and commercial detail of contracts within the Portfolio to ensure optimal performance and risk management
• Visit sites, meet customers and communicate with Business Unit line managers
• Share knowledge and best practice across the company
• Train non-finance staff in use of financial systems ensuring complete, consistent and accurate financial statements
• Act as a partner to the Associate Director to both advise and challenge senior management on performance
• The successful person will hold, or be a finalist in, a recognized CCAB accounting qualification.
• Strong management accounting and analytical skills are essential to the position together with a working knowledge of statutory reporting.
• The person should also be comfortable working on an integrated accounts package together with detailed knowledge of core office systems – particularly MS Excel.
• The person should have the skills to manage and develop the contract support team.
• This role requires a person, who has a strong customer focus, promotes team spirit, boosts morale and who subscribes to the Company ethos of continual improvement.
• It is likely to suit an individual who is self-motivated, reliable, and professional. They should be able to exercise an attention to detail which will be paramount to delivering the required job performance levels.
• They should be experienced in time management in order that all tasks are correctly prioritized with skills in working to strict deadlines.
• The position also demands a strong communicator who will build relationships at various levels within the organization. Through these relationships the post holder will be confident enough to influence decisions and therefore performance in a pro-active manner.