ASDA hosts open house to seek out fresh finance talent

Are you qualified, about to qualify or a recently qualified ACA/ICAS/CTA (or equivalent) from Practice looking for an ideal industry move?

Are you an ACA/ ICAS/CTA (or equivalent) who qualified/qualifies between  2007 – 2012? Do you have exceptional academics? – most of the candidates ASDA recruit with have 1st class or 2:1 degrees and As & Bs at A level (or equivalent) Have you demonstrated exceptional career development while still being at the early stages of your career? Have you decided that a move into industry is your long term career path? Perhaps you have never considered a career in Finance Retail, but would be interested in finding out more?

If this sounds like you then perhaps your next move should be towards ASDA's career information and networking evening, taking place in Leeds this month. ASDA are on the lookout for talented professionals to join their finance team in a number of capacities, including Audit, Audit, Business Accounting, Corporate Accounts, Commercial Finance, Planning and Business Development. 

Patrick, one of their Finance Scheme Graduates who joined them early last year says, "My first role was in Business Planning where I was responsible for the construction and on-going management of all of ASDA's store budgets. In my second role I was the financial support for a Walmart international investors conference held at ASDA in April 2010, with my main focus being the production of a review book on ASDA's business strategy and performance."

Being part of ASDA's finance team means working at the heart of the business and with a £20 billion P&L to manage, there's no dearth of opportunities and challenges. In other words, if you're good, career progression is guaranteed.

"Something I've really enjoyed about ASDA is the level of responsibility given to me from day one, however there is also a strong support network that surrounds me. It's not over the top, but I know that there is always someone ready and happy to help me. As well as this informal support, I also receive regular structured feedback through appraisals and career reviews" adds Patrick.

Based on the type of expertise required ASDA's finance team is divided into Financial Controllership, Commercial Finance and Internal Audit. 

If you were part of one of their Financial Controllership teams, you would be play an important part in ensuring accuracy, transparency and timeliness across financial accounting, reporting, supplier payments and receivables, as well as tax, treasury and pensions management. As part of one of these teams, you would have the chance to take control (quite literally) and your role is likely to include its own areas of P&L and balance sheet responsibility. You'll also be expected to take the lead to deliver outstanding finance customer service and to continuously improve the efficiency of ASDA's processes by leveraging your talent, new systems and technologies. The Financial Controllership team is their largest finance team which means you will have plenty of opportunity to demonstrate your leadership skills and your ability to sharpen not just your own skills and talent but also those of others you work with.

Should you be placed within the Commercial Finance department, it's one of ASDA's Category and Department Finance teams that you would be joining, where you would help to partner the company's business areas, working within specific business unit that they partner. You can expect your job to have a strong analytical focus here with a mix of long-term strategy and day-to-day decision making to be done. As part of this department, you'd help with everything from analysing business performance to establishing category and supplier strategies and appraising investments.

The other department you could find yourself in is Internal Audit, which is part of ASDA's Global Audit team and where all key business processes get reviewed.  Your role would be focused on taking measures to protect the company by understanding the risks the business is facing and executing insightful audit work to identify powerful actions to improve our business. On this team, you'd work in partnership with the business to support our growth and drive changes. You will also have the chance to look at the business from varying perspectives and build strong external networks. What's more, you'd be in a position to offer business insight and guidance on best practice across both ASDA and Walmart.

So, if you think you're a cut above the rest of the ACA's out there, contact one of the consultants below to find out more.