Finance Business Partner - Virgin Media Ireland

About Virgin Media:

Virgin Media is the leading connected entertainment cable and broadcast business in Ireland. Every day we deliver connections that really matter for Irish Consumers and Businesses with multi award-winning services including broadband, TV, mobile and home phone. Our Virgin Media Business division provides the fastest broadband speeds and connectivity solutions for entrepreneurs, businesses and the public sector.

Virgin Media Television, our broadcast division, is Ireland’s number one commercial broadcaster offering three free-to-air channels: Virgin Media One, Virgin Media Two, Virgin Media Three, as well as the Virgin Media Player. We are a significant investor in home produced content, including news, current affairs and drama, as well as offering the best in international programming. Virgin Media Sport and our 6 Extra Sport channels offer extensive sports coverage across the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League. Our advertising sales agency, Virgin Media Solutions, creates unique, innovative campaigns for our business and for third party clients across the UK and Ireland.

Virgin Media is part of Liberty Global, one of the world’s leading converged video, broadband and communications companies, with operations in six European countries.

For further information please visit: www.virginmedia.ie

About the Role:

The Finance Business Partner, Commercial & FP&A, is responsible for the commercial finance and business partnering activities for Commercial Division within VMIE Group. They will drive capital allocation decisions through strategic business planning, budgeting, and regular reviews with the business.

They will be responsible for performance monitoring, reviewing business cases and requests for capital investment, supporting the business in obtaining budget for purchasing and initiating efficiency programs to improve cost intensity. They will be a key financial business partner to the Directors and Senior Managers withing the Commercial Team.

Together with the other FBPs this role forms the Ireland Capital Allocation & Business Control team led by the Director of CA&BC. This team work collaboratively with other finance functions including the Shared Services Centre to ensure that finance processes and ways of working are adhered to and operating effectively.

The role requires someone who is highly organised, has strong attention to detail, is naturally inquisitive and has a proactive approach to improving processes and developing new ways of reporting.

Specific Duties & Tasks:

• Work closely with, and influence, senior management to help drive business performance –helping to ensure high quality financial decisions are made

• Provide objective financial advice and opinions that positively impact the future choices of the business

• Identify and drive financial efficiency with Commercial leadership team - ensuring that resources are allocated effectively with rigorous pressure on costs and a commitment to a value-for-money approach

• Provide objective challenge regarding spend plans and take a proactive role in looking for opportunities to deliver services more efficiently and effectively

• Investigate opportunities as well as high risk and material financial issues, or problem areas, with the business.

• Support the business in assuming greater degrees of financial accountability by providing local coaching and training to improve financial confidence and competence across the Commercial Leadership team

• Ensure Capital Allocation framework is applied efficiently and enhanced according to business requirements, for VMIE Group

• Effective financial performance monitoring to secure the achievement of financial objectives

• Monthly performance reviews with Deputy CFO & CFO

• Detailed cost benchmarking and propose measures to increase cost efficiency across VMIE Group

• Smooth annual planning processes for both multiyear strategic plans, financial budgets and monthly forecasts

• Responsible for leading the Commercial Monthly Cost FP&A processes, encompassing KPIs, Profit and Loss, on a timely and accurate basis for Senior Leadership and CFO review

• Annual Budget process and preparation of materials for CEO sign-off. Largest financial exercise of the year requiring communication with relevant stakeholder groups, focus on numerical precision and detailed understanding of commercial drivers.

• Preparation of monthly consolidated KPIs & Financials encompassing multiple business units, including an update on performance vs Budget

• Owning the relationship with relevant business heads across the organisation to ensure co-ordination between divisions with VMIE Group

• Reviewing business cases and supporting business in obtaining budget for high return investment opportunities

• Business decisions are aligned across the VMIE Group and optimized by making use of Group wide knowledge, skills and scale advantages

• Controls and adherence to relevant guidelines (US GAAP, Purchasing Policy, etc.) are sustained at the required levels

Skills & Expertise:

• Qualified accountant

• Financial planning experience advantageous, but not essential

• Strong systems skills (Excel, PowerPoint, databases (Hyperion – Planning & HFM), Oracle, etc.)

• Experience in previous business partner role advantageous, but not essential

• Advanced financial modelling skills

• Ability to analyse trends with a view to understanding key drivers and how they impact those trends both historically and in the future.

• Ability to translate complex finance analysis into layman terms for communication to Business.

The Person:

• First class problem solving skills who gets to the heart of the matter.

• The ability to communicate effectively and efficiently with the business while ascertaining the key impact/detail behind the issue/request.

• A team player  who can lead by example and inspire others on a daily basis.

• Ability to work in a fast paced environment and embrace change.

• A methodical approach to both daily tasks and project work.

• Explores opportunities by being resourceful and self-motivating.

Virgin Media is an equal opportunities employer. Having a diverse workforce is critical to the success of our business.