Financial Controls Accountant

Ocado Group is an equal opportunities employer and makes every effort to ensure that all potential employees are treated fairly and equally, regardless of their sex, sexual orientation, marital status, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, age, or disability or union membership status.

Our teams are putting the world’s retailers online using the cloud, robotics, AI, and IoT. We provide services to partner clients globally via our innovative advanced robotics technology, known as the Ocado Smart Platform (OSP), which drives our highly automated, multi-million pound Customer Fulfilment Centres (CFCs). In our CFCs - together with the proprietary software applications - we operate a world-class online grocery business that automates the single pick of products, ready for online delivery.

We are looking for a proactive and technically adept Financial Controls Accountant to join our dynamic Finance Controls (FC) team. Reporting to the Financial Controls Manager, you will play a pivotal role in establishing and maintaining robust financial control frameworks across the Group. This is an excellent opportunity to contribute to the enhancement of financial controls within a growing organisation, offering exposure to a wide range of financial processes and strategic initiatives.

As a Financial Controls Accountant, you will be at the forefront of designing and embedding robust financial control frameworks that safeguard our financial reporting and drive continuous improvement. You will lead the development and documentation of financial control methodologies, policies, and procedures, ensuring they are seamlessly integrated across the group. The Financial Controls Accountant will conduct routine testing of the effectiveness of financial processes, identifying opportunities for optimisation and driving initiatives that enhance efficiency and effectiveness.

You will have the opportunity to work closely with internal and external auditors, deliver engaging training sessions to diverse stakeholders, cultivating a culture of accountability and deep understanding of financial controls.

The right candidate will identify and champion opportunities to standardise and automate financial controls, implementing solutions that streamline operations and reduce risk. This is a great opportunity to be a key driver in strengthening our financial processes and influencing strategic decisions that propel our team forward.

What You Will Be Doing

• Take ownership for the design, implementation and ongoing testing of the Group’s financial controls.
• Anticipate change and inputs into the vision for future development of the Group’s financial control environment.
• Act as a subject matter expert in the application of the Group’s Financial Control methodology.
• Collaborate with the wider Financial Controls team and ensure controls in other processes and systems controls are linked in to ensure the end to end process is considered.
• Responsible for the testing of key controls and ensuring appropriate recommendations for improvements are implemented to ensure a ‘no surprises’ environment.
• Input into and have the opportunity to deliver effective tailored training, guidance and advice to finance and non-finance teams enhancing visibility of the importance of financial controls in their respective areas to ensure controls are embedded.
• Support drafting papers to committees on financial control matters (e.g., Risk Committee, Audit Committee, SOC Steering Committee, Transformation Steering Committees etc.).
• Input into the creation of control metrics to monitor the control environment for end to end processes through a Financial Controls Dashboard.
• Responsible for input into the monthly Financial Controls Dashboard and presenting where required.
• Ability to interpret complex issues, distil key points to be addressed and develop effective, practical, simple and targeted recommendations to remediate control gaps and solve problems.
• Drive early involvement of the Financial Controls team in changes to processes to identify weaknesses and design controls required to mitigate risk.
• Identify, assess and champion improvements to financial controls in place ensuring appropriate recommendations for improvements are implemented.
• Responsible for ensuring that all Risk and Control Matrices (RACMs) and process flows remain up to date and well documented.
• Facilitate audits and liaise with internal and external auditors to ensure issues raised are resolved, escalated or next steps agreed in a timely manner as part of proactive monitoring.
• Influence embedding a culture of strong financial controls across the Group.
• Present to Senior Finance Leadership, wider finance community and other stakeholders in relation to financial controls.
• Responsible for delivering designated ad-hoc projects (e.g. training, communication and branding, scoping and testing, methodology and documentation, stakeholder mapping, etc.).
• Participate in projects supporting Ocado’s rapidly growing business, driving improvements to accounting and reporting processes that support the growth of the business.
• Act as a deputy to the Financial Controls Manager; representing the wider FC team as required.
• Be a visible ambassador for Financial Controls across Finance and the wider business to raise awareness and credibility of the Financial Controls team.

About You

• 2+ years PQE (ACA / ACCA / IIA / CA / CIMA or equivalent).
• Demonstrable experience in a similar role in internal audit, second line or other assurance roles.
• Experience of designing assurance methodology (e.g., financial controls, internal audit, SoX etc.), including implementing, designing and monitoring/testing financial controls.
• In depth understanding of RACMs and controls testing concepts (e.g., Segregation of Duties, sampling, test types etc).

What We Offer You

• 30 days ‘working from anywhere in the world’ policy.
• 22 weeks paid primary carer leave.
• Wellbeing support through dedicated apps and an Employee Assistance Programme.
• 25 days annual leave, rising to 27 days after 5 years service (plus optional holiday purchase).
• Pension scheme (various options available including employer contribution matching up to 7%).
• Generous Private Medical Insurance (within the first month of joining!).
• Income Protection (can be up to 50% of salary for 3 years) and Life Assurance (3 x annual salary).
• 22 weeks paid maternity leave and 6 weeks paid paternity leave (once relevant service requirements complete).
• Train Ticket loan (interest-free).
• Cycle to Work Scheme.
• Free shuttle bus to and from Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City train stations to the Hatfield offices.
• Opportunity to participate in Sharesave and Buy as You Earn share schemes.
• 15% discount on Ocado.com and free delivery for all employees (within the first month of joining!).