In this paper, a numerical study of forced convection on a backward facing step containing a single-finned fixed cylinder has been performed, using a ferrofluid and external magnetic field with different inclinations. The partial differential equations, which determine the conservation equations for mass, momentum and energy, were solved using the finite element scheme based on Galerkin’s method. The analysis of heat transfer characteristics by forced convection was made by taking different values of the Reynolds number (Re between 10 and 100), Hartmann number (Ha between 0 and 100), nanoparticles concentration (φ between 0 and 0.1) and magnetic field inclination (γ between 0° and 90°); also, several fin positions α [0°–180°] were taken in the counter clockwise direction by a step of 5. After analysing the results, we concluded that Hartmann number, nanoparticles concentration, Reynolds number and magnetic field angles have an influence on the heat transfer rate. However, the fin position on the cylinder has a big impact on the Nusselt number and therefore on heat transfer quality. The best position of the fin is at (α = 150°), which gives the best Nusselt number and therefore the best heat transfer, but the fin position at (α = 0°) remains an unfavourable case that gives the lowest Nusselt values.