Assistant Accountant – 15 month FTC in Abingdon

Overview of Responsibilities

About us Fusion, the process that powers the sun and stars, is one of the most promising options for generating the cleaner, carbon-free energy that our world badly needs. UKAEA leads the way in realizing fusion energy, partnering with industry and research organisations to achieve ground-breaking advancements. Our goal is to bring fusion electricity to the grid by developing the power stations of tomorrow and the skilled workforce to deliver them.

About the Job

As an Assistant Accountant, you’ll play a key role in ensuring UKAEA’s financial reporting is accurate, timely and insightful. Working within the Corporate Reporting and Analysis Team, you’ll help maintain the integrity of financial data, produce routine reports, support budgeting and forecasting activities, and provide analysis that helps colleagues make informed decisions. This is an excellent opportunity to develop your finance and reporting skills in a collaborative and supportive team.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Produce and maintain accurate routine financial reports, helping to automate and improve reporting processes.
• Analyse financial data and present information clearly using charts, graphs and other reporting tools.
• Support the budget and forecasting process, working closely with Management Accountants and Programme Finance Managers.
• Maintain project structures within the finance system, including creating and updating work orders, reporting relationships and delegations.
• Respond to finance-related queries through the ticketing system, providing timely support to colleagues across the organisation.
• Assist with year-end reporting, internal and external audits, and finance improvement initiatives.
• Support the testing and implementation of new reports, system upgrades and continuous improvement activities.
• Help develop colleagues by supporting finance apprentices and sharing knowledge of reporting and Excel best practice.

What You’ll Bring

• AAT qualified or part-qualified (or equivalent experience).
• Experience using an ERP finance system such as Oracle, SAP, Unit4 (U4BW) or Sage.
• Advanced Excel skills, including formulas, XLOOKUPs, PivotTables and charts.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to manipulate and interpret financial data accurately.
• Excellent attention to detail, organisational skills and the ability to manage competing priorities.
• Strong communication skills with the confidence to explain financial information to non-financial colleagues and work collaboratively across the organisation.

Benefits

• Salary £32,903
• Up to 7% corporate performance bonus
• Final salary defined benefits pension scheme with an equivalent of 21.5% employer pension contribution
• 25 days annual leave plus 2.5 privilege days; 8 Bank Holidays
• 3 days of site closure over Christmas break
• Flexible working options plus family-friendly leave provisions
• Salary £32,903 + excellent benefits including outstanding pension

Our commitment to ED&I

UKAEA’s mission is clean energy for all, and we welcome talented people from all backgrounds to help us achieve this goal. We are committed to equality, diversity, inclusion and accessibility, and strive to ensure fair representation across our workforce. As a Disability Confident Employer, we are committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruitment experience for all candidates. We particularly encourage applications from groups currently underrepresented in STEM, including women and people from diverse ethnic backgrounds. All appointments are made on merit and further information can be found here.

Programme & Details

• Programme: Finance & Pensions
• Discipline: Finance
• Site Location: UKAEA Culham, Oxfordshire
• Type of Employment: Full-time
• Reference Number: REF4435H