South Yorkshire Pensions Authority - Senior Finance Business Partner

Welcome, and thank you for your interest in becoming South Yorkshire Pensions Authority’s new Senior Finance Business Partner.

We are proud of the track record that South Yorkshire Pensions Authority (SYPA) has achieved over a long period. As we progress, we are seeking to build on this, whilst preserving the long-term stability of our pension fund. That is where you come in……

I am looking forward to recruiting a Senior Finance Business Partner who will further develop our thinking and help us realise our ambitions. This newly established role will be responsible for managing the strategic finance team and will effectively serve as the deputy to the Head of Finance and Performance.

We are seeking a highly qualified individual with a professional accountancy qualification from a CCAB member body, preferably CIPFA, and current membership with up-to-date CPD. You will have significant professional experience in public sector finance, ideally within Local Government or the Local Government Pension Scheme. Additionally, a proven track record in translating strategic objectives into operational plans and managing staff in a financial environment.

This role is also an external facing role where you will play a lead role alongside colleagues in managing the relationship with our external auditors, as well as managing relationships with various key suppliers – such as banking, custodian, finance software etc.

As Senior Finance Business Partner, you will apply specialist knowledge to influence others at all levels in the organisation including the Senior Management Team and the elected members of the Authority – preparing business cases, presenting reports, providing advice on strategic finance issues, and providing training, guidance, and presentations on relevant subjects.

This is an exciting opportunity to join our small, friendly, and forward-looking Resources team in this well-respected, award-winning organisation managing a £11 billion pension fund. If you’re looking for a role involving variety and challenge, where you will lead on the co-ordination and delivery of a wide range of projects to embed continuous improvement, then this could be the role for you.

We are both a local authority and a pension fund and we’re unique within the Local Government Pension Scheme as the only democratically accountable single purpose pension organisation in the UK. As a local government body, we have a public sector ethos and place a great deal of importance on our organisational Values and Behaviours – which are all about being honest and accountable, professional, progressive, and empowering.

We are very proud that SYPA has won many awards such as:

LAPF Investment Awards - Investment Innovation 2024
Pensions for Purpose – Place Based Impact Investment 2023
LAPF Investment Awards - LGPS Fund of the Year (Assets over £2.5bn) 2022
Pensions for Purpose – Impact Investing Adopters Award 2021

Our small but mighty Finance team were proud to be shortlisted for Finance Team of the Year in CIPFA’s Public Finance awards 2024…

Here is a flavour of what we achieved that contributed to this recognition:

Our Financial Services Team demonstrates unwavering dedication and exceptional performance. We achieved a clean audit sign-off by 29th September 2023, placing us in the top 1% of authorities for meeting deadlines. When faced with the sudden liquidation of our investment accounting software in May 2023, we innovatively developed our own spreadsheet system to manage our £10 billion fund and shared it with LGPS colleagues. Additionally, our consistent high performance is evidenced by eight internal audit reports, with seven receiving the highest 'substantial assurance' rating and one at the 'reasonable assurance' level. Our resilience, innovation, and excellence set us apart.

Additionally, the team played a critical role in supporting 'Project Chip,' a £260 million deal with Royal London, providing essential tax and capital expenditure information. The contributions ensured smooth progress and compliance with financial regulations, showcasing ability to deliver under pressure and foster trust with business partners.

Our achievements have had a significant impact, empowering our organisation with a competitive pay structure, improved benefits, and streamlined financial processes. Our involvement in key projects has strengthened business partnerships and facilitated strategic deals, ultimately driving organisational success, enhancing service delivery, and fostering a positive work environment.

These awards are a testament to the hard work, dedication, and innovative spirit of our team, find out more about our awards. It really is an exciting time to be joining us.

We have a culture that encourages work-life balance, and to recognise this for our employees, as of April 2024 we introduced a 35 hour (instead of 37 hour) working week with no impact on annual pay. We offer flexible working hours and hybrid office / home working (including a non-taxable allowance towards the cost of working from home). Our newly refurbished Barnsley office provides a state-of-the-art working environment; and with on-site parking and located within 10 minutes’ walk of both the train and bus stations, it makes us easily accessible. At SYPA we are big on your professional development, you’ll have a learning and development plan, and we’ll support you to keep your CPD updated. Perhaps most importantly you will be welcomed by talented teams.

If you are interested in joining our team and are inspired to contribute to the next phase of our journey, we look forward to your application. In the meantime, following an initial conversation with our recruitment partners at The Resourcing Solution we would be delighted to discuss this opportunity with those who might wish to learn a little more.

Take a look at our LinkedIn page to find out more about us and see what we’ve been up to recently!

