Senior Business Partner - Cost Management

Job Type: Permanent Job Sector: Accounting Region: Yorkshire Location: Skipton Salary Description: Competitive salary plus excellent benefits Posted: 12/09/2025 Recruiter: Skipton Building Society Job Ref: jr3270 Job Views: 1

Hours: 35 hours. Hybrid working. Minimum expectation of 1-2 days per week at our Head Office in Skipton. Closing Date: Sat, 27 Sept 2025

We are recruiting for a newly created leadership role in the Society Cost Management team. If you enjoy a fast paced and agile environment, developing and delivering insight and thereby drive business performance and strategy then this may be the role for you. With a keen eye for detail, being skilled at understanding complex information and succinctly communicating its meaning, you’ll be part of a small team at the heart of the business and optimising member and business value.

Who Are We? Not just another building society. Not just another job. We\'re the fourth biggest building society and mutual organisation in the UK. Mutuality makes us different as we don\'t have shareholders; we\'re owned by our members. Our colleagues say Skipton\'s a great place to work, and you could be one of them, bringing with you new ideas on how we can keep customers at the heart of what we do. Whatever your background, and whatever your goals, we\'ll help you take the next step towards a better future.

Meet The Team: We’re strengthening our FP&A team and broadening its remit to cover Group stress testing and forecasting activities and facilitate opportunities which make the most of the power of the Group. The team you will be joining, Society Cost Management Group Financial Performance is a team of 6 colleagues working with financial business partners, business lines and executive teams. Our core role is to understand, report and forecast business performance, identify risks to be mitigated and opportunities to drive cost efficiency. We will explain using insight the impact of actions with business partners and help achieve strategic goals through strong cost discipline. Turning data into insight, insight to action and action to customer satisfaction is central to all we do.

What Will You Be Doing?

• Lead cost management, partnering, budgeting/forecasting and month end cost reporting.
• Understand business priorities and needs and lead the cost team to ensure these are met.
• Ensure all identified threats and opportunities to the cost base are tracked and managed.
• Ensure all Society costs are applied accurately with postings to appropriate ledgers and cost centres.
• Ensure month end related activities are proportionate and add value.
• Ensure accuracy of results with strong communication with the Financial Accounting and Financial Reporting teams.
• Continually review processes and delivery to ensure quality of services at all times.
• Deliver excellent service to internal customers.

What Do We Need From You?

• Strong communication skills, with the ability to clearly interpret and concisely explain the impact on the Society of accounting and technical matters.
• Excellent planning, analytical and modelling skills, enabling complex models to be understood and appropriately challenged.
• Flexibility and drive to support a changing, growing business in an uncertain environment.
• Proactive, enthusiastic, self-starter to deliver excellent outcomes and service.
• Good commercial understanding and ability to translate operational plans into financial outcomes.
• High level of attention to detail and delivery of accurate, high-quality outputs.
• Experience of cost management, ideally in the financial services sector.
• Ability to develop and maintain effective working relationships, working collaboratively both within the team and the wider business in order to achieve objectives.
• Strong leadership skills, gaining the trust and respect of own team and senior management.
• Ideally attained a professional accounting qualification e.g. ACCA/CIMA/ACA with proven post qualification experience.

What’s In It For You?

• Skipton values work/life balance and we are proud to support hybrid and flexible working, where possible.
• Newly refurbished head office with a vibrant and collaborative working space.
• Range of benefits including: annual discretionary bonus scheme, 25 days standard annual leave + bank holidays + rising 1 day per year of service to a maximum of 30 days, holiday trading scheme, matching employer pension contribution (up to 10%), colleague mortgage (conditions apply), salary sacrifice for hybrid & electric car, private medical insurance, volunteering days, diverse networks, wellbeing initiatives, cycle to work and discounted gym membership.