Management Accoutant in Birmingham

Freightliner is a leading UK intermodal logistics provider, offering rail, road and terminal solutions that connect ports, inland terminals and customer destinations across the UK. Through innovation, safety and sustainability, Freightliner delivers reliable, efficient and lower-carbon supply chain solutions for its customers. In the UK the Freightliner Group operates under a number of legal entities including, Freightliner Ltd, Pentalver Transport Ltd, and Pentalver Cannock Ltd.

Purpose of the Role: The primary purpose of the role is to support the delivery of accurate and timely financial reporting for Intermodal (IML) through the preparation of management accounting information, journal processing and balance sheet reconciliations. The role holder will ensure financial transactions are correctly recorded, analysed and reported in accordance with company policies and accounting standards. The Management Accountant will be responsible for producing and maintaining key month-end accounting activities, including journal preparation, balance sheet reconciliations and central overhead reporting. The role will also provide support for the accounting and control of fixed assets, leasing arrangements and payroll-related transactions, ensuring all associated records are accurate and up to date. Working closely with the Finance Business Partner and wider finance team, the post holder will contribute to the production of monthly management accounts, supporting analysis and commentary on financial performance and variances. They will also assist with the quarterly forecasting and annual budgeting processes, providing accurate financial information and challenge where appropriate. The role will support the maintenance of a strong financial control environment through the timely completion of reconciliations, adherence to internal controls and identification of opportunities to improve processes and reporting efficiency. The post holder will contribute to continuous improvement initiatives across the finance function, helping to enhance financial processes, controls and the quality of management information available to the business.

Main duties and responsibilities

• Preparation and posting of month end journals and accrual, mostly for Indirect costs like leasing, fixed assets and payroll, ensuring accuracy and completeness.
• Preparation of robust month end balance sheet reconciliations for allocated accounts, ensuring all reconciling items are resolved in a timely manner.
• Support the team with workload to ensure timely deliverable are met.
• Review and interpret cost trends, investigating variances against budget, prior year and forecast, and presenting insightful commentary for monthly review packs.
• Support periodic reviews of the Intermodal controls framework, identifying control gaps, designing remediations and driving continuous improvement.
• Provide oversight and guidance on internal and external audit queries, ensuring timely, accurate responses and strengthening audit readiness.
• Assist with transformation initiatives to improve process efficiency, data quality, and automation within month end reporting cycles.
• Support system upgrades, implementations and continuous improvements, ensuring robust governance, testing and control integrity.
• Work in close partnership with the Finance Business Partner to prepare for and lead monthly performance reviews with budget holders.
• Build strong relationships across finance and the wider business to ensure a shared understanding of financial performance and cost drivers.
• Follow HS&E procedures to ensure safe working practices, prevent pollution, minimise impacts, maintain competence, and report incidents.

Key job requirements

Part Qualified Accountant at the Final stage of (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent) with minimum of 2 years relevant experience Confident with areas of management account analysis, preferable lease, fixed assets and payroll. Proficient in managing large amounts of data Ability to influence key stakeholders through relevant financial insight. Determined and proactive - prepared to get into the detail to understand the overhead cost drivers of the business. Good analytical skills and a high attention to detail Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to build healthy working relationship with business stakeholders and interact effectively with all levels of staff. Highly effective organisational and time management skills with the ability to work autonomously, prioritising workload and meet deadlines; IT literate with intermediate Excel skills.

Behavioural Competencies

• Delivers goals and objectives with drive, energy and enthusiasm;
• Proactive approach to work and uses own initiative to implement improvements;
• Embraces new challenges, is hands on and gets things done;
• Sets high standards of work for self, and consistently achieves these;
• Listens attentively to others’ perspectives and provides constructive feedback and coaching;

Exhibits and lives the Group’s core values

• o Safety… we have an unconditional commitment to the well-being of our people and the safety of our operations
• o Service… we have an absolute commitment to our customers based on a philosophy of mutual success
• o Integrity… we possess the courage to do the right thing always
• o Respect… we treat all people with dignity and fairness, fostering diversity and inclusion
• o Transparency… we communicate openly to enable well-informed decision making
• o Accountability… we set high standards and take full ownership of our results as an individual and a team
• o Innovation… we embrace creativity, technology and new ideas
• o Excellence… we have relentless focus on continuous improvement and excellence in all we do

Our commitment to you, once you join our team, is to foster growth and provide developmental opportunities to ensure you reach your utmost potential. We are looking for the most committed and reliable individuals who possess the knowledge, skills and experience needed for their roles. In return we can offer competitive pay, excellent benefits, a competitive pension scheme and a rewarding career in an award-winning team.

Freightliner is an established rail freight provider with businesses in the UK and Continental Europe. Offering customers a wide range of rail freight solutions to cater for the requirements of a diverse market sector, we provide a safe, reliable and cost effective rail freight partnership. At the core of all we do are our employees. Their hard work is fundamental to our success and we are equally committed to their growth and safety. Our commitment to you, once you join our team, is to foster growth and provide developmental opportunities to ensure you reach your utmost potential. We are looking for the most committed and reliable individuals who possess the knowledge, skills and experience needed for their roles. In return we can offer competitive pay, excellent benefits, a fantastic final-salary pension scheme and a rewarding career in an award-winning team.