Job Description

Finance Business Partner - Pensions

Isio is expanding its commercial finance capability, building out the Finance Business Partnering and FP&A teams that support the Group. This role is the finance partner to Actuarial & Consulting, our largest business unit by revenue, with a defined consistency and assurance remit across Pensions Administration.

Actuarial & Consulting does not currently have dedicated finance support: commercial and financial activity sits within a hybrid operational role. This role takes that activity on, establishing genuine finance ownership for the business unit and giving Group a pair of eyes on the inside. It suits someone who wants to shape decisions rather than report on them.

Our DB pensions proposition spans two business units with common clients and common engagement leadership. Pensions Administration operates its own divisional finance team, which owns and builds its monthly reporting. The second part of this role is to work closely enough with that team to ensure the two business units report consistently and never contradict one another in front of the Executive or the Board.

What does the role entail?

Actuarial & Consulting: Business Partnering

• Act as the finance partner to the Actuarial & Consulting leadership team, building credible, trusted and challenging relationships.
• Own near-term business performance, supporting delivery of growth and profitability objectives.
• Transition the finance and commercial analysis activity currently sitting within the business unit into this role, establishing it as the finance owner for the business unit.
• Own business unit budgets and forecasts, built on genuine drivers and agreed with the business, not imposed on it.
• Lead the monthly business unit review: set the agenda, own the numbers, drive the actions and follow them through.
• Lead KPI reporting, analysis and performance insight, including fee income, utilisation, rate realisation, recovery, WIP and lock-up.
• Support pricing, rate card application, discounting governance and margin improvement.
• Work with the Chief Growth Officer and business unit leadership on sales pipeline reporting and its conversion into forecast revenue.
• Build business cases for investment, hiring and change initiatives, support bid and renewal activity, and track delivery against approval.

Pensions Administration: Consistency & Assurance

• Act as the Group commercial finance point of contact for Pensions Administration, working with its divisional finance team.
• Review the monthly divisional reporting built by that team for consistency with Group standards and definitions before it reaches Executive and Board reporting.
• Ensure the two business units present a coherent and non-contradictory picture, particularly on shared clients, shared engagement leadership and the combined DB pensions proposition.
• Provide a joined-up view of DB pensions performance across both business units to Group and the Executive.
• Build a close working relationship with divisional finance so that consistency is achieved collaboratively rather than imposed after the fact.

Reporting & Data

• Deliver succinct, accurate and timely reporting on your areas into Board and Executive level packs.
• Use and develop Power BI reporting for your business units, contributing to the quality of the underlying data.
• Apply Group reporting standards and definitions consistently, so that your numbers hold up wherever they are used.
• Contribute to Group-wide improvements in reporting, automation and best practice.

What we’re looking for?

Required Experience

• Fully qualified accountant (ACA / ACCA / CIMA or equivalent) with meaningful post-qualified experience in commercial finance, FP&A or business partnering.
• Demonstrable ownership of a budget and forecast cycle for a business unit or equivalent.
• Track record of partnering senior non-financial stakeholders directly, not through an intermediary.
• Experience of establishing finance support where none previously existed, or of taking ownership of activity from a non-finance owner, is strongly preferred.
• Professional services, consulting or partnership economics is strongly preferred: utilisation, rate realisation, recovery, WIP and lock-up.
• Experience in a private equity backed or fast-growing business is an advantage.
• Exposure to pricing, bid support or commercial governance is an advantage.

Skills & Competencies

• Strong variance analysis and commercial insight, with the instinct to explain drivers rather than movements.
• Able to explain, influence and push back with credibility in a business unit leadership meeting from an early stage.
• Able to work across an organisational boundary with tact, securing consistency through relationships rather than authority.
• Advanced Excel; working knowledge of Power BI.
• Comfortable working at pace with imperfect data, and proactive about improving it.
• An enquiring mind, seeking to improve processes and automate reporting.

Why Join Isio

Isio is a fast-growing professional services business, that offers career development through an evolving client base, diverse and meaningful work, nationwide opportunities, and a culture that rewards high performance and accountability.

We hold ourselves to the highest standards and our values guide how we advise our clients, how we operate as a business and how we work together as a team.  We call it the Isio Attitude. We encourage our people to be bold, to communicate with conviction, and to deliver advice that matters.

Here, growth brings opportunity - more responsibility, more clients, and work that stretches and develops you. We invest in training and development so you can expand your skills and explore different career paths across diverse markets to make your mark. Isio is a place to realise your potential and build a career with impact. You can find out more about Isio and the benefits we offer on our career's website Isio - Careers & Benefits.

About Isio

A progressive advisory firm, partnering with clients of all sizes to deliver expertise in pensions, employee benefits and wealth advisory services.

Working with pension trustees, employers, individuals, families and their offices, we are supported by talented colleagues across 10 UK offices. With a Big 4 heritage we combine a strong focus on quality with a fresh perspective challenging traditional thinking.

Our culture shapes our work; we foster a supportive environment where we develop our people to grow and fulfil their potential. We invest in our services, products and technology, and provide clear, expert solutions for our clients. This brings clarity, confidence, and better outcomes for everyone.

At Isio, we are committed to fostering an inclusive, equitable and diverse workplace, in which our colleagues feel they belong, regardless of background or difference. We uphold the values of respect, fairness, and inclusion in our actions and decisions. We believe that by adhering to these principles, we will create a stronger, more innovative, and supportive environment for all, as well as ensuring that the advice and support we provide to our clients is more creative, more insightful and leaves a lasting impact.

We can offer a hybrid, flexible approach to work, supporting a work-life balance that works for you. Isio Group is an equal opportunities employer, and we welcome applications from all suitably qualified candidates.

If you think you may require a reasonable adjustment to be made for any reason at any stage of your recruitment process, please ask us hrrecruitment@ISIO.com