Senior Financial Reporting Accountant

Pension Insurance Corporation (“PIC”) provides secure retirement incomes through comprehensive risk management and excellence in asset and liability management, as well as exceptional customer service. Our purpose is to pay the pensions of our current and future policyholders. We achieve our purpose by setting company-wide strategic objectives and driving a healthy culture based on our PIC Values of Resilient, Adaptable, and Loyal.

PIC is recruiting for a Senior Financial Reporting Accountant to join its Reporting & Financial Management department on a 6 month FTC basis. You will effectively collaborate across Finance and the wider business to deliver, as part of a team, all statutory reporting for PIC Group, including year-end accounts for c. 30 entities and the half year reports for both PIC plc and PICG Group. You will also support the delivery of improvements to the year-end process, and demonstrate the ability to solve problems and mitigate risks as they arise to ensure both a high quality and a timely delivery are achieved.

Specific accountabilities assigned to the role of the Senior Financial Reporting Accountant within the Financial Reporting team:

• Production of all the external IFRS reporting produced by the Finance function including: The Annual Report and Accounts for the Group and its UK subsidiaries; and The half year published Investor Report for the Group.
• Responsible for improving the current statutory and other reporting processes, improving existing controls and enhancing the quality of the final outputs for all the above documents.
• Responsible for reviewing the content and quality of the external reporting, benchmarking against peers and recommending improvements.
• Supporting other members of the team as required in the production of management information and regulatory reporting deliverables.
• Responsible for managing the relationship with and providing oversight of external accounting firms that prepare accounts for smaller investment subsidiaries in the Group.
• Supporting the preparation of all required papers to the Audit Committee and Board relating to statutory reporting.
• Development of technical papers supporting any new accounting policies or treatments required together with supporting evidence.
• Building and maintaining a strong relationship with the external auditors on the year end audit.
• Acting as Finance lead on any relevant company-wide projects or initiatives.
• On an ongoing basis, review existing policies and procedures to ensure that the statutory reporting processes are sufficiently well controlled, and are working efficiently.

Knowledge:

• Knowledge of the insurance industry and the relevant reporting metrics such as IFRS and Solvency II.
• Experience gained from other reporting roles.
• Knowledge of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
• Sound technical understanding of life and pensions accounting.
• Extensive knowledge of each element of the Microsoft Office package.

Experience:

• Financial services experience.
• Experience of Oracle Fusion and Oracle FCCS and using the SmartView excel add-in.
• Experience of Workiva preferred.
• A good understanding of IFRS 17 and its application to Life insurance companies.
• Knowledge of the regulatory reporting and the Solvency II regime.

Skills:

• Ability to analyse complex problems and propose solutions.
• Ability to work under pressure towards tight deadlines.
• Ability to prioritise and distinguish what really matters amongst a large quantity of information and make judgement calls.
• Strong communication and influencing skills.
• Ability to drive change and contribute to ongoing projects and initiatives.

Desirable personal attributes aligned to what success looks like in the role:

• Strong problem-solving skills utilising consultative questioning to challenge current norms and drive change within the business function.
• Effective communicator – structures insights into clear messages and effectively engages others within business function, as well as internal stakeholders, professional and regulatory bodies.
• Innovative thinker – positive attitude to change and a willingness to embrace new ideas and techniques to improve performance.

In addition to a competitive base salary, you will get access to some great benefits, including 28 days' annual leave (excluding bank holidays) and much more.