Finance Business Partner

At Thames Water, we make a daily difference to the 16 million customers we serve. From supplying 2.6 billion litres of clean water every day to safely managing wastewater, our work underpins the health, wellbeing and prosperity of our communities. As the UK’s largest water company, we’re tackling the challenges of today while building a resilient water future for tomorrow.

We are looking for a Finance Business Partner to join our Finance team and play a pivotal role in supporting the delivery of our capital investment programme.

What you’ll be doing as a Finance Business Partner
As a Finance Business Partner, you will support our Capital Programme Delivery Directors in achieving their financial commitments, ensuring delivery in line with internal business plans and governed funding.

You will play a key role in analysing, challenging and influencing performance - helping the business understand cost drivers, optimise expenditure and surface risks and opportunities early so the right corrective actions can be taken.
Sitting within the Asset Operations & Capital Delivery division, this is a critical role that partners closely with delivery teams, PMO, cost planners and the wider finance community.

• Lead financial performance insight for the Capital Programme, providing robust analysis, KPIs and challenge to delivery teams.
• Deliver high-quality financial information, identifying key cost drivers, trends and meaningful insights that support effective decision-making.
• Partner with PMO on monthly reporting and forecasting - interpreting data, challenging assumptions and communicating a clear narrative back to the business.
• Prepare and support additional reporting including commercial settlement outcomes, Integrated Business Plan inputs and quarterly forecasts, including cashflow and risk/opportunity impacts.
• Build strong cross-functional relationships to support continuous improvement and collaborative working across the organisation.
• Enhance performance controls and reporting to drive forecasting accuracy and ensure we “live within our means”, leading monthly review and challenge sessions with Programme Directors.
• Support development of capital investment papers to ensure needs are clearly articulated and governance is satisfied.
• Drive end-to-end process efficiencies and improved financial awareness across the business.
• Support external reporting requirements and assist with accounting issue resolution alongside the management accounting team.
• Validate and report business efficiency initiatives and their expected cashable benefits.
• Respond to ad-hoc analytical requests covering cost visibility, regulatory matters and deep dives into financial performance.

Base location: Hybrid - Clearwater Court - RG1 8DB, with occasional travel to other sites for meetings as required
Working hours: 36 hours, Monday to Friday

What you should bring to the role
Essential
The essential criteria to help you succeed in this role are:

• Experience working with planning systems, reporting technology and business intelligence tools.
• Ability to develop insightful data visualisations and working knowledge of SAP, HFM or similar systems.
• Business partnering experience, ideally within project or capital accounting for large or complex projects.
• Confident in challenging and influencing stakeholders while building strong working relationships.
• Excellent financial insight skills, including planning and forecasting.
• Advanced Excel skills; financial modelling or database skills are advantageous.
• Strong organisational and planning skills.

• Exceptional communication skills, both written and verbal.

Desirable

• Experience in large or complex, matrix organisations.
• Accounting qualification (ACA, CIMA, ACCA or equivalent).

What’s in it for you?

• Competitive salary up to £70,000 per annum, depending on experience
• Annual Leave - 26 days holiday per year increasing to 30 with the length of service (plus bank holidays)
• Performance-related pay plan directly linked to both company and individual performance measures and targets
• Generous Pension Scheme through AON
• Access to lots of benefits to help you take care of you and your family’s health and wellbeing, and your finances – from annual health MOTs and access to physiotherapy and counselling, to Cycle to Work schemes, shopping vouchers and life assurance.

Find out more about our benefits and perks

Who are we?
We’re the UK’s largest water and wastewater company, with more than 16 million customers relying on us every day to supply water for their taps and toilets. We want to build a better future for all, helping our customers, communities, people, and the planet to thrive. It’s a big job and we’ve got a long way to go, so we need help from passionate and skilled people, committed to making a difference and getting us to where we want to be in the years and decades to come.

Learn more about our purpose and values

Working at Thames Water
Thames Water is a unique, rewarding, and diverse place to work, where every day you can make a difference, yet no day is the same. As part of our family, you’ll enjoy meaningful career opportunities, flexible working arrangements and excellent benefits.

If you’re looking for a sustainable and successful career where you can make a daily difference to millions of people’s lives while helping to protect the world of water for future generations, we’ll be here to support you every step of the way. Together, we can build a better future for our customers, our region, and our planet.

Real purpose, real support, real opportunities. Come and join the Thames Water family. Why choose us? Learn more.

We’re committed to being a great, diverse, and inclusive place to work. We welcome applications from everyone and want to ensure you feel supported throughout the recruitment process. If you need any adjustments, whether that’s extra time, accessible formats, or anything else just let us know, we’re here to help and support.

When a crisis happens, we all rally around to support our customers. As part of Team Thames, you’ll have the opportunity to sign up to support our customers on the frontline as an ambassador. Full training will be given for what is undoubtedly an incredibly rewarding experience. It’s also a great opportunity to learn more about our business and meet colleagues.

Disclaimer: due to the high volume of applications we receive, we may close the advert earlier than the advertised date, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.