Financial Planning Systems Specialist

At Severn Trent, our people are at the heart of everything we do. We’re in the top 5% of utility companies worldwide when it comes to employee engagement and ranked as a Top 50 UK Employer on Glassdoor. Join us in making a positive impact on the environment and our communities, while being valued and supported in a truly inclusive workplace.

If you want to do more, because you care, we want you on our team.

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW

As a key member of the Finance Systems & Controls team, the Financial Planning Systems Lead plays a central role in shaping and optimising our financial planning and reporting landscape. Reporting to the Finance Systems & Controls Manager, you’ll oversee the configuration, performance, and evolution of our CCH Tagetik platform—ensuring it fully supports our consolidation, forecasting, budgeting, and reporting processes.

This role is critical in driving our long‑term systems strategy. You’ll lead the design and governance of our financial planning technology estate, ensuring we maximise value from our data, analytics, and predictive capabilities. Working closely with Finance teams, our SaaS partners, and Technology colleagues, you’ll ensure system reliability, data integrity, regulatory compliance, and best‑in‑class performance.

You will also act as the architectural authority for Tagetik, ensuring the platform is robust, scalable, and aligned to business needs. A major focus of the role is spearheading the development of AI‑enabled predictive forecasting and advanced scenario modelling—unlocking deeper insight and enabling more confident decision‑making across the organisation.

As a people leader, you’ll guide and develop a team of Tagetik specialists, fostering technical excellence, collaboration, and continuous improvement. You’ll serve as the senior point of contact for all planning-system matters and help shape how our business uses technology to plan for the future.

Key Responsibilities:

System Leadership & Innovation

Lead the design and optimisation of financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, and consolidation workflows, ensuring strong financial controls and regulatory compliance.
Drive the development and deployment of AI‑driven predictive modelling using Tagetik’s Intelligent Platform, continuously refining models to increase accuracy and relevance.
Champion innovation through automation, machine learning, and advanced analytics—enhancing speed, accuracy, and insight in financial planning and reporting.
Sponsor major system enhancement initiatives, clearly defining benefits, risks, and business outcomes.
Oversee system upgrades, patches, and enhancements, ensuring a secure and well‑controlled release approach.

Governance, Controls & Architecture

Own the governance framework for planning, forecasting, budgeting, and consolidation processes within Tagetik, ensuring accuracy, compliance, and audit readiness.
Lead the design and management of user access controls, ensuring appropriate segregation of duties and adherence to data protection requirements.
Act as enterprise architect for Tagetik integrations, data pipelines, ETL processes, and connectivity with systems such as SAP and reporting tools.
Oversee data validation, reconciliation, and quality assurance processes, ensuring the reliability of financial information for internal and regulatory use.
Provide senior oversight for performance issues and technical risks, ensuring rapid and effective resolution.

Leadership, People Development & Stakeholder Engagement

Lead and develop the Tagetik systems team, ensuring a high‑performing, customer‑focused capability.
Build strong partnerships across Finance, Technology, and business units to ensure system enhancements support strategic objectives.
Maintain a network of external experts and represent the organisation within the Tagetik community to share best practice and influence future system evolution.
Act as the senior subject‑matter expert for financial planning technologies, providing guidance and thought leadership.
Oversee training, documentation, and user‑enablement programmes to drive adoption, capability, and value realisation across Finance.
Communicate with clarity and confidence, managing expectations and influencing stakeholders at all levels.

HOW WE WORK

You'll join a caring culture that collaborates to achieve, grow, and develop. Our employee engagement scores are among the highest globally in energy and utilities. That’s why, we value in-person moments to keep our culture alive but also understand the flexibility working from home can bring. So, you'll usually find us in the office, but working from home is supported, when you need it.

WHAT WE’RE LOOKING FOR

Capabilities:

Strong time‑management skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast‑paced environment.
Ability to simplify complex issues and present them clearly to a range of audiences.
Effective leadership skills, with the ability to influence, manage change, and see issues through to resolution.
A collaborative and customer‑focused approach, building strong relationships across the business.
A proactive, positive, and analytical approach to problem‑solving.
Excellent communication and cross‑functional collaboration skills.
A continuous improvement mindset, with the ability to identify and remove blockers and enhance processes.

Experience:

3–5+ years’ experience with CCH Tagetik or similar EPM platforms.
Strong understanding of consolidation, budgeting, and financial reporting processes.
Proficiency in Tagetik configuration, workflows, calculations, and security model design.
Knowledge of SQL, ETL, and integrations with ERP systems.
Experience with AI/ML‑driven forecasting concepts and predictive analytics methodologies.
Advanced Excel skills and experience working with multi‑dimensional databases.

Skills and experience are important, but character, positivity, and a caring attitude matter too. We welcome and celebrate diverse individuals, knowing they help us better serve our communities. We seek people who get involved, want to be part of something bigger, and make a difference because they care.

HOW WE’LL REWARD AND CARE FOR YOU

It’s not just a job you’ll get here, you’ll get a career too.

We have a range of benefits that reward and recognise great work and award-winning training to ensure you reach your potential. And we’ll also help you play your part in looking after the environment and the community in which we live.  

Here’s some of our favourites:

31 days holiday + bank holidays (and the ability to buy/ sell up to 5 days per year)
Annual bonus scheme (of up to 20% per annum based on company performance)
Car allowance – per annum up to £5,208
Leading pension scheme – we will double your contribution (up to 15% when you contribute 7.5%)
Sharesave – the chance to buy Severn Trent Plc shares at a discounted rate
Dedicated training and development with our ‘Academy’
Electric vehicle scheme and retail offers
Family friendly policies