Job Description

Are you an experienced Management Accountant looking for your next opportunity?

Sovereign is a leading housing association, striving to provide quality, affordable homes in happy, successful places. We\'re driven by our social purpose, with residents at the heart of everything we do. What we do makes a real difference to people\'s lives and by joining us you can share the satisfaction of doing something that really matters.

We\'re looking for an experienced Senior Management Accountant to join our busy Finance Business Partnering and Reporting team on a fixed term basis for 12 months. You\'ll be based from our head office in Basingstoke, combining office and home working to ensure a positive work/life balance.

The Role

Reporting into the Senior Finance Business Partner - Customer & Community Investment, you\'ll provide support across our Customer directorate. Responsibilities include:

• Taking the lead in ensuring the delivery of timely, accurate and comprehensive internal financial management accounts to senior management teams, offering insight into business performance and driving decision making
• Delivering robust analysis and commentary explaining monthly performance variances against Budgets and Forecasts, highlighting Risks and Opportunities, and supporting the business with reforecasting
• Linking together operational and financial information, ensuring that the prime book of accounts is reflective of all the activities of the business, continuously reviewing systems and processes to ensure they are efficient and effective
• Delivering robust analysis of actuals (particularly for Utilities Costs) to ensure accurate accounting, understanding and analysis with recommendations for Senior Management
• Taking responsibility for the budget and forecasting process, using your experience to support budget holders and knowing when to encourage, when to instruct, and when to push back
• Identifying, implementing and sharing proactive ways to improve the customer support and experience, taking the lead in driving projects and initiatives through to completion with support from the wider team
• Presenting financial reports to Senior Management teams and key stakeholders, being able to explain complex financial concepts to non-financial colleagues

What we need from you

You\'ll be a Qualified Accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent) with demonstrable experience in a similar senior management accounting role. Any previous experience working for a Housing Association or within property would be advantageous but is not essential. You\'ll also:

• Have strong, clear working knowledge of processes and controls surrounding budgeting, forecasting and management account preparation, including detailed report writing and analysis
• Be an effective communicator with the ability to build trusting relationships with key stakeholders
• Have experience in presenting financial reports, data and insights clearly and confidently to non-finance stakeholders
• Have the ability to advise and influence key stakeholders of all levels in the business
• Proactively challenge, introducing new ideas to drive the progressive development of the business
• Be highly numerate with strong IT skills, including MS Word and Excel
• Work well to deadlines, prioritising workloads effectively
• Demonstrate strong analytical skills with the ability to adapt quickly to changing business needs, demonstrating a logical approach to your work

Knowledge of Agresso Accounting system or Power BI would be advantageous but not essential

Your benefits

We have some great benefits at Sovereign, including:

• \xc2\xa3450 yearly flexible benefit pot to use against benefits of your choice
• Flexible working - working from home
• 25 Days Holiday + Bank Holidays (with an extra day every year up to 30 days)
• Chance to buy or sell holiday as part of our flexible benefits package
• Generous matched pension scheme up to 12% and Life cover at 4x salary
• Options for private medical insurance, dental insurance and critical illness cover
• Wellbeing discounts including Gym Memberships

We are committed to our Equality Diversity and Inclusion strategy and believe that you can truly be yourself at Sovereign. Take a look at our careers site to learn more about us and our values.

If you would like the opportunity to make a real impact within our changing and growing organisation, we would love to hear from you!

Sovereign