About The Role

The Finance Business Partner role is critical in ensuring high-quality financial management across the portfolio. Key responsibilities include:

Providing professional accounting, budgeting and financial management advice to senior stakeholders.
Analysing, scrutinising and contributing strategic input to financial proposals and expenditure plans.
Supporting value-for-money decision-making, particularly in areas involving complex financial issues.
Delivering high-quality financial support to senior management and Ministers, including support for Scottish Parliament Committees and key Ministerial meetings.
Identifying, assessing and communicating financial risks, opportunities and options.
Promoting and improving financial awareness across assigned Directorates.
Supporting effective financial control, governance and decision-making.

Essential Criteria

You must demonstrate excellent communication skills that have resulted in the building of effective relationships within the Finance community as appropriate and, critically, with senior level stakeholders.
You will have experience leading and implementing effective, sustainable change, modifying and improving behaviours and improving stakeholder interactions, financial management outcomes and accountability.
You must have the ability to critically analyse, scrutinise and challenge financial and business plans. You will be able to explain complex finance matters to non-finance audiences, both verbally and in written reports.
You must demonstrate a sound understanding of value for money within a policy and/or service delivery context with evidence of delivering efficiencies, reducing costs, or improving outcomes through innovative and creative approaches.

Applicants must be a suitably experienced and qualified accountant, holding membership of a CCAB professional accountancy body (or equivalent) and maintaining up-to-date Continuing Professional Development (CPD).

Behaviours

The following behaviours will be assessed

Communicating and influencing
Changing and improving
Leadership
Working together

Working pattern

This role is a temporary position with an expected duration of 6 months.

Our standard hours are 35 hours per week. Staff in roles compatible with hybrid working should aim to spend 40% of their contracted working time working in person at their contractual workplace.

How to Apply

Applications are invited from eligible staff. Please submit a statement outlining how you meet the essential criteria, using evidence-based examples. Responses should be clear, concise and focused on the actions you personally undertook (maximum 500 words).