Senior Finance Manager - Business Partnering

Home. There’s no place like it. And there’s no feeling like helping people create the joy of feeling truly at home.

At Dunelm, that’s what we do.

We are the UK’s Number One homewares retailer offering over 80,000 products building a consumer-focused total retail business that delights customers through our multichannel operation.

We are ambitious in our plans to drive further expansion of the business to more customers, shopping more frequently, with more choice, enhanced digital and physical services, and new capabilities to innovate and operate at pace in a fast-changing landscape. In developing the business for the long-term benefit of our customers, we are investing in our supply chain, stores and technology to improve the customer proposition as we move forward.

The Business Finance Team is a team of roughly forty finance professionals, who partner with the functions across Dunelm, to:

• Produce timely and accurate weekly and monthly reports and insight to inform trading and operational control and decision making
• Set targets (in conjunction with business) and provide independent view of forecasts and trends
• Hold business to account to deliver to targets and manage risks and opportunities
• Support and challenge tactical and strategic decision making, including financial appraisal (and post investment appraisal)
• Agitate for optimising profitability and return on investment, and for best use of our resources
• Use our unique viewpoint to join things up, ‘unblock’ issues and put simple structure around priorities and actions
• There are many opportunities for development in the team, both:
• Progression through Senior Finance Manager and Head of; and Partnering with the varied parts of Dunelm’s business, including Stores, Supply Chain, Digital, Marketing, Tech, Commercial and many more!

As Senior Finance Manager for the business functions you partner, you are responsible for leading your team to provide support and challenge to your business partners in line with the Business Finance purpose, whilst also ensuring that all requirements for the Dunelm Finance function are delivered.

In addition to leading your team, you will directly partner with your Executive and Dunelm Leadership Team partners on specific projects, initiatives and focus areas, acting as a key member of their leadership teams. You will work closely with your colleagues partnering other areas of the business to support join up of opportunities and issues across the end-to-end operation.

What the role involves:

• Leadership of your team, including direct line management of Finance Managers and coaching and development of the broader team
• Primary outcomes of the team include:
• Production of weekly and monthly reporting
• Forecasting, budgeting and strategic planning
• Decision support, from tactical decisions up to large strategic projects, including financial appraisal
• Insight and analysis to better inform decision making
• Challenge and support to business functions and, where relevant, to third party suppliers
• Ensure the month-end is closed accurately, timely and in accordance with policies as set by Financial Reporting (P&L and balance sheet)
• Partner directly (and indirectly via the team) the Exec and Dunelm Leadership Team members in the functions you support – acting as ‘critical friend’
• Direct ownership, leadership and presentation of regular or ad hoc outputs and meetings. E.g. Weekly Trade, Steering Groups for focus areas, acting as Finance Lead
• Identifying business opportunities or risks and influencing stakeholders to take action. Questioning the status quo and coming up with improvement ideas
• Constantly re-review the prioritisation of your team’s workload, looking for better ways to do things and being brave in stopping activities.

What are we looking for:

• Proven line management experience, delivering through others
• Commercially minded, with a genuine drive to make a difference and support Dunelm to achieve its growth and profitability targets
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, able to condense complex information into clear messages to gain understanding and buy-in
• A good relationship builder building trust with key stakeholders and able to influence
• Finance qualified, with broad finance experience and knowledge, able to represent the whole finance function with stakeholders
• Equally comfortable in the high level and directional as the detailed and accurate and able to flex approach based on the circumstances
• Comfortable with ambiguity and changing priorities and able to lead a team through continuous re-prioritisation to ensure the best value outcomes are delivered.

Communicating – Making the complex easy to understand, influencing and engaging others to achieve support for decisions and actions

Curiosity – A desire to truly understand the business operations and to question why things are done the way they are. Always probing beyond the first answer.

Adapting – Having the courage to change direction to achieve outcomes. Creating a safe environment for the team to experiment and learn.

Thinking Big – Using internal and external networks and knowledge to suggest and influence change

Challenging – Being the voice of constructive dissent to help reach better outcomes; shape opinions and challenge thinking

Making It Happen – Cutting through complexity to deliver agilely against the most important outcomes. Set clear roles, responsibilities and expectations with your team.

What's in it for you!

• Competitive Basic Salary
• Car Allowance
• Up to 25% bonus
• Bupa Private Healthcare
• Life Cover (3x your salary)
• Critical Illness
• Dunelm Discount Card of 15%
• 5% Pension (Company) 4% (Employee)
• 25 days holiday +1 day for Birthday +1 day for Charity+ Bank Holidays
• Access to online discounts at various other retailers and organizations.
• Flexible Hybrid working
• And many more!