Project Accountant

Project Accountant - Banking Client

Permanent

Manchester

My client is a well known high street bank, which has had a strong reputation on the high street since it was founded in the 90's. We are currently recruiting on their behalf for a Project Accountant to join their team in Manchester

Your purpose in your role as a Project Accountant:

• Provide a first class Programme and Project accounting service by providing expert level challenge and decision support to Finance and the Transformation and Change management team to enable them to achieve agreed strategic objectives.
• To provide challenge and decision support to projects and personnel to enable project management to deliver in line with agreed business cases.
• To support the management of colleagues to ensure that an excellent service is delivered and colleague development opportunities are maximised.

Key accountabilities:

• Provides financial advice, identifies emerging trends and influences senior leaders within Transformation and Change areas to ensure the business delivers its agreed strategic objectives by:
• Delivering high quality commentary relating to project and programme financials
• Identifying emerging trends
• Highlighting appropriate actions
• Bench-marking to external data
• Tracking delivery of benefits
• Leads the review and challenge of financial and management information each period end to ensure a comprehensive and insightful analysis of results, plans, forecasts, risks and opportunities is provided to the agreed standard and timetable.
• Challenges and contributes to business decisions by engaging with business leaders and acting as part of the areas management team to ensure the financial consequences of decisions are properly reflected in any key decisions.
• Leads the financial elements of the annual Strategic Planning and budgeting exercise for Transformation and Change, ensuring robust documentation of assumptions, drivers and outputs.
• Ensures first class standards of financial control and the risk management framework are embedded in all business processes.
• Drives the delivery of complex business cases, supporting project portfolio decision making through the design of appropriate measures and governance to ensure resources are most effectively used and that expected benefits are actually realised.
• Ensure that all financial impacts of the programme are fully understood including benefits / on-going costs / impact on business area strategic plan
• Ensure there is justification provided around programme and change request cost estimates and that any incremental funding requests have been through robust challenge prior to being presented to POC / TC.
• Contributes to smooth running of the Enterprise PMO/ Finance team and especially the areas supporting staff development, process improvements and both identifying and implementing best practice.
• Ensure that all financial activities at the programme level align to overall Finance governance.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience Required:

• Qualified accountant or equivalent with significant post-qualification experience supporting non-accounting managers in complex financial analysis.
• Proven experience of implementing and enhancing financial control.
• Proven experience of managing colleagues in either a project based or line management capacity.
• Significant experience of managing the financial and management information aspects of project and portfolio management.
• Excellent knowledge of risk management processes.
• Financially aware and applies this knowledge to work on plans to assist the business in meeting objectives and ensuring projects are on track.
• Strong commercial, regulatory and financial understanding related to the business area.
• Demonstrates the ability to draw on experience of the industry and knowledge of performance and strategy to influence the thinking of the designated business area's Management Team, Executive.
• Proven ability to communicate complex information and concepts.
• Able to manage relationships up to Executive Level in order to deputise for Function Leader.
• Strong organisational, planning, negotiating, presentation and influencing skills.