Accountant

Signature Rail is looking for an experienced and commercially focused Accountant to support the Business Leader. This role will play a key part in providing insightful analysis, robust financial planning, and strategic decision support to ensure the achievement of business objectives. This is a hybrid position, and you will be required to attend our York office at least once per month and will involve occasional international travel to attend events.

Key Responsibilities:

• Be a business partner by supporting Business Unit Leaders and functional managers to develop clear business plans, priorities and forecasts in line with our specialised KPIs.
• Providing financial support and monthly reports to Functional Heads.
• Internal and external reporting including monthly/ quarterly/annual group reporting and statutory audit of the annual report.
• Assist project teams to guide their focus onto key performance issues and help them measure their impact and improvement.
• Review of monthly Balance sheet and P&L.
• Provide Support to the sales team on Tender/bid submission - scenario planning creating P&L & key KPIs.
• Lead quarterly forecasts and leveraging our proprietary metrics to ensure high business performance.
• Develop Intercompany relationships so that we align Quarterly Strategic Reviews (QSR) and forecasts with them and prevent missing anything that will affect the business’s QSR.
• Prepare and review financial models and proposals on an ad hoc basis to support the decision making process across a range of commercial issues.
• Preparation of monthly Management reports, KPIs and variance analysis.
• Reconcile, maintain and validate multiple balance sheet account reconciliations.
• Develop and improve finance and project systems.
• Calculation of the Company Bonus and incentive schemes.
• Complete €1m checklists for large tender/bids.
• Project champion of implementation of new finance system and be the business super-user on key modules.
• Support internal and external audits and yearly statutory fillings.
• Lead best practices to processes, people and systems to affect revenue, profitability and cashflow, to improve operating efficiency and performance.
• Lead and implement introduction of new systems and processes such as new financial systems, expense management and other reporting systems.

Additional Activities (shared with other members of finance team):

• Take on company-wide finance tasks as allocated from time to time.
• Support financial team providing day-to-day assistance as required.
• Ad hoc financial analysis in support of the preparation of management accounts.
• Travel will be required.

Personal Specification:

Knowledge and Skills required:

• Professionally qualified (CIMA, ACA, ACCA, ACMA) with at least 3 years post qualification experience.
• Strong organisational abilities, experience of working to tight deadlines and a hands‑on approach to finance.
• Advanced Excel including Pivot tables, Look‑up functions and similar is essential for all analysis and reporting duties.
• Deep knowledge of accounting principles, good understanding of financial/management information systems.
• Technically competent with finance and accounting knowledge and skills.
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to adapt to and implement change.
• High level of numeracy (Accounting/Maths/Statistics) and the ability to interpret management information.
• High computer literacy, with particular reference to accounting and management software and their application in a software / project environment.

Desirable but not essential:

• Experience with Microsoft Great Plains or NetSuite.
• Previous experience of working within IFRS15 Revenue Recognition.
• Previous experience of working within a multi-currency reporting environment.

Personal Qualities:

• Approachable and professional.
• Ability to work flexible hours under pressure to tight timescales.
• Passionate and driven.
• Self‑motivated and energetic.
• Flexible and adaptable – We believe in leading through learning.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

In return we will offer you:

• 25 days holiday plus statutory bank holidays (Holiday Buy & Sell scheme also available).
• Discretionary bonus scheme.
• Pension – matched to 5%.
• Private medical insurance.
• Health Cash Back Scheme.
• Life assurance scheme with virtual GP service.