Finance Business Partner

The Role

Our FP&A team are looking for a Finance Business Partner to support New Growth and Fund activity. The role reports into the Property FP&A Manager, with additional stakeholders outside of the team including Fund Managers, New Growth teams, and fund and JV investors. The role is responsible for commercial analysis, decision support, budgeting and forecasting relating to Funds and New Growth opportunities. It further oversees reporting and distributions to fund investors and supports capital raising and transaction activity within the funds.

What You`ll Be Doing

• Prepare quarterly performance reports for Unite`s two investment funds, USAF and LSAV.
• Own in-year, one year and five year forecasts for the funds and monitor performance against these throughout the year. Investigate variances internally and provide explanation to investors.
• Analysis of fund and asset level performance, including working closely with the portfolio management team to understand asset level returns drivers, and input into asset level forecasts.
• FP&A support regarding potential new funds and JVs with university or investment partners, including returns modelling, forecasting income and costs, and acting as link between FP&A and development teams.
• Monthly cash flow reviews against Group and Fund targets.
• Working with wider finance team to streamline recurring reporting processes.
• Develop analysis of headroom and capex requirements in the funds, and work with Property FP&A Manager to ensure alignment of fund and group capex forecasts.
• Analysis of investor returns, including comparison to other funds, and previous years` performance.
• Act as primary contact for investors on the performance of the funds, and support Fund Managers in communicating financial impact of decisions to investors (i.e. capital or debt raising activities).
• Prepare quarterly board packs for, and present on quarterly performance in LSAV and USAF board meetings.
• Ownership of investor questionnaires and regulatory submissions for funds.
• Ownership and management of cash distributions to investors, ensuring sufficient capital remains within the vehicles to meet future commitments.
• Understanding of obligations under fund documents, and actions required to comply with these.
• Ownership of quarterly NAV reporting for USAF, ensuring NAV note is distributed to investors on time.
• Provide forecasts, analysis and clarity on the calculation of fees received by Unite from funds and JVs, and impact of potential ownership changes.
• Communicate and collaborate with other members of the FP&A team to ensure all commercial aspects of any New Growth or Fund activity are considered.

What We`re Looking for in You

• Qualified Accountant (e.g. ACA, ACCA, CIMA) with post qualification experience gained within a commercial environment.
• Excellent communication skills including inspiring trust and influencing; communicating technical financial information in a clear and commercial manner; adapting style and content for different audiences; and demonstrating a confident, credible and accomplished presentation style.
• Initiative to identify and prioritise required tasks with focus on adding value and providing insight, whilst maintaining a high level of accuracy, quality, and attention to detail.
• Flexible and capable of undertaking travel to London and other UK locations on a regular basis.
• Excellent analytical skills and advanced Excel skills.
• Willingness to learn about the wider business. Curiosity and personal drive to improve.

What You`ll Get in Return

• A discretionary annual bonus so you can share in the company`s success
• 25 days` paid holiday and an annual holiday buying scheme, with 5 additional days awarded for long service
• A generous pension scheme - employer contributions between 5% and 11% depending on how much you save
• Various benefits to support your health and wellbeing including a Healthcare Cash Plan, an Employee Assistance Programme, a Wellbeing platform and a Gym benefit that you can share with your family and friends
• Enhanced Family Leave including 18 weeks full pay for birthing parents and 4 weeks for non-birthing parents
• Lots of other great benefits including an annual ShareSave scheme, Employee Life Assurance, a discounts portal and more!

About Unite Students

Founded in 1991, Unite Students is a FTSE 100 business and the UK`s leading provider of purpose-built student accommodation. You can find us in 25 leading university towns and cities, with 74,000 students calling US home! We are driven by our values, culture, and a commitment to develop diverse and inclusive teams, filled with positive energy and new ideas.

Instinctive inclusion. We know that to create and maintain a happy healthy organisation, we have to work hard to ensure inclusion isn`t just what we do but who we are.

People make Unite Students. Employees, students and neighbours all contribute to building environments where we can all thrive.

Room for Everyone

We`re proud to be an employer that embraces individuality, and we`re passionate about building inclusive teams. We focus on creating a collaborative culture where you can be you, where your voice is heard, and where you can truly belong. We take great pride in being rated Gold Investors in People and are constantly striving to provide the highest standard of learning and development opportunities and professional pathways for our people. Building a home for success, for both our employees and students, requires exceptional people with a passion for creating room for everyone, doing what`s right, keeping US safe, and raising the bar. Join us as we build better experiences for students that live with us.

We are US.