Finance business partner: Matt Rouse explains what qualities you need in order to secure this popular, forward-thinking role.

AuthorRouse, Matt
PositionSo you want to be ... - Column

Finance business partner jobs are very popular because they are concerned mainly with driving an enterprise forward. It's an exciting position: in it you will get involved in making key decisions and genuinely feel that you are having a positive impact on your organisation.

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These roles, which are normally found in divisions of large companies, are focused on ways to boost revenue. You will get involved with investment appraisals and feasibility studies for new income streams, providing financial support to commercial decision-makers. Most of your work will be project-based, looking at client pitches and business strategies. As the job is commercially focused, it will always involve an element of reporting--although the extent of this depends on the size of the organisation and the type of role. But any reporting will still not be as frequent and routine as it would be for, say, a financial analyst.

If you're thinking about moving your career in this direction, it's a good idea to get involved with extra projects wherever possible in your current job. All the time you should be thinking: "How is what I'm doing adding value to my CV?" Your CV should outline exactly how you've benefited your organisation.

Competition for such a popular role is obviously tough. It was extremely hard to secure one during the recession, when companies focused on cutting costs rather than forward-thinking initiatives. But, encouragingly, I have seen more finance business partner vacancies in the past six months or so, particularly among FTSE-100 and FTSE-250 companies looking to grow.

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