Walter Scott - Trainee Finance Analyst

Role Purpose & Summary

Contribute to developing a ‘best in class’ finance function that thrives on ‘adding value’ and demonstrates continuous improvement. The role is one of five analyst/accountant roles, and the individual must work with the rest of the team including a Legal Entity Controller, Decision Manager, and a Head of Finance to ensure robust financial data within the General Ledger and deliver timely and accurate management information and reporting to support both BNYM Investment Management and the Walter Scott business. In short, the role involves both financial control and business decision support.

The Legal Entity Controller will be responsible for the training and performance reviews of the finance analyst, whilst training with one of the professional accountancy bodies. All individuals within the team report to the Head of Finance. Although individuals have defined roles and responsibilities, all individuals are expected to work as a team and minimize any key person dependencies.

The Finance Analyst is responsible for ensuring all BAU reporting and accounting responsibilities assigned to them are delivered in a timely and accurate fashion – and importantly to enable development of new reporting elsewhere within the team. Going forward, the individual will be expected to contribute to continuous improvement and areas of development.

Responsibilities

• A combination of both decision support and financial control activities, including but not limited to:
• Perform period close activities including but not restricted to journal posting.
• Review system generated billing and payment batches for accuracy and raise and post correlating accounting journals for the General Ledger.
• Transfer revenue accruals and settlement review and challenge.
• Day-to-day operational activities including banking activities.
• Monthly liquidity and capital reporting.
• Monthly and quarterly preparation of Key Risk Indicators for consideration by Risk & Compliance.
• Preparation of regulatory and other external data submissions for internal review and submission.
• Perform root cause analysis as a means of addressing and eliminating data integrity and quality issues over time.

Decision Support:

• Contribute to production of month and quarter end analysis of balances for inclusion within Board papers, e.g., explain key movements in monthly, quarterly, and annual against historic actuals, plan, and forecast (variance analysis).
• Preparation of monthly departmental reporting. Use of Excel skills to analyze large volumes of data in a timely manner.
• Running of regular reports for internal (team) use and provision of data for other departmental use, e.g., cash flow and AUM reporting, preparation and maintenance of the RFP database.
• Respond to ad hoc queries and requests for information from external stakeholders including other departments within the business and the parent company.
• Assist with the production of quarterly climate reporting and provide support to the Walter Scott Environmental Impact Group.

Generic Finance Responsibilities:

• Maintain robust audit trail at all times.
• Participation and proactive contribution to process improvement with the wider team as part of ongoing continuous improvement.
• Timely and appropriate escalation of issues to other team members and relevant stakeholders.
• Maintenance of departmental process and procedure notes as part of wider control documentation.

Key Relationships:

• Head of Finance – provision of regular work-related updates and timely escalation of issues.
• Walter Scott Legal Entity Controller - involvement in day-to-day performance, training, and development discussions and timely escalation of issues.
• The Walter Scott Finance team – in day-to-day activities.
• Other BNYM accounting individuals and teams, including other legal entity controllers and shared service Finance teams across BNYM (geographically and functionally).
• Walter Scott Fee Billing and BNYM Shared Billing Unit.
• Internal (BNYM internal and SOX) and external (statutory, CASS) auditors – understanding audit requests, being able to respond in a timely and accurate manner.
• Other Walter Scott teams as relevant to deliverables.

Skills & Knowledge:

• Numerical.
• Proficient in MS Excel, Excel formulae, and experience with PowerBI is preferable.
• Experience of Oracle and other accounting and reporting systems, desirable but not essential.

Academic/Professional Qualifications (or equivalent):

• Recent graduate/part or newly qualified in either ACCA, CIMA, ICAS, ICAEW.

Role Location: Edinburgh

Closing Date: 29 November 2024

Application: To ensure a fair and inclusive interview process, we encourage all applicants to inform us of any adjustments or adaptations they may require to fully participate. Your comfort and accessibility are important to us.

About Us: Established in 1983, Walter Scott is an investment management business built to deliver long-term success. We think of growth in decades and consider impact for generations, ignoring the volatility of the moment and the results of the day. Our portfolio management philosophy is tried and tested: we focus solely on equity investments, holding stock only in high-quality, market-leading businesses that can generate sustainable growth for our clients. By keeping our strategy straightforward, we can go deeper in our research and further for our clients. It’s an approach that begins and ends with doing the right thing. For the institutional clients we serve around the world – protecting and enhancing their assets. For our community – supporting causes with tangible outcomes for people in Edinburgh, and beyond. And for the 180 employees who make it all possible – fostering a close-knit culture, nurturing personal growth, and offering truly rewarding careers.