Principal Accountant in Brighton

Contract: 3 months

Location: Brighton, UK (Hybrid - 2 days in the office)

Working shifts: Monday to Friday (Full time)

Working pattern: 9:00am to 5:00 pm (35 working hour/week)

Purpose

We are seeking a highly analytical and commercially minded Principal Accountant to support financial planning, budgeting, and performance management activities across the organisation. The successful candidate will play a key role in consolidating budget information, producing detailed financial reports, analysing financial performance, and providing strategic financial insight to support effective decision-making. This role requires strong stakeholder engagement skills and the ability to translate complex financial data into meaningful recommendations for senior management.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the consolidation, monitoring, and reporting of budgets across multiple departments or business areas.
• Prepare and deliver accurate and timely financial reports, forecasts, and management information for senior stakeholders.
• Analyse financial performance, identify trends, risks, and opportunities, and provide actionable recommendations.
• Support the annual budgeting and financial planning process, ensuring robust financial controls and accurate forecasting.
• Conduct variance analysis and investigate significant deviations from budget or forecast.
• Work closely with budget holders and departmental managers to provide financial guidance and challenge where appropriate.
• Develop and maintain financial models to support business planning, scenario analysis, and strategic initiatives.
• Ensure the accuracy, integrity, and consistency of financial data used for reporting and decision-making.
• Prepare presentations and financial summaries for senior leadership, committees, and key stakeholders.
• Support the development and continuous improvement of financial reporting processes, systems, and performance measures.
• Contribute to organisational projects and initiatives by providing financial analysis and business insight.
• Ensure compliance with relevant financial regulations, accounting standards, policies, and procedures.

Person Specification

Essential Skills and Experience

• Qualified or part-qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA or equivalent) or significant relevant experience.
• Strong experience in financial analysis, budgeting, forecasting, and management reporting.
• Experience consolidating financial information from multiple departments, services, or cost centres.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including financial modelling, pivot tables, and data analysis.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving abilities with strong attention to detail.
• Experience presenting financial information to senior stakeholders and non-finance audiences.
• Strong stakeholder management and business partnering skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Knowledge of financial systems and reporting tools.

Desirable Skills and Experience

• Experience within local government, public sector, education, healthcare, housing, or large corporate organisations.
• Experience using finance systems such as SAP, Oracle, Unit4, Agresso, or similar.
• Knowledge of performance management frameworks and strategic financial planning.
• Experience developing dashboards and reporting solutions using tools such as Power BI.

What happens next?

Your application and CV will be carefully reviewed by the recruitment team managing this position. If your experience matches the role requirements, we will contact you within 48 hours to discuss the opportunity and outline the next steps.