Financial Controller in Bristol

Knovia is a growing group of education and training providers, committed to delivering impact, growth, and meaningful change through high-quality learning and apprenticeship programmes. As Financial Controller, you will take on a key leadership role within the finance shared services function, ensuring robust financial control, accurate reporting, and strong team performance across a multi-entity environment.

Why should you consider this role:

• Ownership of management accounts, controls, and reporting quality
• Opportunity to lead and develop a finance team
• Involvement in audit, statutory reporting, and compliance
• Influence across a growing shared services function
• Chance to improve systems, processes, and financial governance

This is an ideal opportunity for an experienced, qualified accountant who thrives in a remote, fast-paced environment, enjoys leading teams, and wants to play a pivotal role in strengthening financial processes and supporting strategic decision-making.

Key areas of responsibility for this role:

• Financial Reporting & Control
  • Deliver accurate, timely monthly management accounts in line with reporting deadlines
  • Lead on variance analysis, providing insightful commentary on performance
  • Ensure completion and review of balance sheet reconciliations
  • Maintain strong financial controls and ensure compliance with internal processes
• Audit & Statutory Reporting
  • Play a leading role in the year-end audit process
  • Support the preparation of statutory accounts
  • Liaise with auditors and ensure all requirements are met efficiently
• Team Leadership & Development
  • Line manage and develop the Management Accountant
  • Conduct regular 1:1s, performance reviews, and coaching
  • Drive high performance and accountability within the finance team
• Systems, Processes & Continuous Improvement
  • Develop and enhance financial systems and reporting processes
  • Produce advanced reports using Excel (pivot tables, lookups, complex formulae)
  • Identify opportunities to improve efficiency, automation, and data accuracy
• Stakeholder Engagement & Business Support
  • Build strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders
  • Provide financial insight, guidance, and decision support to the business
  • Act as a key liaison between stakeholders and senior finance leadership
  • Collaborate across departments to embed best practice financial policies

Success in this role is:

• Accurate, timely, and insightful monthly financial reporting
• Smooth and efficient audit and statutory reporting processes
• Strong financial controls and reconciliations across the group
• A motivated, high-performing finance team
• Continuous improvements in systems, reporting, and efficiency
• Trusted financial leadership and support to senior stakeholders

We are seeking a confident, technically strong finance leader with experience operating in a multi-entity or shared services environment.

What we need from you:

• Fully qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, or CIMA)
• Proven experience producing high-quality management accounts
• Experience managing or mentoring finance team members
• Strong background in financial controls, reconciliations, and reporting
• Experience analysing financial performance and investigating variances
• Ability to work effectively in a remote or hybrid environment
• Strong stakeholder engagement across finance and non-finance teams
• Experience within education, apprenticeships, or public sector funding environments would be advantageous
• Understanding of DfE funding requirements would be beneficial

Skills and abilities we are looking for:

• We're looking for a leader who combines technical excellence with strong people and communication skills
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Strong analytical thinking and problem-solving ability
• High attention to detail and accuracy in financial reporting
• Ability to lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team
• Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage multiple deadlines
• Comfortable working independently in a remote environment
• High level of integrity and confidentiality

If you want to see more details of this role, please contact Talent@knovia.co.uk to request a copy of the full job description and person specification.

We are proud to offer a suite of benefits that are handpicked for you:

• 25 days annual leave - increasing with length of service and 8 bank holidays
• Holiday purchase scheme
• Up to 3 days of paid volunteering leave and corporate conscience initiatives
• Recognition and long service awards to celebrate our colleagues
• Perkbox - a suite of discounts, lifestyle benefits and wellness tool

Knovia is committed to the safeguarding and wellbeing of our learners and colleagues and we implement robust safer recruitment practices to support this. Dependant on the role you are applying for, we may undertake a number of necessary checks to confirm you are suitable to work with children and vulnerable adults, which may include a Disclosure and Barring Service check. We are a Disability Confident Employer and have a guaranteed interview scheme in place to ensure that nobody is overlooked or discriminated against because of their disability. If you meet the minimum criteria when you apply and you have informed us in your application that you have a disability, you will be guaranteed an interview for that role.