Role: Commercial Finance Business Partner
Location: Carlisle
Reporting to: Finance Director
Realise HR is working exclusively with Bendalls Engineering Limited to recruit a Commercial Finance Business Partner, joining the business at an important stage of growth and development.
About Bendalls Engineering
Bendalls Engineering Limited is a UK nuclear manufacturing group made up of three business units: Bendalls Engineering, NW Total and HWM UK, based in Carlisle, Barrow-in-Furness and Swindon respectively.
The group delivers precision-engineered, safety-critical equipment to some of the most demanding and highly regulated sectors in the country: nuclear, defence, oil and gas, and renewables. Built on over 130 years of Bendalls heritage, it operates where quality, compliance and reliability are non-negotiable.
The group takes pride in offering highly engineered solutions that make a difference, most notably to the Sellafield clean-up programme and to key defence partners in the UK. As part of Cadre Holdings, it has the stability and investment backing of a larger organisation while retaining the agility, close-knit culture and visible leadership of an SME, with around 200 employees across the group.
Where Bendalls are heading
The group is undergoing significant growth, having expanded from five to eight sites over the last two years, with revenue rising from £22m to £30m over that period and forecast to reach £40m over the next few years.
That growth is underpinned by a defined strategy to establish the group as a Tier 2 supplier to the nuclear and defence sectors through both organic growth and acquisition.
This is an exciting time to join. The group is investing in its capability, its people and its infrastructure, and new joiners will play a real part in shaping what comes next rather than simply maintaining the status quo.
The role
As Commercial Finance Business Partner, you will sit within the UK Finance Team, reporting directly to the Finance Director and leading budgeting, forecasting and commercial analysis across Bendalls Engineering.
This is the commercial voice of finance across the business, working closely with operational, project and engineering leaders to translate project, contract and cost data into decisions that improve performance and ultimately drive EBITDA growth.
You will lead month-end analysis, preparing EBITDA bridges, KPI dashboards and management commentary to provide UK management and Cadre Group Finance with clear insight into financial performance. Just as importantly, you will bridge the gap between finance and business operations, turning financial reporting into timely, practical information that enables better commercial decision-making. The focus is simple: making the numbers matter.
Key responsibilities
Forecasting & Planning
- Lead the bottom-up preparation of the annual budget and rolling forecasts, working closely with Operational Managers and maintaining the risk and opportunity register.
- Prepare and deliver Cadre Group's monthly rolling forecast and outlook submissions, working with the Financial Reporting & Controls Manager and Management Accountant.
- Contribute commercial insight to the 13-week cash forecast and working capital reporting.
Commercial Analysis
- Lead project margin, Estimate at Completion (EAC) and Cost Value Reconciliation (CVR) reviews, as well as overseeing project set-up and budgets.
- Produce profitability analysis by customer, contract and service type, including 80/20 analysis.
- Review the analysis sections of the monthly management accounts for Bendalls and NW Total Engineered Solutions (NW TES), and write the month-end commentary.
- Deliver month-end group reporting and profitability walks.
Bids & Contracts
- Lead the financial review of tenders and bids up to an agreed value, reviewing contract terms and commercial risk before recommendation for Finance Director sign-off.
- Support the Finance Director with pricing and rate setting.
Cost & Performance
- Carry out costing reviews and overhead recovery analysis and tracking.
- Monitor labour utilisation and recovery.
- Drive cost reduction and margin improvement, including analysis of procurement spend.
- Constructively challenge and influence non-finance managers to improve margin, cost recovery and cash.
KPI Design
- Design and own the commercial KPI set and Power BI dashboards, giving budget holders the training and support to use them effectively.
- Run daily management and report daily KPIs for business performance.
Business Partnering
- Run monthly business performance meetings and finance reviews with operational, project and engineering managers.
- Translate financial performance into clear commercial insight, actions and decisions for operational leaders.
- Support the Finance Director's Monthly Business Review (MBR) presentations.
Capex & Growth Plans
- Build capital expenditure business cases, including metrics such as IRR and Payback Period.
- Support the Finance Director with the three-year business and investment plans, business cases and scenario modelling.
- Support post-investment reviews, helping the business understand whether investment decisions have delivered against expectations.
Systems
- Support the planned 2027 ERP rollout, representing the requirements of commercial finance and reporting throughout the implementation.
Leadership and working relationships
- While the role has no direct line-management responsibility, you will have significant influence across the business and will be supported by the Management Accountant on actuals, analysis and WIP, alongside the wider accounting team.
You will work closely with the Finance Director, Financial Reporting & Controls Manager, Management Accountant and Finance Administration Team, as well as the Production Manager, Project Director, Engineering Director and Engineering Manager, Project Managers, Quantity Surveyor and Planner, HR, IT and EHS colleagues.
At group level, you will also work closely with Cadre Finance.
What we are looking for
We are looking for a commercially minded finance professional who can move beyond reporting the numbers to help the business understand what they mean, what is driving them and what action needs to follow.
You will need:
- To be a qualified accountant, such as CIMA, ACCA, ACA or equivalent, or a finalist with strong commercial experience.
- Proven experience within commercial finance, FP&A or business partnering.
- Strong project accounting expertise, including WIP, EAC/ETC and margin management on long-term contracts.
- The confidence to challenge and influence non-finance managers and translate complex financial data into clear commercial insight.
- Advanced Excel capability and hands-on Power BI skills.
Desirable experience
It would be particularly useful if you have:
- Exposure to US GAAP reporting and SOX controls within a US-listed group.
- Experience of an ERP implementation or major finance system change.
- Familiarity with group reporting tools such as OneStream.
- Experience of bid pricing and commercial risk review within a tender-led business.
The person
This role will suit someone who combines strong analytical ability with genuine commercial curiosity. You will be able to get underneath the numbers, understand what is driving performance and turn that analysis into information that operational teams can actually use.
You will be comfortable constructively challenging and influencing people outside finance, building credibility with operational, engineering and project leaders and ensuring financial insight influences decision-making rather than simply reporting what has already happened.
You will bring strong business acumen, attention to detail and high standards, alongside the ability to navigate complexity, make decisions and drive results. Collaborative and credible, you will be able to build trust, communicate with impact and support others to develop their understanding of commercial performance.
As the business continues to grow, you will also need to be comfortable facilitating change, challenging existing ways of working and continuously looking for opportunities to improve performance.
How success will be measured
Success in the role will include:
- Full-year EBITDA forecast accuracy.
- Project EAC accuracy at completion.
- Monthly Business Review packs issued to timetable.
- At least 90% of variances explained with a clear associated action.
- Demonstrable support for EBITDA margin improvement.
Why join Bendalls Engineering?
This is an opportunity to join Bendalls Engineering at a significant point in its growth.
The business has a clear strategy, growing revenues and continued investment behind it, while working within sectors where its engineering capability has a genuine long-term purpose.
You will have the stability and backing of Cadre Holdings alongside the visibility and influence that comes with working in an SME environment.
For the right person, this is an opportunity to become a genuine commercial partner to the business. You will work closely with senior operational, engineering and project leaders, influence decisions around margin, investment and performance, and help ensure that as Bendalls grows, its financial insight and commercial decision-making grow with it.
Don’t meet every single requirement? At Realise, we are dedicated to helping our clients build diverse, inclusive and authentic workplaces, so if you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align perfectly with every requirement, we would encourage you to apply anyway! You might be just the candidate we're looking for! Realise HR Ltd is operating as an employment agency on behalf of its clients. We may keep your CV on file for the purposes of providing recruitment services and in accordance with our privacy policy, which can be found on our website, www.realisehr.co.uk.