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Finance Business Partner – Manufacturing Transformation
Location: Preston, ideally onsite
Excellent salary, bonus, private healthcare, 25 days holiday plus bank holidays
This is not your typical Finance Business Partner role.
This is a seat at the table where decisions are made, performance is shaped, and transformation happens in real time.
We’re looking for a commercially driven Finance Business Partner to become a true partner to our manufacturing operation – working side-by-side with Manufacturing Value Stream Leaders and operational teams to drive performance, unlock opportunities, and turn data into action.
As the business is embedding World Class Manufacturing (WCM) , finance is stepping firmly onto the shop floor. This role is right at the heart of that journey.
The Opportunity
You’ll act as the financial co-pilot to manufacturing leaders, helping steer performance across value streams by connecting operational activity with financial outcomes.
From productivity and waste reduction to cost optimisation and efficiency, you’ll translate what’s happening on the ground into clear, actionable insight – and help shape what happens next.
This is a role for someone who wants to move beyond reporting and into real influence.
What You’ll Be Doing
- Partnering Value Stream Leaders to drive performance, challenge assumptions, and support decision-making at source
- Translating operational activity into financial insight, linking shop-floor performance to P&L outcomes
- Supporting the rollout of World Class Manufacturing (WCM) by embedding financial thinking into continuous improvement initiatives
- Identifying opportunities across productivity, cost, and efficiency – and helping turn them into measurable results
- Leading financial planning activities including budgeting, forecasting, and performance tracking
- Strengthening financial control while keeping pace with a fast-evolving manufacturing environment
- Providing clear, impactful analysis that supports both operational and strategic decisions
- Building strong relationships across manufacturing, operations, and senior leadership teams
- Supporting investment decisions, business cases, and improvement initiatives with robust financial insight
- Continuously improving reporting, processes, and the way finance supports the wider business
Why This Role Stands Out
This is a business in transformation – and finance is central to that story.
You won’t be sat on the sidelines. You’ll be embedded within the operation, influencing outcomes, shaping performance, and helping leaders make better, faster decisions.
If you enjoy working where the action is – not just reporting on it – this role will suit you perfectly.
What We’re Looking For
You’re more than technically strong – you’re commercially curious, operationally engaged, and confident challenging the status quo.
You know how to turn numbers into narratives, and insight into action.
You’ll likely bring:
- A recognised accounting qualification (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent)
- Proven experience in a Finance Business Partnering or commercial finance role
- Experience supporting manufacturing or operational environments
- Strong understanding of how financial performance connects to operational drivers
- Exposure to World Class Manufacturing (WCM), Lean, Continuous Improvement or similar frameworks
- The ability to influence, challenge and build credibility with senior stakeholders
- Strong analytical skills with a proactive, solutions-focused mindset
- Confidence communicating financial information to non-finance audiences
- Experience with tools such as Excel, ERP systems, and Power BI
The Kind of Person Who Thrives Here
- You enjoy being close to the operation, not removed from it
- You ask “why?” as often as “what?”
- You’re comfortable challenging thinking and offering new perspectives
- You build relationships quickly and naturally
- You see finance as a driver of performance, not just a reporter of it
If you’re looking for a role where you can genuinely influence a manufacturing business, partner with leaders on the ground, and be part of a meaningful transformation – this is it.
Your CV will be forwarded to Jonathan Lee Recruitment, a leading engineering and manufacturing recruitment consultancy established in 1978. The services advertised by Jonathan Lee Recruitment are those of an Employment Agency.
In order for your CV to be processed effectively, please ensure your name, email address, phone number and location (post code OR town OR county, as a minimum) are included.
6967521 – Dan Plimmer