Management Accountant - Remote

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is looking for an experienced and commercially minded Senior Management Accountant to join their Management Accounting Team.

This role is a 6 month temporary position, predominently remote, with occasional travel to either Canary Wharf or Leeds as per business requirements.

This is an exciting opportunity for a qualified finance professional who can combine strong technical accounting expertise with strategic financial insight, excellent stakeholder management and effective leadership.

As a Senior Management Accountant, you will lead the management accounting service for designated business areas, ensuring the accuracy and integrity of financial information and providing high-quality reporting and analysis to support effective decision making.

You will play a key role in helping the business understand its financial position, identify risks and opportunities, and turn financial information into clear and meaningful insight.

Key responsibilities

You will:

• Lead the delivery of the month-end close process, ensuring activities are completed accurately, on time and to the required standard.
• Take responsibility for the completeness and accuracy of journals, accruals, prepayments and recodes, ensuring financial performance is properly reflected at month and year end.
• Oversee the preparation of financial data, management information and reporting outputs.
• Provide insightful financial analysis, identifying trends, risks, opportunities and underlying business drivers.
• Translate complex financial information into clear, meaningful insight for financial and non-financial decision makers.
• Ensure robust balance sheet reconciliations and financial controls are maintained.
• Oversee key balances and accounting processes, including GRNI and Open Purchase Orders, ensuring appropriate controls are applied.
• Build and maintain effective relationships with Finance Business Partners, business leaders and wider stakeholders, acting as a key representative of the Management Accounting team.
• Influence stakeholders to improve financial accuracy, financial control and the quality of financial information.
• Identify and drive continuous improvement across processes, systems and ways of working.
• Work collaboratively across the wider Finance community to improve financial processes, efficiency and automation.
• Work with senior colleagues to develop and improve the effectiveness of the Management Accounting service.
• Lead and manage a team, providing direction, support and opportunities for development.

You will have:

• Extensive and varied management accounting experience.
• Experience working within a public sector or large, complex, matrix-managed organisation.
• Strong technical accounting knowledge, with the ability to apply professional judgement when interpreting and applying accounting principles.
• Experience of leading and managing teams.
• Strong analytical and investigative skills, with the ability to understand the story behind the numbers.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to adapt your approach for financial, non-financial and senior audiences.
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills.
• Experience of driving process improvement, change and change management within an accounting environment.
• Full professional qualification through CCAB, CIMA or an equivalent recognised qualification.

Why join UKHSA?

UKHSA plays a vital role in protecting the health of the nation from infectious diseases, environmental hazards and other threats to health. Our work has a global-to-local reach and supports government and the public through trusted advice and action.

Joining the UKHSA's Finance team means contributing your expertise to an organisation with a critical public service mission, while working collaboratively with colleagues across Finance and the wider organisation.

Security and eligibility

Successful candidates will be required to meet the relevant security requirements before appointment, including Basic Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) and Basic DBS requirements.

Candidates must also meet the Civil Service Nationality Rules to take up a role with UKHSA.

Ready to make a difference?

If you are a qualified finance professional who enjoys turning financial information into meaningful insight, influencing stakeholders and leading teams through continuous improvement, we would welcome your application.