Head of Finance Business Partnering

blueAPACHE · Melbourne

blueAPACHE is an Australian owned award-winning Managed Service Provider, recognised for the 7th year running as Mid-Market Partner of the Year at the ARN Innovation Awards.

We pride ourselves on being a genuinely great place to work, with a vibrant culture, clear vision and strong leadership. When joining blueAPACHE, you are joining an organisation driven by our core values and a commitment to employee and customer experience.

We are proud to be an equal opportunity employer and are committed to building a diverse and inclusive workplace where we embrace our individual talents and differences.

This is an opportunity to join blueAPACHE in a pivotal leadership role at the centre of how the business understands, controls and improves its financial performance. The role combines genuine business partnering with broader finance capability and business continuity responsibilities and ownership of the transformation of blueAPACHE’s finance, billing and commercial systems, data and processes.

Position Purpose

The Head of Finance Business Partnering exists to transform finance into a strategic business partner that drives profitable growth and better decision-making, while building broader capability across financial reporting, control and finance operations.

The role embeds financial expertise across the business to provide meaningful insight into performance, profitability and opportunities, while leading transformation of financial and billing systems, data, tools and processes. It also develops practical capability across month-end close, financial reporting, balance sheet integrity, audit support, statutory compliance, cashflow and financial controls.

The role partners directly with business unit and functional leaders, bringing commercial and financial rigour to decisions rather than reporting on them after the fact. It owns the modelling that explains service and business unit profitability, service cost and margin, and the commercial performance of blueAPACHE’s offerings across their lifecycle.

In parallel, the role leads a significant transformation agenda across finance process, systems and tooling, while supporting agreed finance activities during leave, vacancies or peak reporting periods. The scope of responsibility will increase as competence is demonstrated and formally delegated.

Requirements

Essential

Substantial experience in senior finance business partnering, commercial finance, FP&A, financial control or finance management, ideally within an MSP, technology, telecommunications or recurring-revenue services environment.
CA, CPA, CIMA or equivalent professional qualification, with current technical accounting knowledge.
Demonstrated experience with month-end close, management and statutory reporting, balance sheet reconciliations, audit support and financial controls.
Working knowledge of Australian tax and statutory finance obligations, treasury, cashflow forecasting and working-capital management.
Demonstrated experience partnering with and influencing business unit and functional leaders outside finance.
Strong experience in profitability analysis, cost allocation, margin modelling, budgeting and forecasting.
Experience leading finance process, systems or tooling transformation, including requirements definition, testing and implementation.
Working knowledge of billing, revenue recognition and order-to-cash workflows and the controls required to keep them accurate.
Strong analytical and modelling capability, with genuine command of the assumptions behind the numbers.
Experience leading or developing team members and setting accounting, analytical, process and control standards.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain financial concepts and escalate material risks clearly.

Highly Desirable

Experience within an Australian Managed Service Provider or technology services organisation.
Experience with recurring revenue, contracted services and lifecycle-based commercial models.
Hands-on experience with PSA, CRM, ERP and billing platforms and their integration.
Experience coordinating an external audit and dealing with external tax or accounting advisers.
Experience providing broader senior finance coverage or acting responsibilities.
Experience with modern reporting, analytics and workflow automation tooling.
Experience operating within an EOS or comparable structured operating model.

Personal Attributes

Commercially minded and technically grounded.
Comfortable moving between strategic framing, operational detail and financial control.
Willing to constructively challenge leaders and hold a position on the evidence.
Takes ownership of transformation outcomes and follows them through to sustained adoption.
Structured and disciplined, with strong attention to accuracy, control and deadlines.
Exercises sound judgement about when to decide, when to consult and when to escalate.
Communicates clearly and credibly, particularly when the message is unwelcome.
Builds trust across finance, commercial, operational and technology teams.
Demonstrates a genuine commitment to customer success and blueAPACHE’s values.

Key Accountabilities

Business Unit Finance Partnering

Act as the strategic finance partner to business unit and functional leaders, providing commercial insight, constructive challenge and decision support.

Support budgeting, forecasting, investment decisions and business case development with credible financial analysis.

