British CouncilHiring for Finance & Business Analyst at Noida, Uttar Pradesh Full Time

Location: Noida, South Asia, IN

Company: British Council

The British Council builds connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and other countries through arts and culture, education and the English language.

We work in two ways – directly with individuals to transform their lives, and with governments and partners to make a bigger difference for the longer term, creating benefit for millions of people all over the world. We help young people to gain the skills, confidence and connections they are looking for to realise their potential and to participate in strong and inclusive communities. We support them to learn English, to get a high-quality education and to gain internationally recognised qualifications. Our work in arts and culture stimulates creative expression and exchange and nurtures creative enterprise. We connect the best of the UK with the world and the best of the world with the UK.

These connections lead to an understanding of each other’s strengths and of the challenges and values that we share. This builds trust between people in the UK and other nations which endures even when official relations may be strained. We work on the ground in more than 100 countries. In 2019-20 we connected with 80 million people directly and with 791 million overall, including online and through our broadcasts and publications.

Job Title: E&E Global Operations – Finance and Business Analyst

Purpose of job:
English and Examinations (E&E) Global Operations Finance, Planning & Analysis (FP&A) Manager is a business partnering role responsible for the financial support of the E&E Global Operations.

The role is part of the E&E Global Finance team of 9, working for the E&E Director FP&A and E&E Senior Manager FP&A

E&E Global Operations has a cost budget of c£80m and recharges c£20m to countries. The operations has around 40 budget holders spanning Global Management, Exams and Teaching systems development and implementation, Risk Assurance, Global Marketing, Exams Marking, New Product Development, Online Exams and Teaching delivery, UK Teaching Centre Accreditation and the content and running of the British Council Learn English website and apps with c80m unique users.

This role deliver accurate and timely monthly management information and will input and support at a strategic level, providing financial information, analysis and modelling to support Business colleagues. The role is responsible for annual planning, quarterly forecasting, Monthend Activities (Journals, Accruals, Defferrals, Income redistribution etc)

The role will support continuous master data and process improvement and works closely with the Shared Service Centre (SSC) who are responsible for much of the E&E accounting processes including recharging of Exam marking services and the British Council test APTIS central cost recharging.

The post holder will be a pro-active, forward looking, commercial and strategic thinking Finance Professional with strong relationship building skills and good communication skills. The role will have high visibility across the Global E&E Function head and Activity heads across different regions.

The role holder will have been responsible for the financial management of large global cost centres, have a deep understanding of accounting principles, policies and processes and be experienced at commercial financial modelling and contracts having worked with multi-location operational teams in an international setting. They must display a clear understanding of the British Council’s aims and an ability to connect with operational colleagues.

Main accountabilities

The E&E businesses has been heavily impacted by covid with Teaching and Exams centre closures and restrictions such as social distancing requirements in many parts of the world. The organisation is on the path to recovery, which has increased the level of financial support required, particularly resulting from an acceleration of new, mainly digitally, led product launches.

We are about to enter a time of transformation for our operations, which will require further finance support, and we are planning to significantly increase our investment levels to return our businesses to growth, which will require careful financial management.

The E&E Global Operations Finance & Business Analyst is a role within the E&E Finance Team who will work closely with E&E Senior Manager FP&A , E&E Finance Business Partners, E&E Master Data & Reporting Manager and the E&E Finance Projects Manager in a collabate supportive manner to achieve continuous improvement to the information and business support that we provide. They will need to be a forward looking and strategic thinking finance professional who is a trusted partner to stakeholders.

There are mulpiple stakeholders to work alongside with several important E&E initiatives to support including key systems developments and new product launches.

They will drive improvements to business performance and will help shape the future of E&E through the provision and assurance of financial insights to E&E Leadership and Senior Managers and Directors, to inform effective resource allocation decision making.

Main accountabilities

Accountabilities, responsibilities and main duties:
Ensure sufficient input and support for the Month End Reporting, Planning and Forecasting

Support to the E&E Senior Manager FP&A and E&E Business Partners to provide reporting and analysis to support the business.

