Finance Business Partner

Closing Date of Applications - 23/03/26

Our Story

Established in 2013, City Football Group is the world’s leading private owner and operator of football clubs, with total or partial ownership of thirteen clubs across the world. City Football Group also invests in other football related businesses and serves as a global commercial platform for our partners, whilst fulfilling our purpose of empowering better lives through football on a local and global scale, consistent with what “City” football has meant to people for over a century.  

Our Winning Team

Our purpose is to empower better lives through football. We are proud of the role City Football Group clubs play in their localities, delivering positive economic, social and environmental impact through our operations and through programmes and activities that bring about meaningful, lasting change.

Purpose

The Finance Business Partner – Global Football will be a subject-matter expert in relation to the financial aspects of the central Global Football function and its operations – being a hands-on, trusted business partner to this strategically important area of the business.

The Finance Business Partner Global Football will be the senior finance lead accountable for the financial governance, performance and long-term planning of the central Global Football function. The role will own financial strategy, multi-year planning, risk management and delivery of budgeted outcomes across Global Football and associated Talent Clubs and Partner Clubs.

The role will:

• Own the end-to-end financial planning and performance management of the Global Football function, ensuring delivery of approved budgets and long-term financial targets.
• Be accountable for financial risks, cost control, investment prioritisation and financial sustainability across the Global Football portfolio.
• Lead the financial evaluation and structuring of major Global Football initiatives, talent investment strategies and portfolio trade-offs, providing recommendations to senior leadership on optimal capital and resource allocation.
• Act as the primary finance interface between Global Football, Talent Clubs, Partner Clubs and central Finance functions, ensuring consistent application of financial standards and alignment with CFG’s broader financial strategy.

The role requires an experienced, solutions-focussed individual with experience of delivering impactful business partnering and a strong working knowledge of key Football Finance concepts - with the ability to communicate confidently with a wide range of senior stakeholders. The individual will be required to analyse and communicate data in meaningful and accessible formats that can be used to drive strategic decision-making.

Key relationships will be with Director of Football Finance, Global Football Business Director, HR Business Partner, various Global Football departmental leaders and some Club leadership teams.

This is Your City 

As part of our team, you will be entitled to 26 days annual leave plus an additional day off for your birthday, private healthcare and dental cover, an annual discretionary bonus, plus a range of partnership and lifestyle discounts. 

Your Impact

1. Business Partnering

To become an embedded member of the Global Football area and trusted advisor to relevant senior management, providing expert guidance to support and facilitate effective decision-making across various projects. Effectively supporting decisions in respect of people and operating costs, revenue generating projects and being a key contributor to a range of centrally-led reporting and monitoring projects.

2. Financial analysis

Lead the financial evaluation and structuring of major Global Football initiatives, talent investment strategies and portfolio trade-offs, providing recommendations to senior leadership on optimal capital and resource allocation.

3. Long-Term Planning & Strategic Analysis

Budgeting, forecasting and multi-year planning for a critical area of CFG’s future business success. The successful candidate will be required to provide repeatable modelled scenarios based on a number of input variables and produce understandable outputs that can be summarised and explained to both financial and non-financial audiences.

4. Define standards, governance and alignment

Establish and implement financial governance frameworks across Global Football activities, ensuring alignment with Group finance policy and regulatory requirements.

Define financial modelling standards, investment evaluation criteria and documentation protocols for Global Football projects and initiatives.

What we are looking for

Essential

• Qualified ACA, ACCA, or CIMA accountant – or another relevant Finance-related professional qualification
• Multi-year experience of working in a fast-paced accounting, tax, or consulting environment
• Experience of working in a deadline driven environment with concurrent multiple workstreams
• Positive, open mindset; driver and leader of change; Team-player
• Excellent communicating and influencing skills, with the ability to collaborate with and influence external stakeholders.
• Self-starter with the ability to work independently, prioritise tasks and deliver high-quality outputs

Desirable

• Advanced financial modeller; spreadsheet and database power user
• Highly proficient with presentational, spreadsheet, and database software
• 3 years working in or around Football Finance -with experience and understanding of key concepts