Finance Associate
Job reference: FC00046
Background
The Consumer Financial Education Body (CFEB) is responsible for helping consumers in the UK understand financial services and better manage their finances. Our main way of taking this forward is through leading a national strategy for financial capability, in partnership with Government, the financial service industry, the voluntary sector, consumer & education groups and the media.
CFEB is embarking on a significant change to the way finance services are provided to the business, moving from a model where it buys all accounting services from its legacy organisation, the FSA, to a model where it is completely independent, with its own finance function.
The new finance function will promote a strong business partnering ethos, supported by accounting, reporting and transactional delivery. The model will be an in-house function using Sage 200 and employing a Finance Manager and two administrators. Payroll and systems hosting/support will be outsourced. CFEB will have its own bank account.
The new model will go live on 1 April 2011. Until then the FSA will continue to provide all the services that CFEB needs. The period up to 1 April 2011 will be used to plan and implement the new model, including activities such as, documenting processes and controls, planning the migration, arranging contracts for payroll, recruiting the administrators, etc.
The intention is to recruit the new Finance Associate in January 2011. The associate will be involved in the migration process from FSA to CFEB, including documentation of procedures and a parallel run.
Purpose
The Finance Associate will be responsible for running all finance transactional processing and providing high-quality financial reports and analysis to support the finance manager. The associate will be supported in this role by one other administrator and report to the finance manager.
Accountabilities
- Supporting the finance manager and colleagues by delivering an effective Finance function.
- Working within the team to provide accurate, efficient and high-quality financial transactional processing, reporting and analysis, to support the business. Reporting will include monthly, quarterly and year end reporting cycles, and annual planning and forecasting activity.
- Working within the team in the effective handling of accounting transactions for the business, adhering to proper controls and processes.
- Ensuring the provision of forecasts that are both timely and accurate.
- Working with the business units to increase their understanding of financial processes and disciplines.
- Take ownership of assigned tasks to ensure they are completed in a timely and accurate manner.
Essential skills and experience
Technical skills
- Part-qualified accountant (ACCA/ACA/CIMA or equivalent).
- Good experience of providing quality financial analysis and reporting.
- Computer literacy and well developed skills in Excel, Word and Powerpoint.
- Familiarity with, or ability to grasp quickly, the business drivers and objectives of CFEB, as well as its primary processes.
- Strong personal accountability for handling various deliverables to target and achieving deadlines.
- Good knowledge of UK GAAP and UK tax legislation.
- Good accounting knowledge and understanding of key controls of the accounting process.
Practical skills
- Background working in the finance function in a small- to medium-sized business, including payroll, NIC, PAYE, banking arrangements, accounts preparation, payments, audit, etc.
- Experience of budgeting and forecasting.
- Ability to multitask and prioritise work.
Soft skills
- Excellent interpersonal skills, with the credibility to develop and sustain working relationships with a range of stakeholders.
- Excellent presentation and communication skills (written and oral).
- Ability to personally deliver, as opposed to delegating tasks.
Desirable skills and experience
- Non-for-profit experience.
- Knowledge of Sage 200 Accounting packages.
Capabilities and behaviours
- Works actively with others to achieve targets and objectives.
- Accomplishes own tasks in support of team goals and proactively offers to help colleagues.
- Supports group decisions.
- Seeks and provides feedback in a constructive way at all levels.
- Communicates confidently and clearly.
Application processn
As part of the application process, you should submit your CV and answers to the following application questions quoting the job reference number to [email protected]
Q1. Explain how you meet the essential criteria for this role (in no more than 300 words).
Q2. Are you eligible to work in the UK?
Q3. What is your current or most recent salary?
The closing date for applications is 10 December 2010.