Location
This role is based at London, Victoria and offers hybrid working (minimum 3 days in the office).
The Team
You will lead the Service Charge Accounting team within Group Finance, working closely with colleagues across Finance Operations, Financial Reporting, Commercial Finance, Operations and site teams based at head office and at our shopping centres and office assets across the country. The team sits at the heart of the organisation and plays a key role in supporting Landsec's internal and external financial reporting, including service charge reporting to customers.
The Role
The Head of Service Charge Accounting is responsible for providing strategic and operational leadership of the Service Charge Accounting function, holding full accountability for governance, budgeting, expenditure control, variance analysis and year‑end reconciliations across the portfolio.
Acting as a strategic business partner, the role drives continuous improvement, champions new systems, ensures regulatory compliance and customer confidence, and sets high standards for performance and control. A core expectation is to drive change and improvement by simplifying processes, enhancing controls and embedding data‑driven ways of working across the service charge lifecycle.
What makes this role unique?
- You will not simply identify improvement opportunities but own and deliver change initiatives from concept through to implementation.
- You will proactively leverage new systems to deliver efficient, automated and system‑led solutions, challenging the status quo.
- You will take full end‑to‑end ownership of service charge accounting outcomes, ensuring budgets, expenditure, reporting and reconciliations are accurate, timely and well governed.
- You will work closely with senior stakeholders across finance, operations and property, building strong partnerships and influencing decision‑making.
- You will shape how service charge governance is delivered, strengthening confidence with customers and stakeholders through clear accountability and best practice.
- You will lead and develop a high‑performing specialist team, setting the standard for ownership, professionalism and continuous improvement.
- You will play a visible role in the performance and reputation of our flagship assets.
Principle Accountabilities
- Lead, develop and inspire the Service Charge Accounting team, with full accountability for recruitment, onboarding, performance management, capability development and succession planning.
- Set clear expectations and standards, embedding a culture of ownership, accountability, continuous improvement and customer focus.
- Build strong, credible relationships with internal stakeholders, acting as a trusted advisor on service charge matters and influencing decision‑making.
- Lead engagement with tenants, service charge consultants and external partners, resolving issues pragmatically while protecting Landsec's reputation and customer trust.
- Work closely with external partners to conduct cost reviews, challenge spend and drive efficiency and value‑for‑money outcomes.
- Act as a role model for proactive leadership, professional judgement and collaborative working, setting the tone for high standards and constructive partnership across teams.
- Work closely with the Operations team and take ownership of service charge budgeting processes, ensuring robustness, consistency and alignment with operational plans and business priorities.
- Review, challenge and approve service charge budgets and year‑end reconciliations, ensuring accuracy, transparency and full compliance with lease obligations and best‑practice requirements.
- Oversee service charge expenditure across the portfolio, proactively identifying, investigating and addressing variances and emerging risks.
- Produce and own portfolio‑level variance analysis, providing clear insight and actionable commentary to senior stakeholders.
- Provide service charge expertise to support acquisitions and disposals, ensuring risks, liabilities and assumptions are clearly understood, accurately assessed and effectively managed.
- Lead the review and allocation of central service charge costs, ensuring fairness, transparency and consistency.
- Drive system optimisation and process improvement initiatives, championing new tools, controls and ways of working to improve efficiency, insight and data quality.
- Maintain process documentation, ensuring end‑to‑end finance processes are clearly documented, kept up to date, and aligned to current controls, governance requirements, and ways of working.
- Review KPI performance and reporting using Power BI, providing clear narrative and insights that support informed management action.
- Partner closely with the D&T team to create and develop a suite of reports for Service Charge, providing clear, standardised analysis and insight into the business supporting decision making.
Essential Criteria
- Proven leadership experience, with a strong track record of building high‑performing teams and driving accountability, ownership and consistent delivery against expectations and deadlines.
- Solid understanding of complex budgeting, accruals, reconciliations and variance analysis ensuring accuracy and strong financial governance.
- Demonstrated ability to operate as a senior business partner, influencing stakeholders across finance, operations and external partners through insight and constructive challenge driving performance.
- Highly analytical and commercially minded, with the confidence to challenge existing practices and recommend improvements.
- Proactive, pragmatic and solutions‑focused approach, with a continuous improvement and growth mindset and the ability to challenge and improve processes.
- Resilient in the face of challenges and adversity while demonstrating integrity and courage through decision making.
- Track record of driving change from concept through to implementation, holding teams to account for delivery and ensuring improvements are embedded into business‑as‑usual governance and ways of working.
- Strong ability to prioritise effectively in a fast‑paced, complex environment, making sound, transparent decisions where there are competing deadlines, risks and stakeholder needs.
- Strong change and improvement mindset, with the ability to pragmatically assess existing processes, challenge the status quo and embed sustainable improvements.
- Strong communication skills, able to distil complex financial issues clearly for non‑financial stakeholders.
- Agile and flexible, willing to champion new systems and ways of working.
- High level of accountability and ownership of deliverables and outcomes.
- Demonstrated ability to manage detail pragmatically, balancing accuracy with efficiency and business priorities.
Experience with service charge accounting would be helpful in getting up to speed, but it is not essential. We are most interested in individuals who can build and lead a high‑performing team, take ownership of processes and actively drive system and operational improvements. The role calls for someone with resilience, initiative and a proactive, hands‑on approach, who is motivated to make a meaningful impact and continuously evolve how we work.
Life and Benefits
- Performance based annual bonus plan.
- 25 days annual leave (plus bank holidays) rising to 27 days after 2 years and the option to purchase up to 10 additional days each year. Enjoy an additional three‑day December festive break on top of your leave and a special 'My Day' to take off for whatever you choose.
- Enhanced pension contributions – Landsec will contribute up to 10.5% subject to your contribution.
- Private medical insurance, Health Cash Plan, Life assurance and income protection.
- Enhanced maternity, adoption, shared parental leave policies.
- Two different share plans enabling you to share in the success you will help to build.
- Up to 4 working days to volunteer per year and 'Give As You Earn' programmes allowing you to donate to charities straight out of your pay and we top up by 20%.
- Access to employee assistance programme, digital GP, cycle to work scheme, a mindfulness app and a health app supporting fertility and menopause.
Diversity and Inclusion
At Landsec, we value diversity and inclusion. We work to better reflect the diversity of the communities we work within and empower everyone who works at Landsec to realise their potential. We strive to ensure all our information, and services are accessible to and usable by everyone. If you would like to receive any information in a different way or would like us to do anything differently to help you apply for our roles, please get in touch with our recruitment partners by emailing recruitmentqueries@landsec.com.
