Finance Business Partnering | Grade 6

Summary

Role Summary

G6 FBPs take a broader leadership role, leading FBP teams for one or more complex business areas, operating as the first point of contact for senior leaders on the largest or more complex finance matters in their remit. They will influence strategy within the portfolio, ensuring financial implications are considered from the outset of policy and programme design. They will also partner with wider finance specialisms (Strategic Finance, Management Accounting, Financial Accounting, Commercial) to deliver a coherent, end to end service.

Typical Role Responsibilities

G6s are expected to:

Leadership & Management

? Provide inclusive and empowering leadership to the FBP team or teams, setting a clear direction, role modelling inclusive behaviour. Inspire teams to maximise their potential and succeed, create a culture that attracts and grows talent.

? Play an active role in shaping financial strategy for the business area, representing the finance function in internal and external senior forums.

? Lead continuous improvement initiatives through digital innovation, and use of modern analytical tools and technologies, aligning with the Government Finance Function (GFF) 2030 strategy.

Financial Advisor

? Lead support to the business in developing and approving strategic and / or higher risk submissions, larger business cases and Accounting Officer Assessments (AOAs); ensure compliance with Managing Public Money (MPM), Financial Reporting Manual (FreM) / International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), Consolidated Budgeting Guidance (CBG), and Green Book.? Recommend a course of action to SCS for approval where required.

? Develop the capability of the FBP team or teams, ensuring the team provides sound and expert financial advice to the business that promotes Value For Money (VFM) and strong financial discipline, taking account of all financial considerations.

? Set the tone for rigorous in year financial management, holding the business to account for delivery and embedding financial considerations in strategic decision making.

Influential Voice

? Provide confident and constructive advice and challenge to Senior Civil Servants (SCSs) and executives, translating analysis into options and trade offs that enable effective decision making.

? Lead the FBP team in providing high quality insight based on rigorous data analysis to support large scale decisions which have a financial impact.

? Build and maintain strong relationships with key internal and external partners and leverage these to secure mutually beneficial outcomes.

Business Expert

? Maintain a deep understanding of the political, fiscal and departmental context to anticipate risks and opportunities for the portfolio, ensuring plans reflect wider priorities .

? Influence strategy for their business area, ensuring financial implications are fully considered from the outset.

? Act as a change leader in the business area?providing analysis, commercial awareness and structured challenge to improve outcomes and value for money

Entry Route

Only suitable for staff with the required skills and experience from within Finance.

Typical Qualifications

Essential:

Full accountancy qualification with?CCAB,?CIMA?or Level 7 accountancy equivalent.

Responsibilities

Tasks

In-year financial management:

Provide leadership on in-year financial management, ensuring provision of high quality financial information to senior stakeholders.
Future year planning:

Support Strategic Finance by leading process to help the business build accurate, robust multi-year plans, leading the provision of constructive challenge and understanding risk and opportunities.
Continuous improvement:

Lead change initiatives to enhance financial processes, ensuring advances in data and analytics are fully utilised to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
Support delivery:

Work closely with leads on significant projects and programmes to ensure submissions include appropriate financial considerations and sound business cases are developed with strong commercial focus and robust options appraisal.
Set the right tone:

Promote and embed a financial culture that is supportive and empowering, ensuring strong assurance, and promoting compliance with relevant governance and assurance processes.
Lead an effective team:

Build capability and confidence for own team, motivating and empowering people to succeed, creating an inclusive culture.
Advice and guidance:

Lead the provision of strategic financial advice and guidance at senior stakeholder and executive level, ensuring advice is robust, consistent, and value added.

Expectations

Behaviours

For details of Behaviours, please visit?Behaviours | Civil Service Careers?and?Success Profiles guidance on GOV.UK.

Leadership

Provide senior leadership and direction to the finance partnering function, creating an inclusive, high?performing environment and guiding the team to deliver effectively.
Communicating and Influencing

Communicate complex financial and strategic issues with authority and clarity, influencing senior leaders and supporting the team in managing challenging messages.
Seeing the Big Picture

Maintain a strong grasp of fiscal, political and departmental priorities, ensuring their portfolio?s financial strategy aligns with the wider strategic landscape and supporting their teams to do the same.
Making effective decisions

Make decisive, evidence?based recommendations on complex or ambiguous issues, setting overall expectations for analytical quality and judgement.
Changing & Improving

Champion innovation and leads significant improvements or technology?driven change, encouraging others to adopt an innovative mindset.

