Job Description In this role you will act as a trusted and strategic business partner to Programme Directors, Integrated Project Teams (IPTs) Directors, and senior stakeholders across UKIFS and the STEP Programme. You will drive robust financial planning, forecasting, and value-for-money decision-making, providing both challenge and authoritative advice to enable effective programme delivery. Critically you will represent the Finance Director /CFO within the IPT(s) you are embedded in and ensure that financial decisions are compliant with UKIFS Finance Governance. You will therefore have a critical dual role in providing both strategic financial advice and providing financial assurance, ensuring compliance and safeguarding of company assets. You will provide strategic financial analysis and advice to senior stakeholders, ensuring sound governance and compliance with financial standards, policies, and procedures. You will be accountable for ensuring that budget holders deliver financial outturns consistent with UKIFS’ budget allocation, working in close partnership with the Executive Team. You will play a pivotal role in shaping a world-class finance function within UKIFS, embedding finance in strategic decision-making and enabling the successful delivery of the STEP Programme. Accountability 1: Strategic Business Partnering Lead the development of financial strategies for assigned programmes and IPTs. Influence Programme Directors and senior leaders on investment, resourcing, and prioritisation decisions. Ensure interdependencies between projects and programmes are fully assessed and integrated into financial strategies. Provide authoritative financial challenge to senior stakeholders, ensuring decisions optimise value for money. Act as the primary source of strategic financial advice at programme and portfolio level. Accountability 2: Financial Leadership & Control Embed financial policies, delegations, and controls within your IPTs, ensuring compliance with UKIFS-wide frameworks and escalating issues where required. Ensure compliance with UK Government finance frameworks and sponsor reporting requirements. Lead financial risk management within your IPTs, ensuring risks are identified, quantified, and mitigated, and escalate material exposures to central finance and senior stakeholders. Exercise financial authority over Work Packages, ensuring that approvals demonstrate compliance with budgets, delegations, and value-for-money requirements at programme level. Provide financial oversight and assurance on requisitions, ensuring approvals are aligned with budgets, delegations, and programme priorities, and escalate any material issues or risks. Accountability 3: Stakeholder Engagement & Influence Act as the senior finance representative in programme boards, governance forums, and external engagements. Manage financial interfaces with DESNZ, UKAEA, Whole Plant Partners, and other external stakeholders. Build strong relationships with senior IPT staff, including the IPT Director Build strategic relationships across engineering, commercial, and programme functions to embed financial considerations into all major decisions. Build strategic relationships with the Commercial & Procurement team to embed finance in commercial decision-making and provide assurance that Control Account and project-level commercial commitments align with financial governance. Lead and sign off business cases, ensuring robust financial justification and compliance with financial and strategic objectives. Accountability 4: Reporting & Insight Own the financial reporting and insight for your assigned IPTs, ensuring accuracy, timeliness, and alignment with central finance standards, and provide assurance that reporting is consistent across Control Accounts. Provide strategic financial analysis and insight to the IPT leadership, highlighting risks, opportunities, and financial implications of delivery decisions. Translate complex financial data into actionable strategies for non-financial leaders. Drive continuous improvement in management information and insight, strengthening decision-making capability across the IPT and the UKIFS Finance Team Accountability 5: Strategic Development of Finance Capability Promote and embed best practice in finance business partnering within your IPTs, role-modelling high standards and sharing lessons to strengthen capability and consistency across UKIFS. Champion finance as a strategic enabler of programme success. Contribute directly to the development of UKIFS’s financial strategy, ensuring alignment with organisational priorities and sponsor requirements. Drive continuous improvement in finance processes, systems, and reporting at programme level, ensuring integration and consistency across IPTs. Act as a key link between finance and delivery teams, ensuring that financial capability and insights are embedded into programme governance, training, and decision-making processes. Accountability 6: Audit & Assurance Act as the finance lead for IPT-level audits, ensuring compliance with UKIFS governance and external requirements. Provide assurance to senior stakeholders, sponsor bodies, and auditors on the integrity of IPT financial reporting and controls. Ensure audit recommendations are embedded within the IPT’s finance processes and maintain robust financial governance so that the IPT remains audit-ready at all times. Accountability 7: Embody a Leadership Mindset Regardless of your formal position, you embody a leadership mindset and a set of leadership behaviours. You embrace and embody our organization's culture, values, and mission in all aspects of your work. Foster a positive and inclusive team environment that aligns with our cultural values. Contribute to maintaining a respectful and collaborative workplace, valuing diversity, and promoting teamwork. Act as a cultural ambassador, representing our organization's values and professionalism in interactions with colleagues, clients, and stakeholders. Lead by example, demonstrating integrity, professionalism, and ethical behaviour. Make informed decisions and solve problems effectively, considering diverse perspectives and organizational goals.