Head of Financial Performance
Industry: Higher Education
Work Setting: Full-Time | Permanent | On-site | West London, United Kingdom
Overview
A leading higher education provider is seeking an experienced Head of FP&A to lead financial planning, forecasting, performance reporting, and commercial finance activities across the organisation.
Reporting into senior finance leadership, this role will drive financial insight, budgeting, forecasting, performance management, and decision support while leading a high-performing finance team. The successful candidate will play a key role in improving financial visibility, enhancing reporting capabilities, supporting strategic planning, and identifying opportunities to improve profitability and operational performance.
Key Responsibilities
Financial Planning & Analysis
- Lead annual budgeting, forecasting, long-range planning, and scenario modelling processes.
- Deliver accurate financial forecasts and provide insight into business performance.
- Conduct variance analysis and present actionable recommendations to leadership teams.
- Support strategic decision-making through financial modelling and commercial analysis.
Financial Performance Management
- Own financial performance reporting across revenue, costs, margins, and profitability.
- Produce timely management reports, executive dashboards, and board-level reporting packs.
- Provide meaningful commentary, trend analysis, and business insights.
- Monitor financial and operational performance against strategic objectives.
Revenue & Cost Management
- Oversee forecasting, budgeting, and month-end reporting for revenue and direct costs.
- Identify opportunities to improve margins, productivity, and operational efficiency.
- Partner with budget holders to implement improvement initiatives and monitor outcomes.
- Support resource allocation and investment decisions through financial analysis.
KPI & Governance
- Establish and maintain robust financial controls, reporting standards, and forecasting governance.
- Monitor key business and financial performance indicators.
- Ensure consistency, accuracy, and reliability of reporting processes and outputs.
Systems & Process Improvement
- Drive continuous improvement across finance systems, reporting tools, and data management.
- Lead automation initiatives to improve efficiency and reduce manual processes.
- Enhance data quality and reporting capabilities to accelerate business insight.
Leadership & Stakeholder Management
- Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing FP&A team.
- Build strong relationships with senior stakeholders across the organisation.
- Translate complex financial information into clear business recommendations.
- Act as a trusted finance partner supporting strategic and operational decision-making.
- Provide leadership support and deputise for the Finance Director when required.
Requirements
- Qualified Accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent).
- Significant experience within Financial Planning & Analysis, commercial finance, or business partnering environments.
- Strong expertise across budgeting, forecasting, month-end reporting, financial modelling, and long-term planning.
- Demonstrated leadership experience managing and developing finance teams.
- Advanced Excel and financial modelling capabilities.
- Experience working with ERP, planning, and reporting systems.
- Strong communication and presentation skills with the ability to influence senior stakeholders.
- Experience driving process improvements, automation, and finance transformation initiatives.
- Previous experience within higher education or a similarly complex service-based environment preferred.
Ideal Candidate
The ideal candidate is a commercially minded finance leader with strong FP&A expertise and a proven ability to translate financial data into strategic business decisions. They will combine technical excellence with leadership capability and a passion for driving performance, efficiency, and organisational growth.