Job title: Senior Finance Business Partner
Location: Barnsley / Hybrid
Contract: Full-time (35 hours per week Monday to Friday) / Permanent
Salary: £55,056 - £61,824 plus benefits and relocation support

The Senior Finance Business Partner role supports the Head of Finance & Performance in delivering high-quality finance and accountancy support. This includes providing strategic financial advice to elected members and officers, overseeing contractual relationships within financial services, and managing the implementation of new software systems and contracts. The role also involves the day-to-day management of the strategic finance team, ensuring performance meets the organisation's obligations and standards.

Key responsibilities include focusing on strategic finance processes such as budget monitoring, financial reporting, and maintaining robust financial controls. Alongside the Head of Finance & Performance, the Senior Finance Business Partner will coordinate and produce the Medium-Term Financial Strategy, annual budgets, financial statements, and other financial reports. Collaboration is essential, requiring close work with colleagues across the organisation and liaising with internal and external auditors.

The Strategic Finance team managed by the Senior Finance Business Partner provides comprehensive financial management support, including processing pension contributions, investment transactions, payroll, treasury management, and maintaining financial controls.

The role involves managing a team of six, including a CIPFA Trainee Accountant, and supporting the Head of Finance & Performance in managing the Authority’s operating budget of approximately £8 million per year, and effectively forecasting and reporting on the Pension Fund’s £11 billion investments.

Candidates should possess strong financial and budget management skills, detailed knowledge of accountancy and financial frameworks within the Local Government Pension Scheme or Local Government, and proven communication and interpersonal skills. Management experience, including staff supervision and development, is essential, along with problem-solving abilities and project management skills.

A professional accountancy qualification from a CCAB member body, preferably CIPFA, is required, along with current membership of a relevant accountancy body and evidence of up-to-date CPD. Significant professional experience in public sector finance, particularly within Local Government or the Local Government Pension Scheme, is highly desirable. The role also demands the ability to translate strategic objectives into operational plans and manage staff in a financial environment.

The values expected to be demonstrated in this role include honesty and accountability, professionalism, progressiveness, and empowerment. The Senior Finance Business Partner is expected to model positive behaviours, take responsibility for improvements, align with common organisational goals, and involve and engage team members in decision-making processes. This role plays a key part in ensuring the financial health and strategic financial management of the organisation, requiring a blend of technical expertise, strategic thinking, and strong leadership skills.

Key Points:

Role Purpose: Support Head of Finance & Performance, responsible for budgets, annual accounts and audit, provide strategic advice, manage contracts, oversee finance team.
Responsibilities: Strategic finance processes, financial reporting, collaboration, team management.
Team Context: Financial management support, data-driven performance management, project delivery.
Line Management: Manage 4-8 team members.
Budget Responsibility: Support in managing £8 million operating budget and £11 billion Pension Fund investments.
Skills and Abilities: Financial and budget management, accountancy frameworks, communication, management, problem-solving, project management.
Qualifications and Experience: CCAB accountancy qualification, public sector finance experience, strategic and operational planning.
Values and Behaviours: Honesty, accountability, professionalism, progressiveness, empowerment.

What’s in it for you?

We have a generous annual leave policy that offers between 28 days and 36 days annual leave depending on length of service, plus all statutory bank holidays and you can accrue and take up to 13 extra days leave per year by utilising Flexitime.
Employees have access to salary sacrifice schemes for Car Lease and AVCs, with a Cycle to Work scheme in the pipeline, as well as newly enhanced family policies such as maternity, adoption and paternity.
We have several work-life balance policies including a Flexible Working Hours scheme (Flexitime) which allows you to work your contracted hours to suit both you and the team that you are working in, as well as offering hybrid working enabling you to work from home for up to 3 days per week, subject to successful progress during probationary period.
You’ll automatically be enrolled into the LGPS (Local Government Pension Scheme) which provides a salary-related pension, to which the employer contributes.
We offer a range of wellbeing initiatives including regular webinars on health & wellbeing, fresh fruit, tea, coffee, and employer provided flu vaccination vouchers each year. We also organise regular social and charity events.
We also offer a 24/7 confidential helpline, access to workplace counselling and Occupational Health.
Access to a range of benefits and discounts through the Wider Wallet scheme.
A salary of £55,056 - £61,824
Centrally located modern office for public transport links and staff on-site parking available.
Find out more and see our ‘meet the team’ videos on our website at: Work For Us

Come and join us!

We are a growing public sector organisation with a team of around 130 staff who run the workplace pension scheme, managing a Fund of more than £11 billion on behalf of nearly 600 employing organisations, including Local Authorities and other public / not-for-profit sector bodies.

South Yorkshire Pensions Authority is responsible for administering the Local Government Pension Scheme in South Yorkshire. The Authority was created in 1988 as part of the arrangements put in place following the abolition of South Yorkshire Metropolitan County Council. The Authority itself is made up of 12 Councillors drawn from the 4 districts in the County.

