Finance Operations Manager

The salary for this role is £48,376. Onsite working is expected for 3 days each week, however, we actively support requests for flexible working. 

This role is based at  Culham, Oxfordshire  

This role requires employees to complete an online Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), including The Disclosure & Barring Service (DBS) checks for criminal convictions and possibly a search of open source data. 

The Role

Are you looking for an exciting opportunity to make a difference? Join our team and contribute to the future of fusion energy. As Finance Operations Manager, you will play a key role in being responsible for the management of processes within the Central Finance Team, delivering UKAEA and finance objectives. You will manage key processes including contingent labour accounting, timesheets, as well as month end and year end closedown. As the UKAEA Group is fully project accounting based, this role is crucial in ensuring that the project structures are in place, maintained, and effective in order to drive accurate and timely accounts.  

As a member of the finance management team, you will ensure that operational activities adhere to current financial standards and are in line with the UKAEA Group governance. You'll need to understand the impacts on the wider business, taking a holistic view and communicating effectively. You'll also ensure core financial processes are delivered accurately and on time and take responsibility for key processes, collaborating both within finance and with wider business stakeholders.

Additional Responsibilities:

• Responsible for key finance operations processes, with ownership of the end-to-end process definitions, initiating and implementing improvements, including ERP system update testing and consultations on all change approval decisions, supporting UKAEA and subsidiaries (UKAEA Group).
• Lead the team delivering core central finance activities, working closely with Finance Business Partnering teams.
• Lead the delivery of project accounting framework including establishment and maintenance of project structures, and the weekly timesheet postings.
• Owner of monthly periodic close process, ensuring clear timetables driving timeliness and accuracy from their finance colleagues. Maintaining a culture of continuous improvement and driving efficiency and adherence to deadlines. 
• Finance owner for the Contingent Labour accounting process – partnering with People and Commercial Teams to ensure contingent labour population is understood and all end-to-end processes are followed to ensure accurate capture of associated costs and headcount.

Essential Requirements:

• A qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA) with substantial post-qualification experience or qualified by experience
• Significant experience of working closely with senior business managers & teams
• Experience of end-to-end process definition creation and continuous process improvement, with a detail-orientated mindset
• Experience of managing key finance operations processes
• Experience of managing and developing direct reports, having worked with early careers would be an advantage
• Strong ability to communicate complex financial data to non-finance stakeholders
• Highly proficient in Excel
• Effective time management of self & team members, demonstrating strong leadership and influencing skills

A full list of our benefits can be found here https://careers.ukaea.uk/life-at-ukaea/employee-benefits/

UKAEA's mission is clean energy for all, and we welcome talented people from all backgrounds who want to help us achieve our mission.  We are under-represented from some groups and so want to encourage applications in particular from women in STEM, people from Black British Caribbean and African backgrounds and from Pakistani and Bangladeshi British backgrounds. Our Executive team, supported by our 'Head of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion' (EDI) and Wellbeing and our EDI Networks actively promote Inclusion and takes steps to increase diversity within our organization. We reinforce best practices in recruitment and selection and evaluate approaches to remove barriers to success.

UK Atomic Energy Authority is committed to being accessible. Please email [email protected] if you have any questions or require help or adjustments to compete on a fair basis, for example, changes to the way we interview or share information.  

Please note that vacancies are generally advertised for 4 weeks but may close earlier if we receive a large number of applications.