Job Introduction

We are looking for an experienced Finance Business Partner to work as part of the Westminster School Financial Planning and Analysis team within the Finance department.  The Finance Business Partner will primarily be responsible for providing finance business partnering support for Westminster Under School (WUS), a prep school based in Vincent Square.  As the key finance contact at Westminster Under School, the role holder will also work closely with the Finance team which is located at a separate location at Dean’s Yard.  As part of the Finance Planning and Analysis team, the role holder will also be involved in providing finance business partnering support to other parts of the organisation as well as learning and gaining knowledge of the consolidated reporting process. With responsibility spanning across a number of locations, the role holder requires to be flexible in terms of work location and will be required to work at a hot desk from time to time. 

With the expansion of Westminster Under School, the School is heading towards busy and exciting times in the coming months and years.   By working closely with the key stakeholders, the Finance Business Partner will be a pivotal support in key financial matters. 

After the implementation of a new finance system, we also are in the process of reviewing, designing and developing new reporting processes and controls, this is an exciting opportunity for the role holder to work closely with the Senior Management Team and budget holders across the School to contextualise, understand and report on their financial results. 

The role holder is a key member of the Finance team consisting of eight people at Westminster School, providing accounting services largely based from school offices. The Finance team is headed by the Finance Bursar and is supported by the Financial Planning and Analysis Manager and the Senior Financial Controller.

Role Responsibility

Reporting to the Financial Planning and Analysis Manager, they will be expected to:

• Provide finance business partnering support for the Senior Management Team at Westminster Under School
• Act as the first point of contact on financial matters for WUS, with some queries being triaged to the central finance team (Billing, Accounts Payable etc)
• The role holder will also provide finance business partnering support for Westminster School Enterprises Limited, our newly established commercial wing of the School.
• Work with budget managers at Westminster Under School (WUS) and other assigned business areas to prepare annual budgets and budget consolidations.
• Alongside this, the Finance Business Partner will be assigned ad-hoc projects by the Financial Planning and Analysis Manager to continually improve the Financial Planning and Analysis Team
• Although not on a day to day basis, the role holder will acquire high level knowledge on financial matters relating to Westminster School and will be expected to cover for the Financial Planning and Analysis Manager as and when necessary.

Budgeting and Reporting

• Prepare and produce management accounts and variance analysis.
• Using latest technology, design and develop reporting packs, commentary and analysis for budget holders.
• Prepare annual budget and forecast process for the designated budget holders.
• Review and challenge budget assumptions to ensure the budgets onward submitted for consolidation are robust
• Support the Financial Planning and Analysis Manager in the consolidation of the whole School budget and 10-year plan for submission to the Finance & General Purposes Committee and the Governing Body.
• Ensure that cost centre codes and approval flows for are kept up to date with changes in budget holders and are set up in a manner that aid for the budget holders and their managers to manage their finances and for reporting, and analysis purposes.
• Continual improvement of budget holders’ understanding of process and accounting for their particular areas.
• As the key finance contact at assigned business areas, liaise regularly with the budget holders on all financial matters. 

Financial accounting

• This will be done primarily by the central Finance Team.   The role holder may be called upon to assist in certain aspects for operational reasons.

Commitment, effective team work and communications

• Ensure clear communication within the Finance team and throughout the School
• Work co-operatively and thoughtfully across the School to ensure a high-quality service is provided 
• Actively participate in team and organisational meetings.
• The role holder will be primarily based in Vincent Square but from time to time may be asked to work at other Westminster School locations 

Other 

• Prepare all documentation requested as queries for the annual audit.
• Maintaining the archive of historical financial information for retention period of ten years.
• Digitalise all financial records to minimise the need to refer to any paper documentations and to make sure of technology like to share and collaborate with key stakeholders, the Finance team and budget holders.
• Ad hoc task, analyses and reports on request.
• Keep abreast of the School’s data protection policy requirement and ensure that any departure from it is reporting through the appropriate School process.
• Undertake any other duties as are agreed as being in keeping with the general nature of the role as required by the Financial Planning and Analysis Manager and Senior Management Team of WUS and any assigned business areas.

The Ideal Candidate

Please refer to the below (attached) job description.

