SMTL Finance Business Partner
Permanent, Full Time, FTE 1.0 / 35 Hours per week (open to consider FTE 0.8 / 28 Hours))
Salary: FTE £48,000
About us:
Overlooking the Alde estuary, Snape Maltings is home to our world-famous concert hall and music facilities; it is also a popular visitor destination with independent shops, cafes, a restaurant, event venues and art galleries. The site is now largely owned by Britten Pears Arts, a Music & Arts based charity.
Snape Maltings Trading Limited (SMTL) is the commercial arm to Britten Pears Arts. All of the profits that we make through sales at Snape Maltings contribute towards supporting our charitable work in Artist Development, our year-round Performance Programme, Music in the Community and Creative Health and our Living Heritage Museum and Archive at The Red House. Aswell as the support received from SMTL, Britten Pears Arts is also supported though fundraising, public funding, ticket sales and royalties from works by Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears.
Our mission at Britten Pears Arts is to use Music, Arts & Heritage to transform people’s lives for the better, to bring communities together and effect positive social change. We continue to follow in the footsteps of our founders Britten and Pears, inspired by their goal to make the arts useful and available to all. At our two internationally recognised cultural destinations, Snape Maltings and The Red House, we create vibrant, uplifting and life-enhancing experiences for visitors, customers and audiences alike. We deliver this vision through our remarkable people and brilliant inclusive teams, working together with a sense of purpose.
Our Brand Values guide everything that we do: Quality – we provide high quality products across a range different price points; we are Customer Lead – we take time to understand our customers and to build loyalty; we are Authentic to our unique Suffolk location, natural environment and history; we are Enterprising and Open – always looking for ways to improve, adapt and embrace new and different opportunities.
We are seeking an experienced, commercially minded SMTL Finance Business Partner to provide high‑quality financial insight, rigorous analysis and strategic business partnering across Snape Maltings Trading Ltd (SMTL). This role leads the SMTL finance function below the Head of Finance, overseeing management reporting, budgeting, forecasting and financial controls, while supporting operational managers to improve margins, strengthen cost control and enhance commercial performance.
Acting as a critical bridge between Finance and the Trading teams, you will partner with senior leadership and budget holders across retail, catering, events and site‑based operations, translating financial data into clear and actionable insight. You’ll own SMTL management reporting, drive forecasting accuracy, lead financial planning cycles and deliver analysis that informs key operational and strategic decisions.
The role also includes ownership of cashflow forecasting and treasury management, KPI development, and continuous improvement of systems, processes and reporting frameworks. You will ensure the accuracy and integrity of financial information, champion financial literacy across SMTL, and provide operational leadership to the finance team.
In addition, the role maintains end‑to‑end finance responsibility for Britten Estate Limited, ELM Property Investment Limited and ELM Property Management Limited, delivering all core accounting, controls and reporting requirements.
The role is based at Snape Maltings but some travel and support to other locations within Suffolk will also be required.
In particular we are looking for:
Qualifications
- Fully qualified accountant (ACCA, CIMA, or ACA)
Essential experience & capabilities
- Strong FP&A experience including budgeting, forecasting, scenario modelling and variance analysis.
- Proven analytical skills with experience in management reporting and commercial insight.
- Experience within retail, catering, hospitality, trading or multi‑site environments.
- Advanced financial systems skills with excellent Excel/Power BI modelling capability.
- Experience implementing new financial or operational systems.
Desirable experience
- Experience with EPOS systems, stock management and product margin analysis.
- Experience in a charity with trading subsidiaries.
- Knowledge of VAT in retail/catering.
Skills & personal attributes
- Excellent communication and influencing skills; able to engage non‑financial managers confidently.
- Proactive, collaborative, commercially minded and able to challenge constructively.
- Strong ability to manage multiple deadlines while maintaining accuracy.
- High attention to detail with the ability to see the broader strategic picture.
- Confident working independently and partnering with senior managers.
- Curious, solutions‑focused and able to influence positive change.
Other
- Willingness to contribute flexibly to the wider team, including occasional out‑of‑hours work and travel between sites as needed.
Closing date: Midday, 15 July 2026
We are an equal opportunities employer and believe that diversity strengthens and enriches us. We positively encourage applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates of all ages and from all backgrounds, in particular from global majority backgrounds and disabled candidates who are currently under-represented at Britten Pears Arts.