Assistant Financial Accountant

About the role

Assistant Financial Accountant (HFL1599)

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Ideally Full-time (52 weeks per year) but part time would be considered

Salary: £36,000 - £39,000 p.a. (FTE)

Location: Hybrid working consisting of remote working, with a requirement to work in our Head Office in Stevenage at least one day per week and as required to meet business needs.

Are you a confident finance professional looking to take greater ownership of core accounting processes while developing your business partnering experience? We are seeking an Assistant Financial Accountant to join our Company Finance Team and help deliver accurate, timely and insightful financial information across HFL Education.

Playing an important part in the Company Finance Team, you will support month-end and year-end activities, prepare balance sheet reconciliations, maintain the fixed asset register, produce VAT returns, review payroll outputs and journals, and prepare rolling cash flow forecasts. You will also provide practical financial support and constructive challenges to budget holders, contribute to audit work, and help strengthen our systems, controls, and processes.

You will bring a sound understanding of financial accounting, strong Excel skills, and excellent attention to detail. Organised, proactive and comfortable managing competing deadlines, you will be able to work independently and to build effective relationships across the business. Experience of finance systems is essential, while experience of Xero, VAT-reporting or supporting budget holders would be particularly valuable.

Our collaborative Company Finance Team works across HFL Education to safeguard financial control, collect income efficiently, pay suppliers promptly, and provide reliable information for decision-making. If you are ready to broaden your finance experience and make a valued contribution to an organisation that supports schools and educational settings, we would love to hear from you.

 Our ‘working from anywhere’ approach provides colleagues the opportunity to work flexibly in line with their role requirements. This consists of at least 1 day per week in our Head Office in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, and the remainder of the week working from home. As there is a home working element to this role, you will need to ensure you are equipped for home working.

Benefits: study support if needed, a generous employer pension contribution, 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays (rising to 31 days after five-years), family-friendly policies, hybrid working, access to mental health and wellbeing support, professional development opportunities, benefit schemes for discounts and cashback offers, and more.

Would you like to know more information about this opportunity? If so, further information can be found in the job outline. You can also contact Jackie Wilson or Andrew Griffiths who would be happy to chat to you, via [email protected].

To apply, email [email protected] with a detailed CV along with a cover letter to include a response to the following question:

·       Why are you interested in the Assistant Financial Accountant role at HFL Education, and what makes you a strong candidate?

As part of our move towards eradicating unconscious bias within the recruitment process, we will anonymise your form.

For recruitment queries, our Central Recruitment Team can also be contacted on the hfl.recruitment email address above.

We would love to hear from you.

Closing Date:   Thursday 22 October

Interview Date:  to be confirmed, but will be in our office in Stevenage

We are committed towards becoming an anti-racist organisation, and our recruitment statement is set out below in support of this.

HFL is committed to being an equal opportunities employer. We insist on the equal treatment of all current and prospective colleagues and will never condone discrimination on the basis of age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, gender identity, or marriage and civil partnership.

HFL is also equally committed to becoming an anti-racist organisation. In our relentless efforts to be an anti-racist organisation, we recognise the negative impacts of under-representation and lack of diversity in our organisation, our education system and in all aspects of our society. Therefore, for recruitment into any HFL post, where we have 2 or more candidates of equal merit, candidates with protected characteristics will be given advantage over candidates without such characteristics. This is sometimes referred to as a ‘tie-breaker’ and is referred to as ‘positive action’ in the Equality Act 2010.

To help us meet our high standards and aspirations of a fully diverse and inclusive workplace, we strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from all backgrounds to apply and to join us.

Please note that if you are invited to interview, we will expect you to be prepared to discuss unconscious bias with us; we find these conversations more than any others give us all a good idea of what working together will be like.

HFL Education is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people.

This post is exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 and shortlisted candidates will be asked to share any relevant criminal history prior to interview.

The successful applicant will also be subject to enhanced DBS and barred list checks in line with Keeping Children Safe in Education.