Deputy Director, Sector Finance Insights & Partnering

Key Responsibilities

1. Sector Finance Insights & Decision Support

• Serve as a trusted financial adviser to Sector and RI leadership, providing forward-looking insights to support strategic and operational decisions.
• Provide scenario analysis, financial evaluation and risk assessment for key initiatives, including Industry Collaboration Agreements (ICAs), Competitive Grants and major research and business activities.
• Identify emerging financial trends, risks and opportunities, translating analysis into clear and actionable management recommendations.

2. Financial Planning, Forecasting & Resource Stewardship

• Lead annual and multi-year financial planning and forecasting across the Sector, providing an integrated view of funding, resource requirements and financial outlook.
• Support Sector and RI leadership in prioritising and allocating resources towards organisational and research priorities.
• Oversee All-Funds grant execution and budget management, including budget virements, in accordance with Financial Policies & Approving Authorities (FPAA).
• Promote strong financial stewardship and effective utilisation of resources across the Sector and RIs.

3. Performance Insights, Analytics & Finance Integration

• Lead the development of Sector-level financial and performance insights by integrating information across RIs, Finance and corporate functions.
• Drive forecasting, scenario analysis, dashboards and analytical capabilities to provide early visibility of risks, opportunities and resource requirements.
• Strengthen the use of financial and operational data to support consolidated forecasts, performance discussions and management decision-making.
• Drive continuous improvement in the quality, consistency and effectiveness of financial insights and analytics across Finance and RI teams.

4. Financial Governance & Operational Stewardship

• Uphold sound financial governance, internal controls and fiduciary discipline across the Sector and RIs, ensuring compliance with financial policies and approving authorities.
• Support RI audit and governance requirements, including relevant RI audit committee meetings.
• Lead the Resource Personnel (RP) team in ensuring appropriate manpower cost charging and supporting manpower planning with HR Planners and RI DCS.

5. Finance Partnering Leadership & Capability Development

• Lead, mentor and develop RI Finance Controllers as effective finance partners to their respective RI Executive Directors and leadership teams.
• Lead and develop the Sector Finance Insights & Partnering team, building capabilities in financial insights, planning and forecasting, commercial and financial acumen, analytics and stakeholder engagement.
• Foster strong collaboration across RIs, Sector leadership and the wider Finance community.
• Build a proactive finance partnering culture focused on anticipating issues, generating insights and enabling better management decisions.

Requirements:

• Degree in Accounting, Finance or a related discipline. A professional accounting qualification such as CA, CPA or equivalent is preferred.
• Proven track record in a senior finance leadership role, with experience partnering senior business or organisational leaders.
• Strong experience in FP&A, financial planning and forecasting, finance business partnering, financial management or finance transformation.
• Strong analytical capability with demonstrated ability to translate complex financial and operational information into meaningful insights and recommendations for senior management.
• Strong understanding of financial governance, internal controls and resource management.
• Demonstrated leadership, stakeholder management and influencing capabilities, with the ability to work effectively across organisational boundaries.
• Experience leading and developing finance teams and building strong finance partnering capabilities.
• Knowledge of SAP and experience with data analytics, automation, data visualisation and financial modelling tools would be advantageous.
• Ability to anticipate emerging challenges, navigate ambiguity and organisational change, and independently drive outcomes in a complex and fast-paced environment.