The Pensions Authority's workforce is headed by the Director and is organised around three streams of activity, each led by an Assistant Director, reflecting the focus of its work in relation to:

Scheme members
Investment of the Pension Fund's assets, and
The running of the organisation

The diagram below shows the management structure of the Authority.

2024/25 has been another busy year for the Authority with a number of key events:

Ongoing implementation of a revised investment strategy including changes designed to enable us to accelerate the rate of progress towards our investment portfolios becoming Net Zero.
The continued growth of our Place Based Impact Investment portfolio focussed on investment in South Yorkshire.
Improving the quality of our communication with scheme members using more modern approaches through social media and also more traditional means such as our regular newsletters.
The appointment of our new Custodian Northern Trust Asset Servicing, providing us with an opportunity to enhance the security of the £11bn assets we hold in the Fund, whilst improving the efficiency and effectiveness of how we manage our assets.
Our new external auditors KPMG were on-boarded during the 2023/24 accounts closedown process; the accounts were published with an unqualified audit opinion on 22/11/2024.

Alongside all these important developments we are also paying attention to the corporate infrastructure with an emphasis on delivering a range of improvements to our governance and ensuring we have the resources and tools needed to deliver on the corporate strategy.

Corporate Objectives

SYPA operates to deliver a number of corporate objectives the achievement of which will allow us to deliver on our mission which is:

Making sure we deliver against the objectives below will allow us to achieve this:

Values and Behaviours

How we achieve our objectives is as important to us as what we achieve, and we operate with a framework of values and behaviours which signify the type of organisation we want to be:

Values	Behaviours
Honest and Accountable	Telling it like it is, and taking responsibility for our actions even when we have made a mistake
Progressive	Welcoming of change, while taking sensible risks and learning from our mistakes and from others
Professional	Being highly skilled and competent and managerially applying rationality to decision making processes
Empowering	Providing the freedom for individuals to identify and implement solutions to problems

In addition, if we are to live those values then our managers must demonstrate specific management behaviours as shown below:

*Management Behaviours*	*Demonstrated by:*
We model positive behaviours to each other and to all staff	We regularly offer encouragement and praise for positive behaviours We challenge inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour We give and receive authentic feedback We hold staff to account for their performance
We take responsibility for improvement - within a clear framework	We get on with making improvements and changes rather than wait for permission (within a clear advice frame that sets out what we can get on with and what we can’t). We trust people to do their job, we don’t micromanage. We give a heads up when we plan something new, we speak up early when there is a problem or when things aren’t going well. When something doesn’t go well, we look for what we can learn and what we can do differently next time.
We all get behind a common goal	We have a clear vision that sets out what our goals are and clear priorities which set out what our most important changes are. We make the time to understand what we need to do to contribute to that vision. We work together across the organisation and contribute to the organisation as a whole. We challenge and question rumours and use discretion in sharing what gets discussed amongst managers.
We involve and engage people in decisions that will affect them	We keep people in the loop about things that will affect them. We seek and value the opinion of the people we manage and of other teams. We take the time to set out plans, then listen to the concerns and recommendations of those involved as to how we can strengthen those plans. We communicate regularly and clearly to all staff.

More detail about the structure of the organisation is available on our website.

About Barnsley, South Yorkshire

Contact us:

For an informal confidential discussion about this opportunity, please contact:

Leanne Auton by emailing Leanne.Auton@northyorks.gov.uk or calling 07815 028548

Key dates:

Closing date: Midnight Wednesday 26 February

Shortlisting date: Afternoon of Thursday 6 March

Please note, an Occupational Personality Questionnaire (OPQ) will be issued to shortlisted candidates prior to interview.

Interview date: Thursday 20 March (in-person, Oakwell House, Barnsley)

Apply:

To apply please provide us with your CV including a supporting statement in one Microsoft Word document. Your supporting statement should outline your motivation for applying and how you meet the criteria for the role.

Applications should be emailed to Executive.ResourcingSolutions@northyorks.gov.uk

Please do not send PDFs.

It is important that your CV includes: your full contact details (telephone, email, address), full employment history (name of employer, job titles, dates of employment and salary), full education history (qualification, grade, dates and place of study), explanation of any gaps in employment and the contact details of at least two referees including your current / most recent employer indicating whether you consent to us contacting each referee prior to interview. Please also provide details of your current salary and notice period.

South Yorkshire Pensions Authority is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity.

We are committed to equality of opportunity for all staff. We welcome applications from individuals regardless of age, any disability, sex, gender reassignment, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion, or belief.

We will not accept applications from agencies.

Your Privacy

South Yorkshire Pensions Authority is committed to protecting your privacy when you use our services. Please refer to the Privacy Statement which explains how we use information about you and how we protect your privacy.

About the role

Key Points:

About the South Yorkshire Pensions Authority

Contact us and apply now