Senior Finance Operations Lead

Key responsibilities 

1. Leadership of D&T Finance Operations Capability 

• Lead, manage and develop a team of Finance Operations Leads supporting D&T Pillars, Platforms and Services. 

• Establish clear accountability, standard ways of working and capability expectations across the Finance Operations community. 

• Foster a culture of ownership, financial discipline and continuous improvement. 

2. Standard D&T Financial Processes & Governance 

• In partnership with the central Finance team, define, establish and maintain standard processes to manage D&T operational and delivery finances. 

• Ensure consistency across annual planning, multi‑year budget forecasting, forecasting updates, accruals, cost allocation, tracking and reporting. 

• Embed financial governance aligned to D&T delivery, portfolio and investment management rhythms. 

3. Budget Control & Financial Performance Management 

• Work closely with Pillar and Service Leads to ensure all D&T operational budgets land within ±5% of agreed targets. 

• Provide early visibility of variances, spend pressures and corrective actions. 

• Support data‑driven trade‑off decisions where cost, scope, timing or capacity need to be adjusted. 

4. Reporting, Insights & Spend Trends 

• Produce high‑quality financial reporting and dashboards, including run vs change spend, trends, forecasts, variances and drivers. 

• Provide clear insight into cost drivers, delivery spend profiles and run‑rate evolution. 

• Ensure reporting is trusted, timely and fit‑for‑purpose for senior D&T and Finance leadership. 

5. Process Simplification & Automation 

• Drive simplification and automation of D&T finance operations processes, reducing manual effort, error rates and decision latency. 

• Improve data quality, system integration and use of standard financial tooling. 

• Continually eliminate unnecessary complexity in budgeting, forecasting and reporting processes. 

6. Multi‑Year Forecasting & Cost Optimisation 

• Support and lead multi‑year D&T budget forecasting and cost optimisation exercises, in partnership with central Finance and D&T leadership. 

• Identify structural cost opportunities, productivity improvements and investment trade‑offs across run and change spend. 

• Ensure cost optimisation actions are tracked, delivered and sustained over time. 

7. Risk & Opportunity Management 

• Proactively identify and manage financial risks and opportunities across D&T operations and delivery portfolios. 

• Work with Delivery, Commercial and Finance teams to mitigate financial risks and realise savings or efficiency opportunities. 

• Ensure risks are surfaced early and managed with clear ownership and mitigation plans. 

8. Stakeholder Partnership & Influence 

• Act as a trusted finance partner to D&T leadership, Pillar Leads and Service Owners. 

• Translate financial data into clear, pragmatic insight for non‑finance stakeholders. 

• Build strong working relationships across D&T, Finance and Commercial functions. 

Qualifications & experience 

Essential 

• Senior experience in finance operations, management accounting or financial performance leadership roles 

• Proven experience leading finance teams and owning budgeting and forecasting processes 

• Strong understanding of operational and delivery cost management, ideally in D&T environments 

• Ability to influence senior non‑finance stakeholders with confidence and clarity 

Preferred 

• Experience supporting large‑scale Digital, Technology or Transformation organisations 

• Exposure to portfolio‑based financial management and cost optimisation programmes 

• Strong track record in finance process automation and simplification 

• Team Leadership and people management