Provide early visibility of performance risks and opportunities, together with practical recommendations.

Build financial literacy and commercial accountability across the leadership team.

Establish Finance as a trusted partner in business performance and decision-making.

Profitability, Pricing and Commercial Performance

Own the analysis and reporting of profitability across services, business units, customers and offerings.

Provide insight into the drivers of revenue, cost, margin and profitability performance.

Develop and maintain service cost, margin and pricing models that support commercial decision-making.

Quantify the impact of pricing, cost, mix and volume changes.

Support commercial reviews, pricing activities and strategic growth initiatives.

Financial Planning, Forecasting and Performance Management

Lead financial planning, budgeting and forecasting processes across the business.

Provide consolidated analysis of performance against budget, forecast and strategic objectives.

Establish meaningful performance measures and reporting that support decision-making.

Identify emerging financial risks and opportunities and recommend appropriate actions.

Support executive planning, investment prioritisation and resource allocation decisions.

Financial Reporting, Controls and Governance

Support the integrity of monthly financial reporting and management information.

Review financial performance, key balance sheet movements and the effectiveness of relevant controls.

Contribute to the development and continuous improvement of financial policies, controls and governance frameworks.

Support audit activities and compliance requirements as required.

Promote strong financial discipline and accountability across the business.

Cashflow and Working Capital Performance

Support the development and monitoring of cashflow forecasts and working capital performance.

Analyse receivables, payables, billing and contract performance to identify improvement opportunities.

Provide insight into the cash conversion, profitability and funding implications of business decisions.

Support initiatives that improve cashflow predictability and operational performance.

Finance Transformation and Continuous Improvement

Lead the finance transformation agenda across processes, systems, data and reporting.

Identify opportunities to improve efficiency, reduce manual effort and strengthen controls.

Prioritise and sponsor finance systems, reporting and automation initiatives, with operational delivery delegated to the appropriate functional owners.

Ensure transformation initiatives deliver measurable business outcomes and sustained adoption.

Drive continuous improvement across finance processes and operating practices.

Data, Insights and Decision Support

Define the financial and commercial information required to support effective decision-making.

Ensure management reporting provides meaningful insight into business performance.

Promote consistency, integrity and clear ownership of key financial and commercial data.

Translate complex financial information into practical business insight.

Set reporting requirements and provide oversight, while dashboard production, data validation and routine reporting remain with the relevant operational teams.

Leadership and Cross-Functional Alignment

Lead the Manager, Commercial Service Operations, providing clear direction, priorities and accountability.

Set priorities, expectations and performance standards for finance partnering activities.

Ensure commercial, operational and financial objectives remain aligned across Sales, Service Delivery, Procurement, Technology and Finance.

Provide strategic oversight of orderbook governance, billing operations, service commercial operations, reporting production and workflow improvement through the Manager, Commercial Service Operations.

Build strong relationships across the business and act as a trusted adviser to senior leaders.

Benefits

blueAPACHE continues to grow alongside some of Australia’s leading midmarket businesses, our valued clients. We continue to stay abreast of current technologies to maintain our competitive advantage, offering the opportunity to continually expand your technical expertise and provide an uncompromising offering to our clients. We recognise our people are our most significant differentiator.

An environment where you can make a real difference and develop your career within a supportive and rewarding team.

Flexibility to work in a way aligned with our values, including a hybrid work-from-home model.

Regular social events and the opportunity to work with experts in their field.

Health insurance discount with Medibank.

Discounts on thousands of products.

Employee Assistance Program through The Mind Room.

Ongoing training and development, including paid certifications.

Quality hardware and laptop provided.

Employee referral program.

Amazing destinations for our annual blueSTAR experience.

Employment Conditions

All offers of employment are subject to National Police Checking Service requirements.

The position may require travel to customer sites and blueAPACHE locations.

Additional hours may occasionally be required during reporting, planning, audit and system implementation cycles.

Continued professional development and maintenance of relevant accounting, commercial and systems knowledge are expected.

*** Please note, all offers of employment at blueAPACHE are subject to National Police Checking Service.

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