Project Accountant in Bangor

A 1-year fixed-term opportunity has arisen for a Project Accountant to join our Finance team at UKCEH. In this role, you’ll play a key part in post-award monitoring and submission of final expenditure statements for our UKRI-funded research projects, supporting vital work that addresses some of the biggest environmental challenges of our time.

Reporting to our Head of Project Accounting, you’ll take the lead on implementing finance project reviews with our project managers. This is a key role at the heart of UKCEH’s research funding ecosystem - one that ensures our world-leading science is delivered with integrity, accountability and financial excellence.

As our lead for UKRI grant reporting, you’ll play a pivotal part in safeguarding the smooth running of our funded projects, enabling researchers to focus on tackling major environmental challenges. Working closely with project managers, project accountants and research funders, you’ll act as a trusted expert who guides colleagues through complex reporting requirements and drives continual improvement in our financial project management processes.

You’ll be joining a friendly, collaborative and values-driven finance team, where your contributions genuinely matter. This role offers the chance to build strong relationships across the organisation, working closely with colleagues from diverse backgrounds, including project managers, scientists and operational teams. You’ll deepen your expertise, play a meaningful part in how we deliver our research programmes, and help ensure our pioneering environmental science continues to make a real-world impact.

To thrive in this role, you’ll bring a truly collaborative approach: someone who supports colleagues, delegates effectively and works confidently as part of a team. You’ll be skilled at partnering with non-finance colleagues, translating financial information clearly and building trust with academic scientists and project teams. Alongside this, your strong organisational skills and ability to manage your workload independently will enable you to plan, prioritise and deliver high-quality work in a dynamic, purpose-driven environment.

For the role of Project Accountant we’re looking for somebody who has:

• Accountancy training or qualification - trainee, part or fully qualified (we’ll also consider alternative professional qualifications or non-qualification based relevant experience)
• Experience with UKRI post-award grant management, including familiarity with JeS or the Joint Funding Service
• Proven experience in external funder reporting and audit processes
• Strong financial systems experience (Workday desirable) and excellent Excel skills

This post can be equally performed based out of any of our four sites (Lancaster, Wallingford, Edinburgh or Bangor) with flexible hybrid arrangements.

You’ll be joining a leading independent, not-for-profit research institute that’s committed to recruiting talented people like you, progressing your career and giving you the support you need to thrive at UKCEH. Our science makes a real difference, enabling people and the environment to prosper, and enriching society. We are the custodians of a wealth of environmental data, collected by UKCEH and its predecessors over the course of more than 60 years.

Working for UKCEH is rewarding. We appreciate the continuous dedication and contributions of our staff, which is why we provide a comprehensive benefits package that includes financial incentives and wellbeing-oriented perks, such as:

• 27 days annual leave (rising to 29 days after 5 years’ service) plus 3 days for Christmas closure
• Flexible and hybrid working arrangements (role dependant)
• Peer reward and recognition scheme
• Enhanced maternity and paternity leave
• 24-hour, 365-day support with physical, mental, social, health or financial issues and much more...