Power Skills (previously known as Interpersonal Skills)

Emotionally intelligent and inclusive leadership

Harness the diverse skills, views and experiences within and beyond the team to drive performance improvement across the team
Strong communicator

Utilise a range of communication forms to convey complex and challenging information to senior stakeholders
Collaborative

Build relationships and networks across functional boundaries and potentially externally to ensure effective and efficient delivery of priority outcomes
Adaptable and resilient

Able to respond positively to rapidly changing priorities and urgent requirements, leading change initiatives

Professional Skills

Key for Levels of Professional Skills

A = Awareness

W = Working

P = Practitioner

E = Expert

Subheadings	Professional Skills	Level	Learning Resources
Core	Budgeting, Forecasting and Costing	P	"Forecasting (3 modules)" "Finance skills for all 5: budget management" "Consolidated budgeting guidance 2025 to 2026"
	Commercial acumen	P	"The commercial journey" "Open Book Contract Management" "Commercial awareness"
	Investment appraisal and evaluation	P	"Finance skills for all 7: investment appraisal"
	Strategic analysis and insight	P	"Finance skills for all 6: strategic business planning" "Strategic Finance Knowledge Network"
	Performance and Risk management	P	"Finance skills for all 9: performance indicators"
	Accounting officer responsibilities	W	"Accounting officer assessments" "Accounting Officer Survival Guide" "NAO report into Accounting Officer Assessments"
	Oral and Written Presentation skills	E	"Creating Accessible PowerPoint Presentations" "Presenting Confidently" "Writing Skills"
	Influencing Senior Leaders	E	"Assertiveness: further resources" "Influencing and Persuading"
	Data and analytics - interpretations and visualisation	E	"Data Visualisation 101" "Data Visualisation 201: Getting your message across"
	One Big Thing - Artificial Intelligence	W	"Artificial intelligence for all: Part 1 - An introduction to AI in the Civil Service" "Artificial intelligence for all: Part 2 - Building practical AI skills in the Civil Service"
	Artificial Intelligence Fundamentals	W	"Artificial Intelligence: Fundamentals" "Artificial Intelligence: Generative AI Tools and Applications"
Useful	Taxation	W	"VAT/PAYE e-learning"
	Interpretation of accounts	W	"Finance skills for all 8: interpretation of accounts"
	Government financial reporting	W	"Finance foundations" "Finance skills for all 1: financial planning and control (part 1)" "Finance skills for all 2: financial planning and control (part 2)" "Finance skills for all 3: accruals based accounting (part 1)" "Finance skills for all 4: accruals based accounting (part 2)" "Public Accounts Committee"
	Supporting the PAC agenda	W	"Public Accounts Committee"
	Understanding the role of NAO	W	"NAO Insights & Good Practice Guides" "Spotlight on NAO Good Practice Guides" "The Role of the NAO"
	Risk management and Fraud	W	"Risk management for non-risk professionals" "Information Asset Owner" "Risk Management Learning Suite for non-risk professionals" "The Government Risk Profession Learning Suite" "Introduction to Project Delivery: Managing Project Risk"
Links to learning platforms	GFF Government Finance Academy	Variety of learning available	"GFA hosted on OneFinance"
	Civil Service Learning	Variety of learning available	"Civil Service Learning"
	Government Skills Campus	Variety of learning available	"Prospectus Online"

Qualifications

Essential:
- Full accountancy qualification with?CCAB,?CIMA?or Level 7 accountancy equivalent.

Entry and Progression Routes

Entry Routes

Within Finance

Only suitable for staff with the required skills and experience from within Finance.

From Outside Finance

This role is not suitable for non-finance professionals.

Progression Routes

G6 FBPs typically move into other G6 roles in the Finance Function or progress to SCS1 Finance roles.