Management Accountant

Reports to: Finance Director, Ark & Ark Ventures

Location: West London – currently operating an agile working policy with two core days (Mon and Weds) in the office

Contract: FTC (12 months)

Pattern: Full Time (standard hours 9am – 5.30pm)

Closing date: 03/07/2023 at 10am

Interviews: w/c 03/07/2023

Salary: £40,000 to £45,000 (depending on experience)

About the role:

Due to an internal move, the opportunity has arrived for a dynamic, driven management accountant to come work with Ark for a period of 12 months to develop, build and manage an appropriate, agile financial system for the new venture and own the management reporting for the critical first period of independent operation.

This new charity incubator will work to solve intractable challenges in education and society and will be spinning out from Ark in September 2023. Led by Michael Clark, the long-standing deputy CEO of Ark, it will focus on identifying and creating innovative not-for-profit start-ups that aim to give young people access to a great education and real choices in life. The new organisation will work closely with Ark and other partners to help tackle a wider range of challenges facing families, children and young people from with activity ranging from baby banks to postgraduate careers in the UK and internationally.

Ark will continue to support the new incubator with the provision of support services for a period of at least 12 months post-independence.   

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead on producing month-end management accounts for all areas of responsibility, ensuring delivery of timely, accurate and robust reporting of financial performance against budget, forecasts and KPIs
• Process invoices and post journals, as appropriate, for all elements of the charity incubator
• Match invoices to POs and process through to payment
• Complete monthly bank reconciliations
• Post all month end accruals, prepayments, overhead/payroll allocations across departments and any other adjustments required to produce accurate management reports
• Support ventures with financial planning by completing templates and uploading budgets to the system
• Develop effective working relationships that support budget holders so that the role of Asst Management Accountant is a valued and integral part of the organisation
• Support the Financial Controller at year-end with ad hoc tasks required, including creating and posting journals, sense checking financial results, liaising with the business areas to ensure they understand requirements, providing supporting calculations, reconciliations and liaising with auditors
• Train budget-holders on finance systems and processes
• Contribute to summary finance reports for Board meetings

Key Requirements:

• CCAB qualified accountant or finalist
• Experience in creating and setting up business units in Xero
• Experience of preparing financial reports and presentations for various stakeholders
• Highly competent computer skills, in particular Word, Excel, Outlook and financial databases
• Proactive and self-motivated with good time-management skills, an ability to plan, manage and prioritise a varied workload and to take responsibility for issues through to resolution
• Meticulous attention to detail and capable of meeting strict deadlines
• Ability to manage multiple stakeholders
• Ability to communicate effectively and explain finance to non-finance professionals
• Able to follow instructions accurately, but make good judgments and lead when required

View the full job description and person specification here

About Ark

We’re an international charity, transforming lives through education. We exist to give every young person, regardless of their background, a great education and real choices in life. In the UK, we’re a network of 39 schools, educating around 28,500 pupils in areas where we can make the biggest difference and we’re recognised as one of the highest achieving academy groups in the country. We want to change the lives of children everywhere, not just in our own schools. So, we create and incubate Ventures designed not only to help pupils in Ark schools, but also to improve education systems.

You’ll be joining a group of like-minded, ambitious individuals who work collaboratively and are all committed to our core mission, that every child has the potential to succeed. Having just celebrated our 20^th anniversary, we are shaping our goals for the next 20 and there has never been a more exciting time to join us.

Benefits

• 27 days annual leave plus bank holidays, rising with each year of service up to 30 days after 3-years’ service. This entitlement is pro rata for part time employees. This entitlement excludes bank holidays
• Full office closure between Christmas and New Year
• Hybrid working, with currently two days a week in our state-of-the-art office in West London working alongside colleagues
• Regular social events, monthly free breakfast, and daily fruit
• A flexible approach to working with understanding and consideration for work life balance and personal commitments
• As an Ark employee, you will have the opportunity to be part of the TPT (The Pension Trust) scheme, our workplace pension scheme where we make an 11% contribution; you are not required to contribute towards this scheme unless you choose to
• Access to high-quality professional learning throughout your career, offering both face-to-face sessions and a bespoke online learning platform
• Access to Ark Rewards scheme offering savings from over 3,000 major retailers, interest-free loans available for season tickets or a bike, gym discounts offering up to 40% off your local gym and free eye tests

Interviews will be arranged as suitable candidates are identified, so early application is strongly advised.

Ark is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people in its academies. In order to meet this responsibility, its academies follow a rigorous selection process to discourage and screen out unsuitable applicants.  

Ark requires all employees to undertake an enhanced DBS check. You are required, before appointment, to disclose any unspent conviction, cautions, reprimands or warnings under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975. Non-disclosure may lead to termination of employment. However, disclosure of a criminal background will not necessarily debar you from employment – this will depend upon the nature of the offence(s) and when they occurred. To read more about Ark’s safer recruitment process, please click this link