Head of Technical Accounting in London

Our Story

Hello there. We’re Zopa. We started our journey back in 2005, building the first ever peer-to-peer lending company. Fast forward to 2020 and we launched Zopa Bank. A bank that listens to what our customers don’t like about finance and does the opposite. We’re redefining what it feels like to work in finance. Our vision for a new era of banking puts people front and centre — we’ve built a business that empowers everyone to aim high, every day, to move finance forward. Find out more about our fantastic offerings at Zopa.com! We’re incredibly proud of our achievements and none of it would be possible without the amazing team here. It’s not just industry awards we’re winning, we’ve also been named in the top three UK’s Most Loved Workplaces. If you embrace unconventional challenges, are unafraid to think differently and are driven to make an outsized impact, you’ll thrive here at Zopa, so join us, and make it count.

We are looking for a Head of Technical Accounting to join our growing Finance function. The role will primarily provide technical accounting support for ongoing business activities, new products and other initiatives as well as taking the lead in our annual report process. Strong stakeholder management is key to this role.

The demands on the Finance team are high as Zopa grows at pace, so you’ll have a clear ability to build effective and influential relationships within Finance and the wider Zopa teams. Our team are self-starting problem solvers, agile and thrive on bringing past experiences and networks to a diverse range of challenges. You'll be part of an impressive Zopa team, who are super collaborative and happy to roll their sleeves up and get involved in whatever they need to get done to achieve their goals!

A day in the life:

• Lead technical accounting assessments and structuring for new transactions, products, significant contracts, and other business initiatives, ensuring effective control processes are in place to address associated risks.
• Ensure finance systems and processes are properly set up to support the operationalisation and implementation of new activities such as products, partnerships, and transactions.
• Take ownership and lead the delivery of the annual report, managing external parties and internal stakeholder inputs, and drive future automation of this process.
• Prepare management judgement papers on accounting matters for the Bank Audit Committee and on occasion attend these meetings to present papers.
• Take ownership of accounting policy development, horizon scanning and implementation including managing the accounting manual and other relevant finance policies.
• Stay up-to-date with the latest industry developments in financial and corporate reporting by attending workshops and roundtables, representing Zopa’s interests.
• Provide expert guidance and advice on the application of accounting policies across the business.
• Lead the approach to ESG and sustainability reporting, keeping pace with evolving disclosure requirements.
• Manage and oversee the work of the Technical Accounting team, including coordinating tasks and supervising the Technical Accounting Specialist — and develop a forward view of this function.
• Lead external auditor engagements on all technical accounting matters.
• Be a key participant and contributor to the Senior Managers Group within Finance, influencing and building relationships across the wider Finance function.

About you:

• You are a qualified accountant with extensive post qualification experience.
• Experience of working in the Financial Services sector (preferably retail banking or consumer finance), or have trained with a top accountancy firm with financial services experience within a technical accounting role.
• You are comfortable managing multiple priorities in a fast-moving environment.
• You work independently, assume responsibility and make your own judgements. You’ll be ready to take ownership of complex new areas and solve problems with minimal guidance.
• You are a team player with collaborative and influencing skills. You’ll be able to partner with internal and external stakeholders and have strong communication skills.
• Able to demonstrate a questioning mindset and be able to drive operational changes to systems and processes as we scale.
• You are curious about AI and how you can deploy this in your everyday work.
• Finally, you’ll be energetic, motivated, and have a passion for excellence and innovation in pursuit of success!

Bonus points for:

• You’ll have strong technical knowledge of IFRS 9 (expected credit losses, EIR, hedge accounting), IAS 39 (hedge accounting), IAS 38 (Intangible assets), IAS 36 (Impairment of assets), IFRS 2 (Share based payments), IFRS 3 (Business Combination).
• You’ll have an understanding of the regulatory reporting requirements for banks.
• Ideally, an understanding of UK taxes and an appetite to learn more.

At Zopa we value flexible ways of working. We value face-to-face collaboration and a good work-life balance. This hybrid role requires you to come to our London office 2-3 days a week. You'll also have the option of working from abroad for up to 120 days a year! But no matter where you are, we’ll make sure you’ve got everything you need to thrive, both in your work and home life, from day one.

Diversity Statement: Zopa is proud to offer a workplace free from discrimination. Diversity of experience, perspectives, and backgrounds leads to better products for our customers and a unique company culture for our people. We are made up of nearly 50 nationalities, have a DE&I forum made up of Zopians wanting to make a difference and we are proud of our culture where everyone can bring their full self to work. Our approach to DE&I is reflected in our hiring process so please let us know if you require any reasonable adjustments.