Purchase Ledger Manager

We’re 1st Central, a market-leading insurance company utilising smart data and technology at pace. Rapid growth has been based on giving our 1.4 million customers exactly what they want: great value insurance with an excellent service. And that’s the same for our colleagues too; we won Insurance Employer of the Year at the British Insurance Awards 2024 and our Glassdoor score is pretty mega too!

Are you a finance expert who loves leading a team and making things run smoothly? 1st Central are looking for a Purchase Ledger Manager to join our Finance Operations team. If you're all about organisation, efficiency, and delivering a great service, this could be your next big move! Thriving in fast-paced environments, you’ll be great at building relationships across the business and have a real passion for leading teams. Ideally, you’ll be AAT qualified, with significant Purchase Ledger experience, Purchase Order process knowledge, and a knack for driving improvements.

You’ll be proactive and confident in stakeholder management and play a key role in championing the purchase order process across the business, ensuring they are raised prior to invoice and take the lead in designing clear and engaging training materials, including 'how to' videos and guides, to help educate the wider business – improving the process!

We’re big on working flexibly - you’ll spend most of your time working from home, with 1 day per week in the office at Haywards Heath, West Sussex - because collaborating with colleagues is always great, right? But of course, it’s your choice - if you prefer to be in the office more - that’s good with us too.

Must-have skills to be successful in this role:

• Strong team management and leadership skills – you’re a great leader, have previous experience in high-performing purchase ledger teams and you're known to develop your teams to the next level!
• Significant experience in running a high-performing purchase ledger team within a shared services function – you’re able to demonstrate expertise in managing financial operations efficiently.
• Strong stakeholder management skills and ability to communicate effectively with senior managers, colleagues, internal and external stakeholders – you know collaboration (teamwork makes the dream work), how to get your message across, how to resolve issues all whilst ensuring adherence to SLA’s.
• Strong analytical skills and ability to drive process improvement, based upon analysis of data – you know your financial processes and have proven experience in enhancing efficiency.

What’s involved:

Leadership:

• Manage the Purchase Ledger team to provide an excellent service and to provide assurance that there are no financial control issues that could impact the business.
• Develop and implement a team structure that is efficient and effective.
• Manage the team to ensure it is high performing and a great place to work.
• Deputise for the Group Financial Operations manager when appropriate.
• Provide support and cover for the other Financial Operations Team Managers.
• Drive efficient issue resolution both within the team and with the wider business.
• Build strong relationships with stakeholders across the business areas.
• Conducting colleague management duties including: Coaching and feedback to team leads to achieve KPI’s and SLA’s; All colleague issues including monitoring absence and conducting disciplinaries; Assist the recruitment process where necessary.

Purchase Ledger Management:

• Responsible for ensuring external payments are paid timely within terms to suppliers and colleagues.
• Proactively identify and manage issues to resolution.
• Signpost issues to upper management with clear routes to green and manage expectations.
• Drive the Procure to Pay process with the business to ensure adherence and liaise with senior stakeholders where appropriate.
• Provision of monthly dashboards and other MI to demonstrate team metrics and adherence to SLAs.
• Run the monthly Payment control meetings with senior stakeholders ensuring actions are captured and completed.
• Run the monthly PO Review meetings with finance peers for identification of problem areas, capture minutes and actions.
• Ensure easy access to guides, training and information for the wider business for the Purchase Ledger activities.

Operations:

• Responsible for the smooth and timely running of the Purchase Ledger activities.
• Responsible for ensuring all procedures are effectively operated, documented and adhered to the financial policy framework.
• Identification and deployment of corrective activity if operational performance drops and manage issue resolution.
• Ensure all daily, weekly and monthly procedures are performed within the agreed SLA’s.
• Ensure queries from across the business are resolved in a timely manner including the timely and accurate processing of the Finance Operations inbox.
• Ensure up to date Process Notes and Process Maps for the Purchase Ledger area.
• Management and administrator of the groups corporate credit card programme.

Change Management:

• Identify and implement changes to improve process and accommodate business and commercial changes across the Group.
• Lead and drive the identification and implementation of automation and other process improvements to increase the efficiency of the team.
• Provide the Purchase Ledger updates for the Monthly Control Dashboard for Finance Operations.
• Responsibility for maintaining department risk registers (as applicable), providing evidence and commentary for controls, updates for Mitigation Actions and maintaining control matrices and attestations.
• Also, to ensure that your employees are aware of their responsibility to identify and report risk.
• Comply with the requirements, and act in accordance with, the Group Code of Conduct and Fitness and Propriety policies at all times.
• Ensure compliance with Company Policies, Values and guidelines and other relevant standards/ regulations at all times, including compliance with the Senior Managers Certification Regime (SMCR) Conduct Rules.
• Adhere to the group’s financial control framework.
• Ensuring timely and accurate financial record keeping is maintained at all times.
• Maintain first line controls within the team through accurate processing and maintaining audit trails to ensure proportionate safeguarding the risk of fraud, error or omission.

Experience, knowledge and skills:

• Proven experience leading a high-performing Purchase Ledger team within a shared services function.
• Strong leadership and team management skills, including colleague development, motivation, and issue resolution.
• Experience working in fast-paced, high-growth, and change-driven environments.
• Skilled in managing multiple operational stakeholders, ensuring adherence to SLAs, and resolving issues efficiently.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to engage effectively at all levels, including senior management.
• Proficient in Microsoft applications, particularly advanced Excel.
• Strong analytical, numerical, and organisational skills, with a keen eye for process improvement.
• Ability to work effectively under pressure, maintaining a logical and solution-focused approach in challenging situations.

Behaviours:

• Results driven with a constant eye on the detail but understand the audience.
• Empathetic approach to leadership with an ability to get the best out of a wide range of stakeholders.
• A driven attitude to deliver controlled change and rapidly overcome obstacles.
• An agile approach to project management and able to rapidly react to changes in business priorities to take advantage of emerging business and customer opportunities.

So, if you want to be at the heart of our Purchase Ledger operations, managing a fantastic team and ensuring everything runs like clockwork – get in touch and hit the apply button now!

What can we do for you?

People first. Always. We’re passionate about our colleagues and know the best people deserve an extraordinary working environment. We owe it to them so that’s what we offer. Our workplaces are energetic, inspirational, supportive.