Head of Finance BBSRC
£68,525 per annum
UKRI Band G
Open Ended
Location: Polaris House, Swindon, Wiltshire
Closing Date: 4th August 2025
Purpose of the role
Lead the BBSRC Finance Business Partnering (FBP) Team, providing strategic financial leadership across BBSRC's programmes, institutes, and capital investments. The role is responsible for delivering accurate, risk-informed financial forecasts, ensuring robust stewardship of public funds, and aligning financial planning with BBSRC's strategic goals. Working closely with UKRI central finance and other council FBP teams, the postholder plays a key role in strengthening financial insight, governance, and decision-making across the bioscience portfolio.
Key Areas of Accountability
Leadership / teamwork
* Lead, develop, and motivate the BBSRC FBP Team to provide high-quality business partnering and strategic finance advice.
* Build strong relationships with the BBSRC Executive Leadership Team (ELT), Senior Leadership, and staff across BBSRC and UKRI Finance.
* Act as a senior advisor to the BBSRC ELT on financial risks, opportunities, and investment trade-offs, helping shape decisions at the highest level.
* Lead strategic finance input into BBSRC's corporate planning process, ensuring financial plans are aligned with organisational priorities and the UKRI funding framework.
* Promote strong financial ownership and performance accountability across the organisation.
* Drive alignment between financial and non-financial planning, working closely with programme, science strategy, and corporate planning colleagues.
* Represent Finance at Executive meetings, Boards, and Committees.
* Collaborate with FBP teams in other UKRI councils and with UKRI central finance teams to strengthen integration, share best practice, and deliver cross-council consistency.
* Champion improvements in financial planning capability, including training, tools, and continuous improvement across the BBSRC finance community.
* Provide visible leadership within UKRI Finance, modelling strong professional standards and behaviours.
Delivery / programmes / projects / process
* Oversee BBSRC's £490m+ budget, ensuring plans are affordable, risk-adjusted, and deliverable.
* Lead the financial planning, forecasting, and reporting cycles, providing timely and accurate insight for BBSRC ELT decision-making.
* Develop monthly and quarterly finance reports, identifying the in-year and projected outturn position, highlighting risks and opportunities, and supporting corrective action.
* Lead BBSRC's input into UKRI Spending Review planning, including scenario modelling and long-term financial strategy.
* Manage the demand pipeline of programme resource funding requests, ensuring high-quality business cases and transparent prioritisation.
* Provide robust financial assurance and governance for BBSRC's major capital, infrastructure, and transformation investments.
* Ensure compliance with UKRI, DSIT, and public sector financial policies and control frameworks.
* Deliver the financial aspects of business cases and provide leadership in shaping wider case content, ensuring value-for-money and alignment with strategy.
* Contribute to financial modelling, risk appraisal, and contingency planning to support organisational resilience.
Other
* Support cross-functional working across BBSRC and UKRI, helping to embed integrated planning and delivery approaches.
* Promote the role of the finance function in achieving public value, sustainability, and evidence-based decision-making.
* Actively participate in UKRI finance leadership forums, contributing to shared improvement priorities and development of the finance profession.
* Lead cultural and capability transformation in the BBSRC FBP Team in line with UKRI Finance Strategy and Government Finance Function standards.
Essential skills, qualifications and experience
(S) - Assessed at shortlisting
(I) - Assessed at interview
(S&I) - Assessed at both shortlisting and interview
Qualifications:
* Qualified Accountant (ACA/CIMA/ACCA/CIPFA) (S)
* High level understanding of accounting and finance and demonstrable experience of working in senior finance roles and delivering effective financial management. (S)
* High level competency of IT systems and applications including MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access, with focus on exceptional Excel skills. (I)
* Strong experience of month and year-end processes - accruals and prepayment calculation, variance analysis etc. (S&I)
* Highly numerate with the ability to provide insightful analysis on complex issues, communicating the key elements to effectively deliver projects and influence decision making at a strategic level. (I)
* Experience of working strategically to balance the conflicting demands of multiple stakeholders whilst protecting the integrity and ownership of financial processes. (I)
* Strong experience of working as part of a wider-business, consulting with senior stakeholders and effectively 'partnering' with stakeholders to meet organisational and financial objectives. (I)
* Significant experience in provision of high quality written and verbal advice suitable for executive and senior level decision makers. (S)
* Proven experience in the preparation of budgets, forecasts and financial plans. (I)
* Understanding of the role of governance, risk management and assurance in project delivery (I)
Skills and abilities:
* Ability to lead and motivate a team to deliver high standards of service.
* High level written and oral communication skills.
* Personal resilience and a confident approach, willing to apply good judgement to solve issues and find solutions.
* Able to form effective, collaborative relationships with senior stakeholders.
* Ability to respond calmly under pressure and to make impartial and well-considered judgments in complex situations.
* Good organisational skills, able to manage and prioritise own and others' workload and meet deadlines in a very timely manner.
Benefits
We recognise and value our employees as individuals and aim to provide a favourable pay and rewards package! We are committed to supporting employees' development and promote a culture of continuous learning! A list of benefits below;
* An outstanding defined benefit pension scheme
* 30 days' annual leave in addition to 10.5 public and privilege days (full time equivalent)
* Employee discounts and offers on retail and leisure activities
* Employee assistance programme, providing confidential help and advice
* Flexible working options
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More information can be found at www.ukri.org .
Choosing to come to work at UKRI means that you will have access to a whole host of benefits from a defined benefit pension scheme, excellent holiday entitlement, access to employee shopping/travel discounts and salary sacrifice cycle to work scheme. For more details, visit benefits of working for UKRI .
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Disability Confident Employer
As users of the disability confident scheme, we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the vacancy/ies. We will ensure that individuals with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions, and to receive other benefits and privileges of employment. Please contact us to request accommodation.
How to apply
Online applications only preferred for this role. Please submit a CV and covering letter which clearly outlines how you fulfil the criteria specified along with your motivation for UKRI and the role. Ensure that the job reference number is included in the filename description of each document uploaded. Note that failure to address the above criteria or submit an application without a covering letter may result in the application not being considered. Assessment will only be based upon the content of your submitted covering letter and CV and not the 'experience' section of the application.
UKRI seeks to ensure it creates and maintains a system of openness, fairness and inclusion - a collaborative, trusted environment, which is attractive to and accessible to everyone who is interested in developing their career with us.
The role holder will be required to have the appropriate level of security screening/vetting required for the role. UKRI reserves the right to run or re-run security clearance as required during the course of employment.