Senior Finance Business Partner

This role acts as a strategic finance partner to the Chief Product & Technology Officer (CPTO) and Chief Language Officer, supporting both current operations and future transformation initiatives. The position provides financial insight, governance, and commercial challenge across technology investment, SaaS product development, and delivery optimisation, ensuring alignment with the organisation’s strategic objectives and transformation programmes.

About Group Finance

In joining RWS’s Finance team you will be a critical part of supporting a listed world-leading provider of technology-enabled language, content, and intellectual property services. RWS has growing revenues of over £750m through a combination of value accretive acquisitions and organic growth. Group finance, led by our Group CFO; Candy Davies, includes diverse teams across the globe operating in functions including business partnering, operational finance, specialist, and group functions. We cover a footprint of over 100 legal entities in 43 different countries worldwide.  

It’s a very exciting time to join RWS Finance for an individual who enjoys change and making an impact! As part of the overall RWS business strategy we are making a significant investment in upgrading our financial systems and processes to deliver enhanced reporting and control, more efficient processing enabling great value through enhanced business partnering and decision support. 

Key Responsibilities

Overall Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary finance interface for CPTO and Delivery leadership, embedding finance into decision-making for technology and delivery transformation.
• Provide financial modelling and scenario analysis for initiatives, ensuring benefits realisation and investment tracking against agreed milestones.
• Work with the central FP&A team to further develop dashboards and reporting packs integrating financial and operational KPIs for technology and delivery performance.
• Ensure compliance with relevant accounting standards and internal policies
• Act as a trusted advisor, building strong relationships and influencing strategic decisions across technology and delivery functions.

Technology-Specific Responsibilities

• Oversee financial planning for technology investments, including cloud migration, software development, and capitalised R&D spend.
• Collaborate with product teams and divisional Finance Directors to evaluate financial performance of software products, supporting decisions on product development, pricing, and market positioning.
• Provide financial oversight for cybersecurity and infrastructure investments, ensuring alignment with budgetary considerations.

Delivery-Specific Responsibilities

• Partner with Delivery leadership to define, quantify, and track financial and operational benefits of process improvement and restructuring initiatives.
• Develop and maintain a benefits realisation framework, including KPIs and dashboards measuring progress against targets such as cost-to-serve reduction and improved utilisation.
• Support Delivery in identifying, prioritising, and financially evaluating process improvement opportunities, including automation and workflow simplification.
• Provide financial analysis and scenario modelling to support restructuring decisions, including workforce changes and cost base optimisation.
• Collaborate with HR and Delivery leaders to assess financial implications of organisational design changes, including severance and redeployment costs.
• Act as a bridge between finance and delivery, translating complex financial data into actionable insights for non-financial stakeholders.

Skills & Experience

• Qualified accountant (ACA, CIMA) with finance experience in Tech or SaaS businesses.
• Knowledge of technology models, agile methods, product lifecycles, and SaaS revenue practices.
• Skilled in financial modeling, ERP/BI tools
• Experience in partnering with senior leaders and influencing decisions.
• Communicates complex financial data clearly for various audiences.
• Strong analytical skills to support data-driven decisions and financial goals.
• Excellent at building relationships and influencing at executive level.
• Resilient, credible, and proactive in driving solutions and overcoming challenges.
• Trusted for impartial, accurate judgment and advice.
• Effective leader focused on developing and coaching others.
• Highly motivated and able to navigate complexity and uncertainty.