Head of Group Financial Reporting in Telford

Job Type: Permanent

Location: Birmingham, London, Edinburgh or Telford; office time and home, travel required to London.

Flexible working: All roles open to part‑time, job‑share and other flexibility. We will discuss what is important to you and balancing this with business requirements during the recruitment process.

Closing Date: 23rd January 2026

Salary and benefits: £130,000 to £146,600 plus indicative bonus range 30%-60%, private medical cover, 38 days annual leave, excellent pension, 12x salary life assurance, career breaks, income protection, 3x volunteering days and more.

Who are we? We want to be the best place that any of our 6,600 colleagues have ever worked. We’re Phoenix Group, a long‑term savings and retirement business, offering products across our market‑leading brands, Standard Life, SunLife, Phoenix Life and ReAssure. Around 1 in 5 people in the UK has a pension with us. We’re a FTSE 100 organisation tackling key issues such as transitioning our portfolio to net zero by 2050, and we’re not done yet.

The Role: We’re recruiting a Head of Group Financial Reporting to join our Financial Control and Reporting team. The purpose is to deliver robust, accurate and timely statutory, regulatory and external financial reporting for the consolidated Group. The role provides strong leadership as we transform the finance function and transition to a future state characterised by efficient processes, clear accountabilities and accurate and insightful financial information. The Head of Group Financial Reporting has high visibility to senior stakeholders and plays a key role in shaping the external messaging of the Group’s results, working with Investor Relations and the Group Financial Performance team.

Key Responsibilities:

• Draw on breadth and depth of accountancy knowledge and business understanding to respond to internal and external challenges ensuring the organisation delivers on strategic objectives.
• Oversee design and monitoring of appropriate quality assurance controls and provide challenge where appropriate, ensuring accuracy and validity of the financial information.
• Own the reporting timeline, underlying processes and external audit requirements of the team.
• Lead, motivate and manage a multi‑site and multi‑disciplinary team, defining requirements, implementing new processes and reviewing results, ensuring delivery of all regulatory and operational finance requirements.
• Provide business leadership for all change activity originating in the team, whilst proactively supporting delivery of change activity affecting the area originating elsewhere in the organisation.
• Manage all aspects of employee relations (e.g. 1:1s, performance reviews, objective and goal setting and development).
• Function as a budget holder, responsible for making best use of the available resources ensuring services are delivered at a reasonable cost.
• Effectively communicate complex information to a wide group of stakeholders.
• Act as an escalation point for resolution of complex issues or decisions that relate to the team.
• Managing, motivating and developing a team to ensure they continue to deliver excellence against a background of continual fast‑paced internal and external change.
• Maintaining and applying knowledge of multiple reporting basis and overseeing team development.
• Lead in influencing the decisions of senior stakeholders across the organisation teams where priorities and interests are often conflicting.
• Managing the delivery of the team within agreed budget and timelines.

What we are looking for:

• Experienced qualified accountant or actuary, with substantial experience carrying out financial reporting for listed group.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to interact with and influence a wide range of stakeholders, including those in senior management positions.
• A strong growth mindset, with willingness to embrace and drive change and to challenge the status quo.
• Strong people leader with experience of leading teams through a complex change environment.

Equality, diversity and inclusion: We are committed to ensuring that everyone feels accepted and welcome. Applicants from all backgrounds are encouraged to apply. If your experience looks different from what we’ve advertised and you believe that you can bring value to the role, we’d love to hear from you. If you require any adjustments to the recruitment process, please let us know so we can help you to be at your best. We’re reviewing applications as they come in, so apply early to avoid missing out.