Cost Business Partner – Commercial Banking (12-month FTC)

JOB TITLE: Cost Business Partner – Commercial Banking (12-month FTC)

SALARY: £67,023 - £74,470

LOCATION(S): Bristol & Edinburgh

HOURS: Full-time

WORKING PATTERN: Our work style is hybrid, which involves spending at least two days per week, or 40% of our time, at one of our offices.

About this opportunity

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the Commercial Banking Finance Cost Team.


Our Business Partners are Group Finance’s front line into the business. They think strategically and are trusted advisors to the group and its leadership teams. Business Partners provide challenge and insight and champion a culture of curiosity in order to truly understand the businesses they're supporting.


The team focuses on financial planning, forecasting, performance management and commercial insight, supporting senior partners across Business & Commercial Banking and Corporate & Institutional Banking. Through effective business partnering, we help the business understand performance, identify risks and opportunities and drive sustainable outcomes.


We actively encourage colleagues to broaden their experience through job rotation opportunities, exposure to new challenges and collaboration across Finance and the business. This provides a unique opportunity to build a diverse skillset, strengthen your network and gain exposure to a wide range of strategic, commercial and financial topics.

What you'll be doing

  • Act as a trusted business partner and key Finance contact for leadership teams across Business & Commercial Banking and Corporate & Institutional Banking.
  • Support and challenge business areas on financial performance, investment decisions, workforce planning and cost management.
  • Lead forecasting, planning and performance analysis activities, ensuring plans are realistic, deliverable and aligned to strategic objectives.
  • Provide effective challenge to business plans, forecasts and investment proposals, helping ensure risks and opportunities are clearly understood.
  • Provide insight and challenge on cost allocations, ensuring interested parties have a clear understanding of how distributed costs impact financial performance and decision making.
  • Translate financial data into clear, actionable insight that influences decisions and drives measurable outcomes.
  • Support sustainable performance through disciplined cost management, optimisation of resources and informed investment decisions.
  • Identify and communicate emerging risks, opportunities and trends, partnering with stakeholders to deliver effective actions.
  • Drive operational improvement, automation and innovation opportunities that improve efficiency and strengthen decision support.
  • Build trusted relationships across Finance, the Business and Centres of Excellence, collaborating to deliver improved business outcomes.
  • Present clear, concise and commercially focused recommendations and financial narratives to support senior partners and governance forums.
  • Take ownership for outcomes, proactively identifying risks, opportunities and actions required to improve financial performance.

About us

Join us and, as well as making a difference to customers, you’ll enjoy a fulfilling career where you’re free to be yourself. Great colleagues, transforming workspaces, hybrid working and a wide variety of career opportunities – you’ll find them all here.

What you'll need

  • Qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent) or able to demonstrate equivalent relevant experience.
  • Strong business partnering, with the ability to build trusted relationships across a wide range of partners.
  • Experience supporting financial planning, forecasting, budgeting and performance management within a large and complex organisation.
  • Ability to provide constructive challenge, influence decisions and communicate financial insight effectively to senior partners.
  • Strong commercial awareness and financial acumen, with the ability to translate complex data into clear business recommendations.
  • Excellent analytical, problem-solving and storytelling skills.
  • Experience driving cost efficiency, operational improvement and performance enhancement initiatives.
  • Experience working with senior leadership teams and supporting strategic business decision-making.

And any experience of these would be really useful

  • Strong Excel skills, with experience of analytical and reporting tools such as Power BI, Power Query and SmartView, alongside financial planning and reporting systems (e.g. Oracle).
  • Experience of workforce planning, investment appraisal and business case development.
  • Experience identifying and implementing process automation or reporting improvements.
  • Experience working in a large financial services organisation.

About working for us

Our ambition is to be the leading UK business for diversity, equity and inclusion supporting our customers, colleagues and communities, and we’re committed to creating an environment in which everyone can thrive, learn and develop.​


We were one of the first major organisations to set goals on diversity in senior roles, create a menopause health package, and a dedicated Working with Cancer Initiative.​


We offer reasonable workplace adjustments for colleagues with disabilities, including flexibility in office attendance, location and working patterns. And, as a Disability Confident Leader, we guarantee interviews for a fair and proportionate number of applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the role with a disability, long-term health or neurodivergent condition through the Disability Confident Scheme.​


We provide reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process to reduce or remove barriers. Just let us know what you need.​

We also offer a wide-ranging benefits package, which includes: ​

  • A generous pension contribution of up to 15%​
  • An annual performance-related bonus​
  • Share schemes including free shares​
  • Benefits you can adapt to your lifestyle, such as ​discounted shopping​
  • 30 days’ holiday, with bank holidays on top​
  • A range of wellbeing initiatives and generous parental ​leave policies​

If you're looking for a role where you can build trusted partnerships, influence decisions and make a meaningful impact, we'd love to hear from you!

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