Operational Business Partner

Description:

Crick, Northamptonshire | Permanent | 3–4 days site-basedWe’re excited to be recruiting for an Operational Business Partner to join our team. This is an exciting opportunity for an experienced, commercially minded manufacturing finance professional, perfect for someone passionate about driving operational performance and delivering meaningful financial insight within a fast-paced production environment.You’ll be responsible for partnering with site leadership to influence decision-making, improve cost control, enhance margin performance, and translate operational data into clear financial insight that drives continuous improvement across our Crick manufacturing site.About usINSPIRED Pet Nutrition is an innovative, well-established, and award-winning pet food manufacturer employing over 1,200 colleagues across the UK and Europe. Our family of brands includes Harringtons, Wagg, Barking Heads & Meowing Heads, AATU, Blink, Butcher's, Classic, Pro-Nutrition, and Ultra Premium Direct, along with a number of partner brands that trust us to produce food on their behalf. Our kitchens in Thirsk, Kinmel, and Crick produce a wide range of dry, wet, and baked foods enjoyed by dogs and cats all over the world. Our ambition is simple: to become a global leader in pet nutrition.Our Purpose: To create happinessWe’re on a mission to set a new standard of workplace happiness within the pet nutrition industry—one that looks like no other and feels like no other. Our culture is built on INSPIRED’s unique behaviours and colleague experience, creating an environment that excites, empowers, and puts people and pets at the heart of everything we do.Responsibilities
 

• Act as the Finance Business Partner to the Crick manufacturing site, supporting operational and engineering leadership
• Deliver budgeting, forecasting and robust variance analysis across materials, labour and overheads
• Translate operational metrics (yield, scrap, downtime, throughput) into clear financial impact assessments
• Challenge assumptions and influence site performance through insight-led analysis
• Support product costing, standard cost setting and margin improvement initiatives
• Evaluate CapEx proposals and complete post-investment reviews to ensure ROI delivery
• Improve financial reporting processes and strengthen cost control frameworks
• Drive financial literacy across non-finance stakeholders through coaching and collaborationAbout you
• Qualified or part-qualified accountant (CIMA, ACCA, ACA or equivalent)
• Strong manufacturing or FMCG finance experience
• Confident influencing operational stakeholders at all levels
• Strong understanding of cost structures and variance analysis
• Advanced Excel skills and ERP experience (IFS / Tropos preferred; Power BI advantageous)
• Analytical, pragmatic and comfortable working in a fast-paced environment
• Strong communication and relationship-building skillsAt INSPIRED, we want to inspire colleagues to join, stay, develop, and achieve, creating an inclusive and sustainable business fit for growth. One of the enablers of achieving this is to offer competitive pay and benefits to all colleagues.Our Total Reward Benefits include:
• 3–4 days per week site-based working at Crick
• Annual bonus related to personal and company performance 15%
• Enhanced pension, life assurance, and enhanced maternity, paternity, sick pay, and holiday buy options
• People and Pets First benefits, including paw-reavement and paw-ternity leave and bring your dog to work
• Healthcare cashback plan and Hertility at-home fertility testing and Private Medical Insurance
• Heavily discounted pet food and lifestyle benefits (Netflix, Spotify, or breakdown cover)
• Retail and gym discounts, electric car scheme, and free onsite parking and electric car charging