Senior Accountant

The Senior Accountant will assist the Finance Manager in ensuring the timely and accurate completion of the monthly financial close and reporting processes for the Syndicate and other Group Companies.

About the Department & Team

To partner the business to enhance decision making with a focus on strategy, planning, analysis and reporting. Support is provided both to the three management ‘Pillars’ (London, International and Reinsurance) and to the supporting finance functions within LSM. To ensure that all external financial reporting requirements (statutory, regulatory, tax, capital etc) are fulfilled. LSM consists of a Lloyd’s Syndicate, a UK insurance company with European branches and a number of small service companies. To report to our US Parent on standard monthly requirements and ad-hoc requests on both a pillar and a legal basis. To ensure superior management of our investments, cash and all financial risks. To give finance operations support to the business and finance. Finance strives for continuous improvement in all areas and aims for excellent customer service, supported by quality and efficient processes, all operating within a robust control environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Support the Finance Manager to complete month end submission including booking and reconciling of technical and non-technical entries into LSM’s accounting systems.
• Working with the Finance Manager to ensure the completion and submission of monthly reporting within Parent company deadlines.
• Undertake the review and reconciliation of balance sheet accounts, in line with Group reporting requirements, liaising with other teams as required.
• Support the Finance Manager to complete any other reporting requirements.
• Deal with data requests and queries from external and internal auditors.
• Manage the transfer of tasks from other teams, and the development and documentation of appropriate procedures, automating processes wherever possible.
• To improve processes by identifying and communicating opportunities to enhance work or address process breakdowns.
• Support the manager with the reserve review process, liaising with Actuarial and FP&A teams to provide detailed and timely data models and reconciliations.
• Provide clear and relevant ad hoc reports on analytical variances as required.
• Support the Finance Manager in efforts to bring about change, including contributing as required to the Finance Transformation project and OneGL implementation.
• Build relationships with local FP&A business partners, Legal Entity Reporting team and US and Local GAAP Reporting teams to ensure deadlines and reporting requirements are met.
• Embrace & support changes needed to provide superior service for customers.

Adherence to all relevant regulatory requirements forms part of your role, and the demonstration of behaviours as set out in the Conduct Risk Policy, as they relate to your role, is core to LSM's commitment to our Liberty Values, placing customers at the centre of our business and behaving with integrity. LSM expects you to understand your responsibilities relating to all regulatory and internal requirements, and to proactively demonstrate compliance with these requirements and behaviours at all times. These requirements include the Senior Managers and Certification Regime Conduct Rules, Solvency II, fair treatment of customers, Financial Crime, Data Protection, Conflicts of Interest, and Whistleblowing.

Skills and Experience

• Experience in financial and management reporting essential.
• Experience in US GAAP is a benefit.
• Strong understanding of the drivers of underwriting results from both a commercial and an accounting perspective, including an appreciation of actuarial processes and understanding how actuarial estimates translate into GAAP results.
• Ability to understand the numbers and articulate the reasons behind them is critical.
• Experience of identifying potential problems, collecting sufficient information to understand them and defining potential solutions.
• Strong Excel skills.
• Knowledge of Liberty’s processes and business is a benefit.
• Experience of using HFM, SAP and related reporting tools for booking entries and reporting results would be beneficial.

Competence Areas

• Customer focused – seeks to improve the level of service offered.
• Demonstrates a willingness to experiment with new ideas and to implement new processes.
• Able to perform efficiently and effectively in the face of unfamiliar tasks and more complex job responsibilities.
• Demonstrates awareness of own capabilities, able to adapt to changing situations, and seeks opportunities to acquire and apply new knowledge and skills on the job.
• Makes constructive contributions to the team, and welcomes the ideas and inputs of others.
• Ability to recognize potential problems, collect sufficient information to understand them and define potential solutions.
• Accepts responsibility for own performance and actions.