Equal Opportunities

We are an equal opportunities employer. We therefore encourage candidates to apply irrespective of age, disability, marriage or civil partnership status, pregnancy or maternity, race, religion and belief, gender identity, sex or sexual orientation.

Safeguarding and Child Protection

Westminster Under School is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. Applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Package Description

Required for: as soon as possible

Location: Vincent Square - Westminster Under School

Hours of work: 35 hours per week, Monday to Friday. Specific hours can be flexible to suit the candidate.

Contract: full-time, permanent

Salary: £55,000 per annum

Benefits include:

 - Free school meals when on-site

 - Generous School pension scheme

 - Free access to the School’s leisure facilities, including a fitness gym (restricted hours). 

 - Cycle to Work Scheme and season ticket loans following completion of our standard probation period 

 - Private medical insurance (opt in).

 - Discretionary Christmas shutdown period.

The deadline for applications is midday on Monday 21st July 2025. Interviews will take place in-person shortly after the closing date.

About the School

Working at Westminster

Westminster School is a busy, purposeful and vibrant place to be and an excellent workplace. The community is made up of 750 pupils, 120 teaching staff and 108 support staff.

Westminster School is friendly and welcoming, and all newcomers quickly become part of the rhythm of life here.

There is a real sense of community here as, being a boarding school many members of staff and pupils live on site and the School’s premises are very much treated as a home away from home. School life starts before breakfast and continues way beyond the working day; as a result, there is always a lively atmosphere in and around School and always someone to share a tea and biscuit with in the Common Room. Support staff as much as teaching staff are encouraged to embrace the School’s day-to-day activities, whether that be attending an evening concert or a morning service in the Abbey.

At Westminster we will always select the best candidate for every position. We do know, however, that we can only truly choose the best person on every occasion if a broad and diverse pool of candidates see the job advertised and are encouraged to apply.

As such, we continue to work on how our job roles are encountered, and particularly welcome applications from groups who have traditionally been underrepresented here.

Westminster School is for everyone, regardless of gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or any other protected characteristic. We hope you are encouraged to apply.

The School

Westminster School is an independent day and boarding school for boys aged 13-18 and girls aged 16-18, with a long history, a distinctive ethos, and a unique sense of place in the very heart of London. Pupils achieve exceptional examination results and entrance to some of the top universities in the world. It is a busy, passionate and purposeful place where independent and deep thinking is enjoyed, encouraged and respected by all, and where holistic excellence is nurtured and valued.

While the School is one of the foremost centres of academic excellence in the country, its commitment to academic life does not make it a hothouse for passing examinations. Pupils’ success at examinations and entry to leading universities is instead a result of their enjoyment of academic enquiry, debate and search for explanation, well beyond published syllabuses. Pupils are intellectually, socially, ethically and politically engaged and our aim is to ensure that their enthusiasm for learning is developed further, allowing them to take full advantage of the opportunities presented to them in the future. At Westminster, pupils have the freedom to lead on projects outside of the classroom and embrace a whole range of extra-curricular activities and interests. A host of pupil-led societies take place every week at the School, often with expert guest speakers, and pupils can choose to study an additional language, play an instrument or two, volunteer in local primary schools, row along the Thames, take part in plays and musicals, and much more. 

The School’s ethos resides in the enduring values of the liberal tradition reflected in the 1560 Charter of Westminster’s Elizabethan foundation, where it is stated that: ‘the youth which is growing to manhood, as tender shoots in the wood of our state, shall be liberally instructed in good books to the greater honour of the state’. Whilst academic and cultural attainments are highly prized at Westminster, the School is fully committed also to each pupil’s spiritual, moral, emotional and physical development and wellbeing – with a particular emphasis on drawing out individual talent wherever it lies – and to prepare young people for fulfilled private and public lives.

From September 2028, the School will welcome both girls and boys at 13+ entry, offering a Westminster education to all. By 2026, Westminster Under School will have opened its brand new pre-prep for girls and boys at 4+ and girls will have joined boys in Years 3 and 7, at the 7+ and 11+ entry points. By 2030, all year groups at Westminster School and Westminster Under School, from ages four to 18, will be fully co-educational, reflecting the School’s dedication to inclusivity and excellence. 

Westminster School