Finance Business Partner

Interim Finance Business Partner (Outside IR35) Location: Buckingham, Buckinghamshire (Hybrid – approx. 3 days onsite) Contract: UK Contract Duration: ~4 months (now–end of December), with potential extension Rate: £300/day DOE | IR35: Outside IR35 Start: ASAP Overview We're supporting a HE organisation with an urgent requirement for an Interim Finance Business Partner to add immediate capacity into the team during a critical period (budgeting and forecasting cycle). This is a hands-on partnering role, suited to someone who can hit the ground running, quickly build relationships, and provide strong commercial finance support across a varied stakeholder group. You'll partner with service owners and budget holders across areas including Estates, IT, and Corporate Services, combining stakeholder engagement with robust financial analysis (“number crunching”) to support decision making. Key Responsibilities

• Act as a trusted finance partner to senior stakeholders and budget holders
• Provide budgeting support, budget setting, and forecasting throughout the cycle
• Deliver clear financial insights, analysis, and commentary to support operational decisions
• Support service areas (including Estates, IT, and Corporate Services) with financial planning and performance
• Identify issues, investigate variances, and propose practical solutions
• Contribute to improving ways of working in a team that is not currently “BAU” due to capacity constraints Essential Skills & Experience
• Proven experience working as a Finance Business Partner (or equivalent interim role)
• Confident, proactive stakeholder management with excellent communication skills
• Accounting qualification (part-qualified / fully qualified) or AAT, or qualified by experience
• Strong Excel skills and comfort handling data and producing usable outputs quickly
• Problem-solving mindset and ability to operate with pace and autonomy Desirable
• Higher Education experience
• Track record of working in fast-moving, capacity-constrained environments