About the Role
We are seeking an experienced Accountant to join our Group Finance Function as the Group Accountant. Reporting to the Group Financial Controller, the role will provide support to the Group Accounting and Control function during month-end, both March and July year-ends (OUP’s year-end is March but, as a Department of the University of Oxford, also provides its audited results to the University for inclusion in its year-end reporting which is July), and the business planning cycle. You will also assist with finance change projects, continuous improvement initiatives, and provide technical accounting support to the team.
Key responsibilities in this role will include:
1. Lead on preparation of July year-end OUP accounts for inclusion in the University’s statutory financial statements; liaison with external auditors and University Finance team as part of this process.
2. Support preparation of March year-end Group financial statements in conjunction with the Group Accounting and Consolidation Manager; and liaise with external auditors and staff across OUP involved in providing financial information.
3. Lead and/or support (depending on size and nature of project) with Group Finance project work: this may involve projects of a technical nature including consolidation accounting, systems (e.g. SAP/BW/Tagetik), acquisitions or accounting policy.
4. Jointly with the Group Accounting and Consolidation Manager, preparation of UK subsidiary statutory accounts, associated support to board meetings, and liaison with external auditors; technical lead for Group Finance on oversight and review of all overseas subsidiaries’ statutory accounts.
5. Support to the Group Accounting and Consolidation Manager during the business planning cycle, month-end and year-end. Preparing ad-hoc analysis and commentary as necessary.
6. Support to the Group Systems Accountant in ongoing maintenance and development of the Tagetik consolidation system and its interaction with SAP (and any other systems), including report writing, user guidance and support, management of upgrades, etc.
7. Identify and lead continuous improvement in Group financial reporting systems.
8. Ad-hoc reporting and analysis – Produce ad-hoc reports and analyses on a timely basis and to appropriate levels of accuracy, to meet specific requirements identified by the Group Accounting and Consolidation Manager, Group Financial Controller or Group Finance Director.
We operate a hybrid working policy that requires a minimum of 2 days per week in the Oxford office.
About You
To be successful in this role, you will ideally have/be:
9. Financial accounting qualification (ACA/ACCA/CA preferrable)
10. Technical knowledge of UK GAAP/FRS 102
11. Experience of consolidation accounting and working in a multi-site global organization
12. Good communicator, both written and verbal, with people of all levels
13. Systems experience of Office, ERP and other management information systems including consolidation tools (e.g. Tagetik/ Hyperion/ Cognos)
14. Technical knowledge of IFRS and Auditing Standards (desirable)
15. Experience of leading change (desirable)
Benefits
We care about work/life balance here at OUP. With this in mind we offer 25 days’ holiday that rises with service, plus bank holidays and Christmas closure (3-days) and a 35-hour working week. We are open to discussing flexibility in respect to working patterns, dependent on role. We also have a great variety of active employee networks and societies.
We help make your money go further by contributing to your pension up to 12%, offering loans and savings schemes through our partnership with Salary Finance, in addition to travel to work schemes and access to a wide range of local discounts.
This role comes with the added benefit of a discretionary annual payment.
Please see our Rewards and Recognition page for more information.