Finance Business Partner - Technical

Company Description

For almost 50 years, Williams has been at the forefront of one of the fastest sports on the planet, being one of the top three most successful teams in history competing in the FIA Formula 1 World Championship. With an almost unrivalled heritage of engineering and racing F1 cars and unforgettable eras that demonstrate it is a force to be reckoned with, the British squad boasts 16 F1 World Championship titles to its name.

Since its foundation in 1977 by the eminent, late Sir Frank Williams and engineering pioneer Sir Patrick Head, the team has won nine Constructors’ Championships, in association with Cosworth, Honda and Renault. Its roll call of drivers is legendary, with its seven Drivers’ Championship trophies being lifted by true icons of the sport: Alan Jones, Keke Rosberg, Nelson Piquet, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve. The team has made history before and is out to make it again with a long-term mission to evolve and return to the front of the grid.

Job Description

The Finance Business Partner - Technical is the finance owner for the Technical organisation: Aero, Vehicle dynamics, Vehicle engineering and Race Engineers, with around 12 budget owners including the Chief Technical Officer. Working closely with Technical’s functional directors, the role provides the analysis, insight and challenge behind sound commercial decisions, and is accountable for the area’s financial performance, forecasting and investment appraisal, so that resources go where they add most performance within the cost cap.

A core goal of the role is to take finance admin off the engineering teams so they can focus on developing a high-performing car. That means simpler approvals and forecasting, self-serve reporting and finance doing the finance work. This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced Finance Business Partner to join the Atlassian Williams F1 Team on our journey back to the top.

Main Duties:

• Act as the finance owner and partner for Technical, working with the Chief Technical Officer and the functional directors and heads of Aero, Vehicle dynamics, Vehicle engineering and Race Engineers, across around 12 budget owners.
• Take finance admin off the engineering teams so they can focus on developing a high-performing car: simplify approvals, purchase orders, forecasting inputs and headcount requests, and give budget holders self-serve reporting.
• Own month-end performance reporting for Technical, reviewing results, agreeing adjustments with the Controllership team and giving clear, action-oriented commentary to stakeholders.
• Run a structured cycle of monthly performance reviews, quarterly deep dives and reforecast processes, presenting variances, risks, opportunities and actions to budget holders and senior management.
• Lead the quarterly reforecast processes and trade-off discussions within the available cost cap envelope, giving the Chief Technical Officer clear options and recommendations.
• Own forecasting and planning for Technical, including the financial elements of the AOP and long-term plans, with documented assumptions and stakeholder sign-off.
• Partner with Technical leaders on business cases for capability-building expenditure, including people, facilities and test and simulation equipment, with investment appraisal and scenario analysis from first idea to post-investment review, and track cashflows on key projects.
• Own Technical’s headcount forecast with People and Culture and Talent Acquisition, reconciling HC Live, the hiring pipeline and the financial forecast every month.
• Drive cost cap optimisation and advise on cost cap treatment with the cost cap compliance team, so that Technical’s spend is correctly classified and allocated where it adds most performance.
• Work with the Cost Engineering team on the boundary between programme and department cost, so labour and parts cost are counted once and consistently.
• Build, maintain and improve financial models for ad hoc projects and strategic initiatives, using the team’s reconciled data and dashboards and the Finance AI roadmap.

Qualifications

Essential

• Fully qualified accountant (CIMA, ACCA or ACA).
• At least two years’ experience as a finance business partner to senior, non-finance stakeholders, ideally in an engineering, technology or R&D environment.
• Strong track record in budgeting, forecasting, AOP, investment appraisal and business case development.
• Experience of headcount planning and capital expenditure appraisal.
• Strong Excel and PowerPoint skills, with experience of Power BI.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, take initiative and work independently.
• Fluency in English.

Desirable

• Previous Formula 1 experience working with the cost cap.
• Experience in motorsport, automotive, aerospace or another high-performance engineering environment.
• Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Medius experience.
• Experience of working with profit centres and in a matrix organisation with programme and functional reporting lines.
• Accounting or finance-related university degree, 2:1 or better.

Additional Information

Atlassian Williams F1 Team is an equal opportunity employer that values diversity and inclusion. We are happy to discuss reasonable job adjustments.