Senior Finance Business Partner

Senior Finance Business Partner - Commercial

Essential Roles & Responsibilities

Commercial Support

• Act as a senior finance partner to the sales organisation, supporting high-value and complex opportunities with commercially focused financial insight and challenge
• Provide clear guidance on pricing, deal structuring, and profitability, using creative and pragmatic approaches to help secure business on favourable terms for Claranet
• Lead the financial input into bids, tenders, and major proposals, ensuring accuracy, competitiveness, and alignment with strategic objectives
• Develop and articulate robust commercial models, clearly communicating financial implications (including P&L and cashflow impacts) to both internal stakeholders and customers
• Design and maintain flexible, scalable deal models incorporating elements such as discounts, credits, rebates, and milestone-based billing to support diverse customer requirements
• Support renewals and retention strategies by delivering timely, insightful financial models that optimise pricing and margin while maintaining competitiveness
• Partner with the Portfolio team to develop and embed consistent, data-driven pricing methodologies aligned with CPQ processes
• Ensure commercial models are robust, standardised, and operationally deliverable, with effective handover from sales to delivery teams
• Drive consistency across the business in deal modelling, cost-to-serve frameworks, and pricing tools
• Collaborate with the UK Senior Management Team to establish and embed strong sales governance processes, ensuring appropriate review and challenge prior to customer submission
• Provide commercial approval for deals in line with governance frameworks, acting as the senior escalation point for complex or non-standard transactions

Finance Business Partnering

• Lead the development of the sales budget and forecasting models, partnering with sales leadership and portfolio teams to define KPI targets across a 3-year planning horizon
• Work closely with the FP&A team to enhance sales and pipeline reporting, delivering clear, actionable insights on performance and variance to plan
• Own customer-level profitability analysis, providing meaningful insight to support strategic decision-making and maximise customer lifetime value
• Support the design and evolution of the annual commission plan, including ownership of all modelling required for target setting, coverage, and affordability
• Ensure commission processes are accurate, consistent, and well-controlled, with a focus on automation and continuous improvement

Leadership & Influence

• Act as a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders, providing constructive challenge and influencing decision-making
• Drive continuous improvement in commercial finance processes, tools, and governance
• Build strong cross-functional relationships across Sales, Portfolio, Delivery, and Finance to enhance commercial outcomes

Teams to Collaborate With

• Sales & Business Development – Act as the primary finance partner to Sales and Business Development, providing end-to-end commercial deal support, leading commission plan design and governance, and supporting budget setting and performance tracking
• Profit Assurance – Proactively identify opportunities to optimise revenue and reduce cost-to-serve, ensuring commercial models translate effectively into realised margin
• Business Intelligence & Planning – Enhance sales and commercial reporting through improved dashboards and insights, driving automation and scalability in reporting processes
• Technology Practice – Partner on pricing strategy and budget setting
• Customer Experience & Managed Service – Support budget setting, cost optimisation, and customer profitability analysis, ensuring alignment between service delivery performance and commercial outcomes
• Procurement, Legal & Compliance – Collaborate to ensure contractual terms support commercial objectives, including recovery of cost increases through pricing mechanisms, and provide financial input to resolve supplier and customer commercial issues
• Financial Control – Partner with the accounting team to ensure integrity and accuracy of the P&L, enabling reliable actuals to support budgeting, forecasting, and commercial analysis

Position Specifications

Behavioural Competencies – Organisational & Behavioural Fit

• Flexible and creative, able to adapt to changing situations and take considered risks
• Self-motivated and able to work under pressure
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• High attention to detail
• Collaborative, supportive, and eager to help others learn
• Manages conflict and challenges in an open and constructive manner
• Positive mindset, excited by unfamiliar challenges and learning new things
• Enthusiastic and eager to develop new skills and knowledge
• Ability to travel to different sites and locations

Critical Competencies – Technical Fit

• Qualified ACA, ACCA or CIMA with at least 5 years PQE
• Experience of budgeting and forecasting in a similar sized business
• Strong commercial awareness, experience in a commercial role is highly desirable
• You will have the knowledge and experience to carry out complex tasks competently, confidently and consistently
• You will have strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to interpret complex financial data
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with the ability to influence stakeholders at all levels
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to prioritise and manage multiple tasks simultaneously
• Experience of people management and coaching of junior staff
• Advanced Excel and financial reporting skills; experience with ERP and finance systems is desirable