Finance Expense Management Business Partner

We are looking for someone who can engage and manage multiple key priorities and stakeholders to deliver insightful and dynamic expense partnering for the fast-moving business functions. To succeed in this role, you will need to deliver a first-class partnering support for the functions managing the company's expenses, optimising cost efficiency, and providing strategic financial insights to support business decisions. You’ll be responsible for leading 2 direct reports creating an environment where they can thrive individually and collectively. ​ 

This is a fantastic opportunity for someone who is resilient and has a keen eye for detail to ensure your insight will have a material impact on key business outcomes including growth, profitability and customer servicing. You will need to have the confidence in managing key stakeholders to influence at all levels to drive achievement of both cost management and wider business strategic goals. 

Many of our employees work flexibly in a variety of different ways, including part-time, flexible hours, job share, an element of working from home or compressed hours. This is because we want the best people for our roles, and we recognise that sometimes those people aren’t available full-time. Please talk to us at interview about the flexibility you may need.  

What will you be doing?  

• Proactive expense partnering to execute expense targets by working closely with functions to understand their expense base, providing guidance on expense management and cost efficiency. 

• Take responsibility for leading interaction and negotiation with the function to ensure budget and forecast targets are hit. 

• Delivery of timely & accurate MI to all stakeholders including senior management, adding value at every opportunity. 

• Confident in own skills and contribution; challenging key stakeholders to support them in achieving their optimal results.  

• Manage the preparation of annual budgets and forecasts, ensuring expenses and FTE are accurately projected and managed against budgeted amounts, company policies and external regulations. 

• Support the delivery of monthly reporting to the business functions and key stakeholders, with ability to prioritise ad hoc insight and analysis requests to support dynamic business decision making. 

• Work with the function to agree the cost allocation drivers for each cost centre within their remit, including allocations to channel/ product, admin, acquisition and claims handling, and fixed/ variable. 

• Effectively managing changing priorities in a dynamic environment.  Prove resilient in uncertain and difficult situations and adapting approach/plans/style as required. 

What are we looking for? 

• Finance qualified (e.g. ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent) – preferred. 

• Experience in the financial services or insurance industry, ideally within a heavily regulated environment. 

• Relevant experience of business partnering and stakeholder management within finance or a business function; financial acumen.  

• A strong understanding of financial results, metrics and levers and presentation of complex financial metrics.  

• You will be solution focused and a flexible thinker with strong commercial awareness.  

• Curious and creative with the ability to deliver complex financial analysis and be a subject matter expert for complex financial queries to identify progress, opportunities and challenges.  

• Confident and credible with senior stakeholders, you will be comfortable facilitating, consulting, challenging and advising as appropriate.  

• Accomplished at delivering both independently and through co-ordinating the activities of others, utilising excellent collaboration, relationship and stakeholder management skills.  

• Extensive experience in building and managing relationships with varied stakeholders at a senior level.  Strives to exceed the expectations of key stakeholders, actively seeking feedback.  

• Independently finds solutions to advanced problems and identifies potential barriers to solutions and provides alternatives. Challenges assumptions and “the way we have always done it”.  

What will you get in return? 

Everyone’s different. That’s why at Zurich, we offer a wide range of employee benefits so our people can choose what fits them and their life. Our benefits provide real flexibility so our people can make considered choices and tailor their benefits throughout the year. Our benefits include 12% defined non-contributory pension scheme, annual company bonus, private medical insurance and the option to buy up to an additional 20 days or sell some of your holiday, alongside a range of other flexible benefits 

You can find out more about our wide range of employee benefits on our website.  

Who we are:  

At Zurich we aspire to be one of the most responsible and impactful businesses in the world. Together, we’re creating a brighter future for our customers, our people and our planet.  

With over 65,000 employees, you’ll feel the support of being part of a strong and stable company that is a long-standing player in the insurance industry.