Lead Finance Manager - Central Costs

Lead Finance Manager – Central Costs
£60,000 - £70,000 plus excellent benefits, including up to 10% matched pension and private health care (Work Level 5) 
Manchester city centre - in this role you’ll work in a hybrid way splitting your time between home and the office (find out more about our hybrid working policy at https://jobs.coop.co.uk/hybrid-working-policy).  

We’re looking for a Lead Finance Manager to join our Finance team and provide us with oversight and control for Co-op’s central costs and investment choices, allowing us to make effective decisions that improve business outcomes and help set us up for future success.

Why this role matters

In this role, you'll join the team that co-ordinates our Group central costs budget, provides insight into the investments we make, and financially partners our corporate support functions across the business. You'll work closely with senior leaders to provide financial insight, challenge, and support, helping shape decisions and deliver Co-op's strategic priorities. If you bring strong financial expertise and a proven ability to influence and partner with senior stakeholders, we can offer you the opportunity to develop your career and make a real impact across Co-op.

What you’ll do

•    Co-ordinate and own the group central costs budget and ongoing forecasts, managing performance of the business, providing insight, and holding the business to account to achieve its financial targets
•    Co-ordinate and own the monthly review of performance, making sure that optimisation initiatives are tracked, and delivery is understood
•    Develop insights reporting to enable business teams to better manage and understand their spend
•    Lead efforts to prioritise and align relevant projects with corporate strategic goals
•    Provide support to the exec (in your area) in relation to required analysis and projects, preparing high-quality outputs 
•    Create a culture of development, making sure the team has strong commercial insight and a business analysis skillset 
•    Take ownership and help us drive consistency into our processes and reporting

What you’ll bring

We’re committed to making our roles as accessible as possible, so we only ask for the minimum criteria. To thrive here, you’ll need to bring:

•    A financial qualification, such as CIMA, ACA, ACCA, or equivalent
•    Strong organisational skills and a flexible approach; you’re comfortable working accurately at pace and with changing priorities
•    Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to bring financial information to life in a compelling way
•    The ability to build strong relationships with colleagues at all levels, and the ability to develop and grow a team 
•    Excellent analytical skills; you’re able to spot trends in data and apply broader business and market context to make sense of data

Why Co-op?

At Co-op, we’re owned by our members. And because we’re owned by you, we can do right by you. So when you join us, you’re not just taking a job, you’re joining a movement. We’re an organisation that puts people and communities first, and we’re powered by purpose. We want this to be a place where you can thrive, so you’ll also receive:

•    An annual bonus (based on personal and business performance)
•    28 days holiday (rising to 32 with service) plus bank holidays 
•    A pension with up to 10% employer contributions 
•    Private healthcare
•    Access to a subsidised onsite gym (at our Manchester HQ) 
•    30% discount on Co-op products and 10% off other brands 
•    Stream – early access to a percentage of your pay as you earn it 
•    Virtual healthcare including GP appointments, mental health support, nutrition and fitness advice 
•    24/7 colleague support service 
•    Training and support for your development and career progression
•    Cycle-to-work scheme

A place you’ll belong

We’re building diverse and inclusive teams that reflect the communities we serve. We welcome applications from everyone and are committed to creating a workplace where colleagues can feel like they belong, supported by our inclusive policies and the ways we work.

We’re proud to be part of the Disability Confident scheme and offer interviews to disabled candidates who meet the minimum criteria for a job. If you need any adjustments during the recruitment process, we’ll support you.

Learn more about our recruitment process at jobs.coop.co.uk/apply-process and our inclusion commitments at jobs.coop.co.uk/diversity-inclusion