Finance Business Partner, GBS

About the Role

This HQ Finance Business Partner role will partner with Global Business Services (GBS) leaders to analyze financial data and ensure robust financial reporting, budgeting, and forecasting. The role involves providing insights, challenge, and decision support for key business leaders, including variance analysis to better understand and influence financial performance. Additionally, the role will contribute to wider transformation initiatives across WPP, offering the opportunity to deliver insight, partner with senior stakeholders, and drive business improvement at scale.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide financial and business insights for the HQ GBS function, including analysis of actual financial performance against budget and forecast.
• Act as the primary finance contact for budget holders and department leads within the HQ GBS teams, supporting the development of robust and transparent budgets and forecasts.
• Manage month-end processes, including cost actualisation, variance analysis, risk and opportunity tracking, and the development of mitigating actions.
• Ensure budget and forecast data is accurately maintained within WPP’s financial systems.
• Work with the Finance Director – GBS, Finance and People to provide inputs into business cases, as well as cost-saving and transformation initiatives.
• Analyze key cost drivers and work closely with GBS leads to identify and deliver opportunities for efficiency and savings that support the achievement of transformation targets.
• Work collaboratively with other Finance teams, including FP&A, Controllership, and Tax to ensure alignment and consistency in the delivery of reporting and analysis.
• Own the calculations that underpin the GBS recharge process across WPP.

Who You'll Be Working With

• Finance Director – GBS
• Finance and People

Requirements & Tech Stack

• Advanced Excel and PowerPoint skills.
• Experience using enterprise financial systems and data visualisation tools, such as Power BI (desirable).
• A track record of identifying and implementing process improvements through automation, standardisation, or improved use of data (desirable).

Qualifications

• Qualified accountant (ACCA, ACA, CPA, CIMA or equivalent).
• Proven finance professional with experience navigating complex, international organisations.
• Demonstrated ability to challenge constructively and influence senior finance and non-finance stakeholders.
• An ability to understand and explain financial drivers in a clear and concise manner.
• Strong execution skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and navigate ambiguity.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively across large, diverse, and international teams.
• A proactive and commercial mindset.