Project Finance and Assurance Accountant in Swindon

This is the Internal Only Recruitment Site for UK Research and Innovation Staff for roles within Innovate UK (UKRI). Please apply for jobs via this site only if you are employed by UK Research and Innovation. If you wish to apply for the position below, please ensure that you comply with the requirements of the recruitment process by submitting both a full CV and application letter. Ideally, you should also advise your manager of your application.

Applications must be submitted by 21-05-2026.

Project Finance & Assurance is a team of management accountants who are all responsible for checking and approving the financial viability and eligibility of successful grant applicants. Each member has a strong background in management accounts and is capable of scrutinising sets of accounts and liaising with applicants and stakeholders to ensure that they are legitimate and eligible to receive public funding. This is a key part of the application process and must be conducted in a timely manner so that participants can start their innovation projects. Frequently working to deadlines, management accountants must understand Subsidy Regime and State Aid rules and use these to check the viability of project participants and the appropriate eligibility of their intended project costs. This will involve discussions and options with those organisations who do not meet the financial viability necessary to be eligible. Experience in commercial accounting good practice and decision making is essential, as is a strong investigative and inquisitive nature. The team must balance the need to adhere to the proportionate level of risk and accounting standards, transparency requirements in accordance with managing the public purse, along with the need to provide a high level of customer service to project participants.

We particularly welcome female applicants as women are under-represented within Innovate UK in this type of role.

• Work on and deliver the financial review of project information in a dynamic environment including:
• Any required first level scrutiny of financial and supporting information provided by applicants to ensure compliance with Innovate UK, Subsidy Regime, State Aid and Competitions guidance requirements.
• Financial viability review of applicants to assess suitability for grant provision and recording the same.
• Financial eligibility review of detailed project information in application documents, associated appendices and finance forms to establish compliance with policy, guidance Subsidy Regime and State Aid.
• Liaison with applicants to resolve issues identified by financial review, including timely documentation as supporting evidence.
• Work with other teams to integrate the results of participant project financial reviews with other requirements and processes.
• During the life of a project support and give advice on project changes and issues escalated by the Operations and Technology teams, including Monitoring Service Providers.
• Contribute to and deliver process improvements as part of ensuring an efficient, effective financial review process, whilst working with other teams to ensure optimum end to end processes for Innovate UK and our customers.
• Acceptance of spend profile.
• Assist with Assurance visits.
• Support other ad-hoc business requirements as necessary.

This is not an exhaustive list and you might be encouraged to undertake any other duties across the wider directorate, commensurate with the Band and level of responsibility of this post, for which the post holder has the key experience and/or training.

Experience & Qualifications:

• Educated to degree-level or equivalent experience.
• Hold a professional Accounting qualification e.g. AAT, PQE, CIMA or CIPFA as a minimum.
• Proven Management Accountant experience in a commercial environment.
• Experience and understanding of working with business accounts, Management accounting processes and policies.
• Ability to liaise with stakeholders at a Director and/or CFO level, with a confident and articulate approach.
• Confident/articulate and ability to manage workload/priorities.
• Financial management and analytical review experience with focus on quality and attention to detail balanced with cost-effectiveness.
• Proven experience of managing workloads to meet tight deadlines, with the ability to prioritise using own initiative.
• Excellent interpersonal skills in dealing with a range of stakeholders at all levels.

Competencies:

• Thinking and Problem Solving
• Stakeholder management
• Communication skills
• Influencing
• Self-awareness/self-management
• Strategic awareness
• Working with others
• Project management

Some of the above competencies will be assessed at interview stage, in addition to the criteria listed in the person specification.

Travel Requirements:

Swindon-based: There may be the occasional requirement for national travel.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion:

Innovate UK is a diverse workforce of people. We believe that encouraging these differences and drawing the best from them will build a productive environment in which everyone feels valued, where talents are fully utilised and in which organisational goals are met.

Equal Opportunities:

We are an equal opportunities employer, committed to employing any person who meets the criteria for our roles.

Employee Benefits:

We offer a benefits package crafted to provide an excellent work/life balance. This includes 30 days’ annual leave, 10.5 public and privilege days, flexible working hours, an exceptional defined benefit pension scheme, and access to a variety of support networks and discount schemes.

Pre-employment Screening:

To enable us to hire the very best people we will conduct a comprehensive pre-employment check on successful applicants as part of the recruitment process.

Applications must be submitted by 21-05-2026.