Project Finance Manager – Lower Thames Crossing

National Highways have an excellent opportunity for a Project Finance Manager to join our Lower Thames Crossing (LTC) team. As the Project Finance Manager, you will provide financial support, insight, and challenge to the leadership team of Lower Thames Crossing Directorate at National Highways. You will also be responsible for the maintenance of strong financial controls and governance, ensuring LTC’s management and financial accounts are produced in line with Government and Statutory Financial Reporting standards.

This is a permanent role based at the Thurrock LTC site offices however; travel to regional offices / sites throughout the South East may be required.

• Provide accurate and timely financial support, analysis, and advice to the Programme leadership team. Contribute to planning, budgeting, and forecasting processes to support informed decision-making and drive performance improvement.
• Ensure financial results are accurate, clearly communicating, budgets and forecasted outcomes to the Programme leadership team. Identify key issues in business performance, to support informed decision-making and drive performance improvement.
• Contribute to the adoption of new business and finance processes and lead their roll-out Ensuring budget holders are equipped with the right information and financial insight to achieve the financial objectives of the project.
• Support the annual business planning process and longer-term financial planning, using a bottom-up approach. Engaging with those responsible for providing inputs and ensuring that all are aware of key targets, pressures and messages. Networking with Project Managers and Senior Leadership within the Directorate to ensure they are aligned to the target costs agreed.
• Assist in ensuring that costing systems are aligned with core finance systems. Help maintain consistency in reporting outputs and resolve data discrepancies as needed.
• Contribute to the review of balance sheet reconciliations, cash flow forecasts, and financial provisions. Ensure compliance with relevant financial standards and internal policies.

About you.

• Qualified accountant with previous finance, governance and commercial experience.
• Good understanding of project management approaches and experience of working on or leading projects and change initiatives from planning through to successful delivery. Relevant project management qualifications are welcomed but not essential.
• Excellent relationship / stakeholder management skills with ability to understand and analyse complex information and present it simply and accurately.
• Experience of working with financial systems to support the business with automation and improved utilisation of the finance IT products
• Ability to work with high volumes of data in order to analyse trends and future insight.
• Understanding and working experience of managing a business planning process at a regional/area level, being able to communicate the project/directorate objectives to all those with responsibility for developing budgets and taking responsibility for ensuring budget outputs align with company, directorate and regional targets (desirable).