Graduate Finance

**Based in Birmingham with travel required to various site locations across the HS2 line of route where necessary.**
At HS2 we offer a two-year rotational graduate programme, providing you with the opportunity to stretch and challenge yourself across various programme related placements. This programme is designed around enabling you to get as much experience as possible across the below teams within a particular business area. After completion of the 2-year graduate programme graduates will be transferred into a role within the same discipline, but not necessarily the same business area.

We have a total of 3 graduate opportunities available in Birmingham all of which will require travel to various site locations across the HS2 line of route. Graduate opportunities will be available across a variety of HS2 Finance teams including but not limited to those listed below.

**The Finance Team - Overview**
Finance is responsible for developing and manging the entire end-to-end financial cycle, providing strategic advice and insight at both the corporate and project level, the creation and management of a framework of financial governance, controls, and delegations and for the processing and management of day-to-day transactions, including the prompt payment of invoices.

The three pillars of finance and their associated team are set out below.
- *Financial Control

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**_Financial Governance and Treasury: _**This team manages and maintains the framework for financial governance, controls, and delegations. This includes managing the financial system (Oracle), submission of the HS2 tax returns, operating the Purchase to Pay process and delegated authorities, implementation of the travel policy and expenses claims, and HS2’s banking and treasury.

**_Financial Accounting: _**The team is responsible for maintaining Financial Control within the organisation through ensuring adherence to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) regulations and internal governance policies. The Financial Accounting team are responsible for keeping account of all transactions and preparing the year-end Financial Statements for inclusion in the Annual Report and Accounts.

**_Accounts Payable: _**are responsible for processing and paying invoices in line with the payment terms for HS2's suppliers and expenses incurred by HS2 employees who are on the HS2 payroll.
- *Analysis and Insight

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**_Financial Planning and Analysis: _**Financial Planning & Analysis Team (FP&A): The team is primarily involved in providing accurate, informative analysis and robust forecasts that allow HS2 and its stakeholders to make the best possible decisions. FP&A has many stakeholders such as the Department for Transport (DfT), The HS2 Board, The Executive Committee, Directors, Managers and Internal and External Auditors. It also has regular interactions with Consultants, Business partners and managers across HS2.

The aims cover the following points.
- Provide financial reporting and analysis to key stakeholders so that they may make informed business decisions
- To encourage a value for money mindset across HS2 through forecasting and analysis
- To adhere to and promote the HS2 values of Integrity, Leadership, Safety and Respect
- Engage the wider business in the preparation of key forecasts to achieve the dual outcome of robust forecasts and a cohesive and singular mindset in the delivery of a new high-speed railway
- *Finance Partnering

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The Finance Business Partners are the Finance conscience of the business and as such a trusted advisor of the business leadership teams, they support. The FBPs are split into teams that cover all the departments of the business, namely, Civils, Stations & Systems, Land and Property, Phase 2 and Corporate Directorates.

The FBPs seek to provide clean and clear interpretation of financial information to enable business leadership to make the right decisions which benefit the delivery of HS2 Programme in a controlled and cost-effective manner.

The primary aim of an FBP is to support the business in ensuring that all spend undertaken is within the approved envelope issued by the DfT, is appropriately validated via governance, is appropriately transacted in the systems with the results reported on a monthly, quarterly, and annual basis against the forecast spend agreed with the DfT and that our financial activity is within NAO & Financial Standard requirements.

**About You**:Skills**:

- Planning and organisational skills, with the ability to prioritise and deliver day to day tasks
- Ability to coordinate and deliver multiple tasks and responsibilities in accordance with agreed deadlines
- Communication skills and the ability to develop relationships with stakeholders
- Ability to understand complex issues to carry out problem solving
- Ability to work collaboratively across a multidisciplinary team and with stakeholders

**Knowledge**:

- **2:1 Bachelor’s degree (or non-UK equivalent) in a Finance or equ