Group Financial Accountant

FTE: 1.0 FTE (working 37 hours per week) 

Salary: AM4 £82,980 to £89,927 by annual increments on achieving designated skills and experience    

Annual Leave: 35 days plus standard public holidays and an additional 4 days including the closure of our office between Christmas and New Year

Location: Bishops Square, Hatfield

The University of Hertfordshire is excited to be able to invite applications for this role, in our Finance Business Unit.  It is a key role, supporting the Group Finance Director, taking overall responsibility for the financial administration of the University of Hertfordshire Charitable Trust. The role co-ordinates and delivers financial reporting across the University Group and leads a team of finance professionals.

Main duties and responsibilities

The Group Financial Accountant maintains financial controls and is responsible for the financial reporting of the University Group both internally to Board of Governors and senior management and externally to the regulator and statistical agencies. They ensure that financial plans and reports are credible and submitted within agreed time frames. In addition, the role is responsible for overseeing the external audit of financial reports.

Furthermore, the role maintains the accuracy and completeness of the ledgers for the University group to ensure reliable financial management and reporting. This role also includes line manager responsibility, leading a team of finance professionals including a Financial Accountant, a team of Payroll, Pension and Expenses experts, Accounts Payable and a Commercial Credit Controller.

Skills and experience required

The Group Financial Accountant will have previous experience of working at a senior level in a large and dynamic organisation, ideally with experience of the Higher Education sector. This role requires the ability to produce consolidated financial accounts and manage external audit processes, and you must be able to demonstrate both good written and spoken communication skills, with the ability to communicate financial details to the non-financial community.

You will have experience of line management and of leading and motivating your wider team, with attention given to achieving goals and objectives. You will be computer literate, with an excellent level of excel skills and experience of computerised financial accounting packages. A good working knowledge of VAT would be an advantage. In addition, you must be able to work with minimal supervision, under pressure to tight deadlines, and have the ability to challenge findings.  

Qualifications required

You will be a qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA or equivalent), with substantial post qualification experience. It is also essential to hold a minimum of a degree (or equivalent level 6 qualification) or significant appropriate equivalent experience.

Please view the job description and person specification for a full list of the duties and essential criteria. Please attach a personal statement showing clearly how your skills and experience match the Person Specification.

We regret that we are unable to offer UKVI sponsorship for this post; applicants will either hold UK Right to Work or demonstrate access to UK Right to Work before an offer is made.

Contact Details/Informal Enquiries: Vaishali Shah, Finance Administrator, v.shah6@herts.ac.uk

Closing Date: 05 January 2025

Interview Date: TBC

Our vision is to transform lives: UH is committed to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and building a diverse community. We welcome applications from suitably qualified and eligible candidates regardless of their protected characteristics, and recognise there are different ways applicants may achieve the criteria in this document.

Apply online via the above ‘Apply’ button.

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