Support for the planning and forecasting workbook tools for all regional FP&A teams and point of contact with the developers.

Assist in the continuous improvement to reporting and, in particular, product profitability analysis and reporting.

Prepare & review the month end reporting packs to ensure accuracy and completeness of the financials

Work with Business partners to make the underlying financial data more understandable with the help of data representations through graphs, tables etc

Make continuous efforts in understanding the SAP structure to support consistency in reporting

Support in Month end Activities for E&E Global Business (Journal, Accruals, Deferrals, Income Reallocation etc.)

Develop and implement controls in the existing reports to reduce manual intervention and emphasize more on analysis.

Liaison with the regional FP&A teams across all regions to support the E&E business.

Liaison with BC Corporate Finance to ensure all reporting within E&E is aligned with Corporate reporting

Work on complex situations that are critical to the business and need immediate resolution.

Management Reporting and Financial Analysis

Managing the c£80m E&E UK Global Operations budget and the marking, examiner, and central cost recharging to regions.

Monitor performance against budget, forecast and prior year. Prepare incisive analysis of financial results and propose remedial action where necessary to ensure the corporate unit achieves its financial targets.

Support master data structure changes

Planning, budgeting and forecasting

Responsible for the Planning and Forecasting of the UK Global Operations budget. Coordinating timetabling budget submissions from budget holders via the Global Planning Workbook (bespoke Excel planning and SAP data loading tool).

Produce accurate financial forecasts highlighting potential risks and opportunities and support the formulation and implementation of mitigation plans where necessary.

Develop a culture which empowers budget holders, and which supports the delivery of value services and programmes in line with the strategic goals of the Unit.

Support / champion central finance change initiatives including leaner and more effective financial planning and forecasting processes.

Key relationships

Internal

E&E Function and Activity Heads

E&E Finance team

Shared Service Centre and Corporate Finance

E&E Regional & Country Finance teams

External

• External & Internal Auditors

Qualifications

CA Qualified or Part qualified accountant or equivalent Finance degree (CA/ICWA Inter) or MBA with proven experience of successfully managing and delivering similar roles.

Essential with experience in FP&A domain

Role specific knowledge and experience

Operating in international and multi-cultural organisations

Financial Planning & monitoring including management information reporting.

Shared Services Operations

Development and optimisation of SAP accounting and planning applications

What constitutes best practice in the upper quartile of finance functions

Role specific skills

Building relationships at all levels of the organisation

Excellent analytical skills along with strong planning and organisational skills are required.

Flexibility, independence and initiative to perform successfully in a rapidly changing environment.

Ability to operate effectively and prioritise in a busy corporate role

Further Information

Pay Band – 7

Contract Type – Indefinite

Department/Country- Finance/ India – Noida

Closing Date (Time) – 24 Dec 21 (IST -23:59)

A connected and trusted UK in a more connected and trusted world.

Equality , Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Statement

The British Council is committed to policies and practices of equality, diversity and inclusion across everything we do. We support all staff to make sure their behaviour is consistent with this commitment. We want to address under representation and encourage applicants from under-represented groups, in particular, but not exclusively, on grounds of ethnicity and disability. All disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria are guaranteed an interview and we have Disability Confident Employer Status. We welcome discussions about specific requirements or adjustments to enable participation and engagement in our work and activities.

The British Council is committed to safeguarding children, young people and adults who we work with.

We believe that all children and adults everywhere in the world deserve to live in safe environments and have the right to be protected from all forms of abuse, maltreatment and exploitation as set out in article 19, UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) 1989.

Appointment to positions where there is direct involvement with vulnerable groups will be dependent on thorough checks being completed; these will include qualification checks, reference checks, identity & criminal record checks in line with legal requirements and with the British Council’s Safeguarding policies for Adults and Children.

If you have any problems with your application please email askhr@britishcouncil.org

Please note: Applications to this role can only be considered when made through the Apply section of our careers website. Our ‘ASK HR’ email is only to be used in case of a technical issue encountered when applying through the careers website. Emails with supporting statements and CV/Resumes sent to this email address will not be reviewed and will be deleted.