Senior Financial Accountant

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Job Description

Salary: Base salary: £47,450pa to c.£59,300pa depending on skills and experience. In addition, we offer flexible benefits fund of 20% which is paid on top base salary and is fully pensionable, as well as a range of competitive benefits - check them out in the Benefits section on our website.

HS2 Ltd endeavours to ensure everyone working for us and with us feels included, thrives and achieves their full potential. In practice, this means we are positive and inclusive about making adjustments, providing flexible working, encouraging our staff networks to flourish and providing personal and professional development opportunities.

As a Senior Financial Accountant at HS2 you will contribute continuously to the strategic development of HS2 Ltd by defining and implementing effective accounting policies, financial systems, controls, processes and reports.Engage with stakeholders, both internal and external, to promote financial awareness, to anticipate and address evolving needs and to discharge its financial reporting responsibilities now and in the future.

About the role:

• Organise and manage assigned areas to support the preparation and publication of the Annual Report and Accounts and the quarterly reports for consolidation in the DfT group; engage with non-financial stakeholders and support the efficient completion of the external audit.
• Define, implement and monitor the technical accounting policies, operational procedures and performance measures necessary to maintain the integrity of financial data and make high-quality financial information available to key stakeholders in line with agreed monthly reporting cycle.
• Manage and lead on assigned areas of the financial systems and records to ensure they are up to date; promote compliance with financial standards, procedures and policies and develop effective financial controls to assure quality and accuracy of financial information held in HS2 Ltd's corporate systems.
• Contribute to the transformation of HS2 Ltd by streamlining its financial processes and taking the lead to define and implement systems and process improvements which enhance business efficiency.
• Contribute financial expertise to the development of HS2 Ltd's strategic financial systems which will operate within a network of integrated corporate systems and deliver reliable financial information for budget management and decision-making purposes.
• Build effective working relationships across the organisation to provide a trusted financial advisory service, interpreting financial issues and information for decision makers and securing non-financial information to meet HS2 Ltd's reporting needs.
• Provide expert technical advice to senior financial management based on excellent knowledge of technical accounting standards and on benchmarking the approach of other organisations and implement appropriate changes.
• Share professional expertise with financial colleagues and non-financial managers to enable them to become effective financial managers.
• Support business teams in procuring the financial information they need and produce tailored financial reports to meet their business needs.
• Support the corporate governance arrangements as they relate to Finance, including the drafting of reports and information for the Audit Committee.
• Actively promote and embed Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in all your work, and support and comply with all organisational initiatives, policies and procedures on EDI.

About You:

Skills:

• IT skills with recent and up-to-date experience of ERP systems, ability to use Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint to an advanced level.
• Ability to produce and present documents and reports to a variety of audiences and ability to explain financial matters to non-financial audiences.
• Ability to develop effective working relationships with key internal stakeholders and the ability to influence decisions by senior management.
• Ability to organise financial and other information to present clear results and maintain a clear audit trail.

Knowledge:

• Qualified financial accountant, with a recognised body.
• Understanding of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs) and technical accounting matters, with knowledge of how to interpret, apply and communicate complex financial issues to both financial and non-financial colleagues.

Types of Experience

• Experience working within a Finance function.
• Experience working within a matrix organisation.
• Commercial awareness outside of the immediate Finance function.

The post-holder is expected to behave at all times in a manner consistent with the HS2 values of Safety, Leadership, Integrity and Respect

It is expected that you will actively promote and embed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in all your work and support and comply with all organisational initiatives, policies and procedures on EDI.

As HS2 Ltd do not hold a sponsorship license from the Home Office, we are not able to provide sponsorship to any applicant. Applicants must already have the Right to Work in the UK at the time of application and our process involves a Right to Work validation prior to the interview stage. Note, there are certain types of time-bound visas that we cannot accept.

Any offers made to applicants will be subject to satisfactory completion of pre-employment checks which include Nationality & Immigration Status, employment references, DBS, Financial and Education checks.

We ask for a variety of detail in your online application, however we perform the first assessment of suitability for a role based solely on the information in your CV. In a further development of our efforts to create a more diverse workforce, your CV will be anonymised and personal information will be removed during the first stage of the application review. This removes bias from the process and makes it even more important that you attach an updated word version of your CV for each new application ensuring you include evidence directly related to the criteria in the job advert. Watch this video on how we remove bias in the recruitment process: Removing bias in the recruitment process - YouTube

Any applications received after the closing date will not be considered.

About Us

High Speed 2 (HS2 Ltd) will be the UK's new high speed rail network. As well as improving capacity, the new scheme will shorten journey times between a number of Britain's major population centres, boost the economy and create thousands of jobs.

HS2 Ltd will create a skills legacy and develop a diverse range of talent. We aim to be a leader in EDI practice by creating a safe & inclusive working environment for all our staff - living our values of Safety, Respect, Integrity and Leadership.

In practice, this means we are positive and inclusive about making adjustments, providing flexible working, encouraging our staff networks to flourish and providing personal and professional development opportunities.

HS2 Ltd is also a safety-critical organisation. Employees are required to ensure reasonable care of their own and others' health and safety by taking personal responsibility for working to our 'Safe at Heart' programme principles and following safe working procedures at all times.

HS2 Ltd endeavours to ensure everyone working for us and with us feels included, thrives and achieves their full potential.