Senior Financial Accountant

Senior Financial Accountant

£55,000 per annum

Swindon

The Trust is a large and complex charity but the basic model upon which it runs is simple – we provide people with access to beautiful or historic places that provide physical and spiritual refreshment; people join the Trust, visit and donate money; and that money is invested in conservation and access. It is a virtuous circle. The more income we generate, the more we are able to spend on the places in our care and to pursue our wider plans.

Strong and sustainable finances are central to the success of an organisation whose core purpose is to protect special places for ever, for everyone. Our Finance team is steward for the significant financial resources that the Trust manages and directs to this core purpose. The numbers are big – a net asset value of over £1bn, total income of over £0.5bn, thousands of individual charitable funds and many hundreds of properties in our care. The obligations are equally huge – with a commitment to spend over £100m p.a. on conservation work.

Heelis is the Central Office for the National Trust; it was named after one of the Trust’s biggest benefactors Mrs William Heelis, There are approximately 500 staff from across the Trust’s directorates, including the Executive team and the Director General, are based here. Heelis was designed to be highly sustainable and has won a number of nationally recognised awards. Designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley Architects in 2005, this architectural gem uses timber from our woodlands and wool from Herdwick sheep grazed on Trust farmlands, to help make Heelis a unique working environment.

About the role

As Senior Financial Accountant, that’s where you come in. You will be responsible for leading a team of specialist financial accountants looking after key areas of the Trust’s finances including Membership Income, Investments and Pensions and Fund Accounting. You will be responsible for the Trust’s statutory reporting and financial statements production in a hands-on way and for documenting, implementing and continuously reviewing the Trust’s accounting policies.

Acting as a key contact for the External Auditors you will regularly be required to report on financial accounting matters to the Trust’s Audit Committee. The post holder will act as an internal expert on financial accounting and financial reporting requirements and, as a champion of accounting policy, foster CPD learning and development within the Trust’s finance team. Delivering data integrity you will act as a partner for the Trust’s management accounting team and finance business partnership; supporting insight into the Trust’s balance sheet and financial reserves and the maintenance of the Trust’s property finance model.

This is an excellent opportunity to contribute in a significant way to one of the UK’s largest charities and Europe’s largest conservation organisations.

About you

It’s crucial that you:

• Have excellent knowledge of current Financial Reporting Standards: FRS102;
• Have an awareness and appreciation of charity accounting/reporting requirements under SORP;
• Are ACCA/ACA-qualified
• Have a background in external audit or experience in producing group statutory financial statements subject to audit by a large firm;
• Have experience in preparing consolidated financial statements;
• Have experience in preparing formal reports and technical papers for Board –level consideration;
• Have experience in implementing new processes and procedures.in a large organisation setting.
• Excellent analytical and problem solving skills
• Commitment to self-development and be enthusiastic about acquiring new skills and embracing new ways of working
• Leadership skills and the ability to build a positive team climate, setting clear objectives and readily sharing information and knowledge
• Strategic Direction: being able to create a vision for your own area, supported by plans, roles and objectives.
• Commitment to staying in touch with the latest legislative changes and business trends in the sector.

The package

Salary up to £55k dependent on experience.

Looking after you

• Health cash plan – from as little as £2.81 per month for you and your dependents
• Pension contribution match up to 10%
• EAP and proactive Health and Wellbeing
• Discounted gym membership.

Looking after your career

• Grow your career through professional training courses across the Trust
• Develop your skills with an internal secondment
• Pay review linked to values and behaviours, commitment to progression
• Income protection due to illness.

Unique to us

• Work in some of the most beautiful, iconic and unique locations in the UK
• Free entry to NT properties for you, a guest and your children (under 18)
• 20% off in our retail and catering outlets
• Discount up to 35% off a National Trust holiday cottage booking.

Closing Date: 20^th February 2017