Scottish Water is a publicly owned organisation responsible for managing Scotland’s water and wastewater services. It looks after the entire water cycle, from protecting natural sources to delivering high‑quality drinking water and safely treating wastewater before returning it to the environment. The organisation plays a vital role in supporting communities and businesses across Scotland while safeguarding one of the nation’s most important natural resources.

Accountable to the CFO, this role will promote and protect the value of Scottish Water and support Great Value and Financial Sustainability through providing enterprise level commercial finance leadership that translates strategy and regulatory commitments into performance, value and risk trade-offs. This role will lead and develop the Finance Business Partner community and toolkit and deliver quality financial decision support based on insight through data to influence the financial outcomes and generate additional cash to deliver our strategic ambitions.

Principal Accountabilities:

• Ownership and evolution of the Finance Business Partnering operating model, methods and playbook
• Take responsibility for the delivery of the long term and short-term financial plans, acknowledging the role of the business as owner
• Identify and support prosecution/mitigation of financial risks and opportunities, drive productivity, understanding of cost drivers and service/cost trade-offs
• Ensure cash forecast information is central
• Partner business leaders, across the SW Organisation, to provide financial expertise to critical business decisions so that robust financial and commercial insight, is at the heart of decision making including:
  • Selection of the best value Capital Investment options, Cost Benefit appraisal of investment decisions
  • Provision of relevant and timely financial support on business decisions requiring specific/technical expertise
  • Evaluation to inform planning, budgeting, forecasting and business case development
  • Organisation of financial and operational data into narratives to support business leaders to understand their performance
• Support critical thinking for key decisions and developments within directorates promoting financial and commercial strategies to influence outcomes
• Work across directorates prioritising resources to achieve the best organisational outcomes
• Energy forecasting, purchasing and validation to achieve the right balance between risk, particularly commodity risk and value for money
• Renewable asset development (including hosting of 3rd party renewables), operation and maintenance (including ownership of the Management approach) to maximise renewable generation and related income
• Senior leadership and team development – acting as a key member of the Senior Leadership community and overseeing the development of your direct reports and the larger team to ensure skills are appropriate and the team remains motivated
• Developing and sustaining a collaborative and outcome orientated culture
• Oversee and direct the delivery of the annual Budgeting and Business Planning cycle, across the Directorates to provide the ELT and Board with the overall position
• Support the Strategic Pricing Review through the provision of insight and analysis on the cost base and threats and opportunities across the Enterprise to ensure a deliverable plan
• Manage senior Stakeholders to steer decision making and promote the influence of financial and commercial criteria
• Trusted advice and relationship building – this role requires building highly trusted and effective relationships at all levels of Scottish Water and in particular with Directors, senior leaders and business managers so that robust analysis, particularly financial, is at the heart of decision making

Candidates will demonstrate the below or equivalent:

• Extensive experience as a senior Finance Business Partner in a complex structured business
• Demonstrable and ability to influence major operational and investment decisions
• Strong awareness of finance to understand the implication of decisions supported by Commercial judgement, including experience of business case development, cost benefit analysis, capital investment appraisal, and scenario modelling
• Proven leadership of multidisciplinary finance teams, with a track record of building capability, developing talent, and establishing a culture of accountability and collaboration
• Experience in planning, budgeting, and forecasting, including shaping enterprise-wide planning cycles
• Experience engaging at Executive and Board level, capable of balancing strategic insight with operational detail
• Experience of leading in a transforming or newly establishing finance environment, contributing to the design and embedding of new processes, roles, and ways of working

Technical Skills:

• Understanding of how financial controls, accounting treatments and core finance processes influence performance outcomes, sufficient to challenge, interpret and translate their implications for business decisions
• Commercially focused financial modelling capability, enabling the role holder to interrogate assumptions, test scenarios, and guide specialists toward clear, decision ready outputs
• High competence in performance reporting and insight generation, including the ability to turn financial and operational data into compelling narratives for senior leaders
• Demonstrable ability to deliver presentations for impact and influence

Benefits:

• Highly attractive salary is on offer
• Excellent bonus
• Car allowance
• Hybrid working
• Can be based at any of Scottish Water's key locations in Scotland

For more information on this opportunity, please contact Hazel Wynn at Rutherford Cross: [email protected].