Senior Financial Reporting Accountant

Strong financial controls. Crucial reporting. Delivering at a fast pace.

Senior Financial Reporting Accountant

£54,000 - £59,000 (+ Benefits)

Reports to: Head of Financial Reporting

Department: Chief Operating Office

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full time 35 hours per week

Location: Stratford, London. Office-based with high flexibility (1-2 days per week in the office).

Visa sponsorship: You must be eligible to work in the UK to apply for this vacancy. Cancer Research UK is not able to offer visa sponsorship.

Closing date: 04 December 2024 23:55

This vacancy may close earlier if a high volume of applications is received or once a suitable candidate is found, therefore we strongly recommend that you apply early to avoid disappointment. If you require more time to apply as part of a reasonable adjustment, please contact [email protected] as soon as possible.

Recruitment process: Two competency-based interviews

Interview date: We will be shortlisting on a rolling basis with interviews starting from the week commencing the 02 December 2024 so please do not delay in applying

How do I apply? We operate an anonymised shortlisting process in our commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion. CVs are required for all applications; but we won't be able to view them until we invite you for an interview. Instead, we ask you to fully complete the work history section of the online application form for us to be able to assess you quickly, fairly, and objectively.

At Cancer Research UK, we exist to beat cancer.

We are professionals with purpose, beating cancer every day. But we need to go much further and much faster. That's why we're looking for someone talented, someone who wants to develop their skills, someone like you.

Cancer Research UK's Finance team's credibility and professionalism in handling money fundraised by public generosity is essential to the smooth running and future ambitions of our organisation, ultimately helping the charity reach our goal of beating cancer.

As the UK's largest charity, we have a large, complex set of statutory accounts and external reporting requirements. In 2023/24, our expenditure was £692m and our income was £684. We have multiple subsidiaries including Trading (600+ stores which generated £134m income) and Cancer Research UK Horizons (a world-class cancer research partner).

As a Senior Financial Reporting Accountant, you will own and lead Cancer Research UK's financial reporting and statutory accounts which will involve consolidating the accounts and delivering our external reporting requirements. You will also partner with auditors and support both finance colleagues and senior management throughout the organisation to enable decision-makers to understand the financial impact of initiatives and decisions. You have the opportunity to rotate across the Financial Reporting team with a specialist focus on either Cancer Research UK's Group or Subsidiary accounts.

If you are a qualified Financial or Group Accountant who has produced statutory accounts and reporting within a large organisation with multiple subsidiaries, we'd love for you to join our mission.

What will I be doing?

• Producing the statutory annual report and accounts for the Cancer Research UK group.

• Producing subsidiary and dormant entity statutory accounts. This includes Cancer Research UK Horizons and Trading (c.600+ stores).

• Producing various financial data for internal and external publications.

• Collaborating closely with the wider finance team in the production of internal financial reporting.

• Reporting on Restricted Funds in conjunction with the Scientific Research & Innovation team

• Acting as a key point of contact for external and internal auditors.

• Using your expertise to provide high-quality financial accounting support to both finance colleagues and senior management, and enable decision makers to understand the impact of initiatives and decisions.

• Assessing the impact of new accounting standards and leading on projects to implement them.

• Proactively partnering with the wider finance team to:

  • Become the first point of call when planning significant agreements and transactions.

  • Build their technical knowledge and ensure they understand changes to accounting and regulatory frameworks and their impact on the organisation's financial plan.

• Rotating across Group and subsidiary accounts with a specialist focus on one area at a time.

What skills will I need?

• Qualified Financial or Group Accountant with post-qualification experience (ACA / ACCA / CIMA or equivalent).

• Demonstrable history of producing statutory accounts and reporting within a large organisation with multiple subsidiaries (ideally within a group environment).

• Experience in year-end audits having delivered audited accounts and reports whilst managing relationships with external auditors.

• Strong technical knowledge with an understanding of accounting standards (FRS 102 is essential).

  • Charity SORP is desirable meaning we welcome applicants without this experience

• Has built strong stakeholder relationships with the ability to communicate complex financial information to internal and external stakeholders.

• Medium/advanced Excel skills - has previously worked with large, complicated data sets and multiple systems (V-look ups, Pivot Tables, Macros)

• Experience in using Agresso is desirable but not essential meaning we welcome applicants who have used alternative systems.

Our organisation values are designed to guide all that we do.

Bold: Act with ambition, courage and determination

Credible: Act with rigour and professionalism

Human: Act to have a positive impact on people

Together: Act inclusively and collaboratively

We're looking for people who can believe in and embody these organisation values and can use them to drive forward progress against our mission to beat cancer.

If you're interested in applying and excited about working with us but are unsure if you have the right skills and experience we'd still love to hear from you.

What will I gain?

We create a working environment that supports your wellbeing and provide a generous benefits package, a wide range of career and personal development opportunities and high-quality tools. Our policies and processes enable you to improve your work-life balance, take positive steps in your career and achieve your personal wellbeing goals.

You can explore our benefits by visiting our careers web page.

Additional Information

For more information about working with us please visit our website or contact us at [email protected].

For more updates on our work and careers, follow us on: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.

Our vision is to create a charity where everyone feels like they belong, benefits from and participates in, the work we do. We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and cultures, in particular those from ethnic minority backgrounds who are currently under-represented.

We want to see every candidate performing at their best throughout the job application process, interview process and whilst at work. We therefore ask you to inform us of any concerns you have or any adjustments you might need to enable this to happen. Please contact [email protected] or 020 3469 8400 as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, we are unable to recruit anyone below the age of 18, so that we can protect young people from health & safety and safeguarding risks.