Group Financial Reporting Accountant - United Kingdom - Renewable Energy Systems Ltd

Description

Do you want to work to make Power for Good?

We're the world's largest independent renewable energy company. We're driven by a simple yet powerful vision: to create a future where everyone has access to affordable, zero carbon energy.We know that achieving our ambitions would be impossible without our people. Because we're tackling some of the world's toughest problems, we need the very best people to help us. They're our most important asset so that's why we continually invest in them. RES is a family with a diverse workforce, and we are dedicated to the personal professional growth of our people, no matter what stage of their career they're at. We can promise you rewarding work which makes a real impact, the chance to learn from inspiring colleagues from across a growing, global network and opportunities to grow personally and professionally.Our competitive package offers rewards and benefits including pension schemes, flexible working, and top-down emphasis on better work-life balance. We also offer private healthcare, discounted green travel, 25 days holiday with options to buy/sell days, enhanced family leave and four volunteering days per year so you can make a difference somewhere else.

The position

Based at RES' head office in Kings Langley, the role will be working as part of the Group Finance team, supporting a wide range of stakeholders including the Board, heads of group functions and the UK and Ireland operations. The role will have a variety of responsibilities, including management reporting, business partnering, technical accounting and audit support and treasury.In addition, RES is going through a significant period of systems change and this role will need to be comfortable in onboarding and embracing new technology.

Organisational Context

Reporting to the Deputy Group Financial Controller, this role has a close liaison with key personnel within the global finance community including the Group CFO, Group Financial Controller and regional CFOs and FCs.

As part of the Group Finance team the individual will need to work with financial controllers across the business and be responsible for reporting updates to the Finance Leadership Team, preparing the consolidation of the year-end group accounts, providing ad hoc technical accounting advice (e.g. IFRS 15 to ensure key business sales are accounted for correctly) and working on strategic projects. You will also have some exposure to senior non-finance stakeholders as well.

Key Accountabilities

Group reporting

Preparing the monthly Group management reporting, understand key drivers behind performance against the budgeted P&L. By liaising with regional finance teams and group stakeholders you will build strategic relationships globally across different sectors of the business. You will need to be confident in challenging results, communicating ideas, providing insightful reporting and ensuring compliance with IFRS accounting standards. This will give you the opportunity to understand the business beyond the numbers.

In addition to the monthly reporting, you will assist in coordinating the annual budget cycle, receiving information from country finance teams and understanding drivers behind variances, coordinating quarterly risk and bank compliance reporting and reporting to senior stakeholders.

Finance transformation

Senior finance leaders have delivered a vision of how finance needs to transform to become Trusted Business Partners. Together the Group Finance team are driving progress towards delivering that vision, through coordinating the re-design of business processes, standardising and simplifying our data and reporting attributes, ensuring benefits are realised in onboarding new technology and working with non-finance partners to engage with the transformation programme and its deliverables including the implementation of a new ERP system.

Statutory reporting

As part of the year-end process, Group Finance prepare a group consolidation and statutory group audited accounts which you will be a key lead on and will also include handling auditor queries as they arise. As Group Finance we also have oversight over key accounting judgement areas, including the review of key accounting memos produced by the regions as well as preparing accounting memos for group-related matters (e.g. going concern and the group's IFRS 9 ECL assessment).

Controls

The successful candidate will work with the business users and external advisors to help document and understand the existing end-to-end processes, including workflows and controls. Further, you will be asked to help assist in designing new standardised controls in line with best practices, with an overall view of simplifying, standardising and improving the financial controls framework.

You will also oversee the performance of controls and assist in resolving any control deficiencies or failures.

Ad Hoc Projects

The Group CFO and Group Financial Controller will have ad hoc projects ongoing which support continuous improvement and our strategic objectives; this role will be required to support these initiatives as and when they arise.

Knowledge you will need

• Strong consolidation, P&L and Balance Sheet accounting knowledge to help prepare monthly and annual financial reporting and to support senior finance leaders and the annual budgeting and reporting processes.
• Technical accounting knowledge (IFRS) to support senior management and the regional finance teams.
• Good knowledge of financial control (and what "good" financial control looks like) and the ability to develop.

• Strong communication skills with the confidence to liaise directly with senior management and external auditors;
• Tenacity and attention to detail, to be able to deliver high quality financial information to support management decisions at Board level;
• The ability to work autonomously at times, to meet routine internal reporting deadlines;
• Pro-change team player motivated to improve processes and support the development of initiatives driven by the Group finance department as well as helping to develop other members of the team by distributing workload as appropriate;

• Performing a multi-currency consolidation.
• Experience with working with overseas stakeholders and counterparts.
• Experience of budgeting, forecasting, management reporting.
• Experience with reviewing controls and balance sheet reconciliations.
• Experience working with and communicating with senior non-finance stakeholders.
• Experience of coaching and managing junior finance staff (this role comes with the opportunity to supervise one Graduate (part-qualified) member of the Group Finance team).
• Experience in working with auditors and managing audit queries.

Qualified or part qualified accountant (ACA/ACCA)

At RES we celebrate difference as we know it makes our company a great place to work. Encouraging applicants with different backgrounds, ideas and points of view, we create teams who work together to solve complex problems and design practical solutions for our clients. Our multiple perspectives come from many sources including the diverse ethnicity, culture, gender, nationality, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability, marital status, parental status, education, social background and life experience of our people