Management Accountant

Management Accountant

£57,000 pa + Benefits

Flexible on UK mainland locations

Background

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) is the independent body that regulates and administers the business costs and decides the pay and pensions of the 650 elected Members of Parliament and their staff in the United Kingdom. We were created by the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009, as the world’s first independent regulator of MPs’ financial remuneration.

We are on a mission! We want to enable MPs to do what really matters by providing an exemplary, seamless regulatory service. We have a compelling plan and we’re intent on transforming IPSA. To help us do so we’re looking for a brilliant accountant who will provide timely and accurate financial information to all areas of the organisation and to help inform the decisions we make.

We’re looking for someone who will both support and challenge all stakeholders and be at ease communicating across all levels of our organisation. You’ll collaborate with the Senior Management Accountant in the production of monthly management accounts and you’ll be heavily involved in the preparation of IPSA’s budget for approval by Parliament. Therefore, we’ll expect you to always consider how we deliver financial value for the taxpayer.

You’ll belong to the Finance function, but your role will be visible across IPSA and so building successful partnerships is key. It’s an exciting time to be joining us!

Main responsibilities

• Work with the Senior Management Accountant to prepare accurate and timely directorate budgets, forecasts and monthly management accounts, ensuring major variances are properly explained and, where necessary, work with the business areas to identify remedial actions.
• In the preparation of the monthly management accounts, input necessary prepayment, accrual, and journal transfer transactions in sufficient time and with adequate backup.
• Provide advice, support and challenge to budget holders and delegated contract managers during the month in their responsibility for the day-to-day financial aspects of budget and contract management. Assist them through the provision of financial information, advice, and guidance on a regular basis to inform, influence and help guide their decision making and to analyse and challenge the quality of forecast submissions provided by the budget holders.
• Using FP&A skills perform budgeting, forecasting, and analysis that supports decisions of the organisation and drives continuous improvement and cost control.
• Work with budget holders and directors to construct IPSA’s annual budget and financial planning. Maintain both IPSA’s and MPs’ budget setting and system adjustments including the authorisation and overseeing of adjustments. Ensure accurate budget information is presented to both internal and external stakeholders.
• Working collaboratively with the business, build strong and positive relationships with budget & project managers, providing financial business partnering and professional advice to assist them with all financial aspects of their duties.
• Working with the Senior Management Accountant to assist in the preparation of business cases to ensure all resources are accurately reported, and new resource needs are identified, ahead of senior approval. Challenge commercial implications/risks of options considered.
• Supporting and sharing the workload of the finance team, taking on such other tasks and responsibilities as may from time to time be allocated, including ad-hoc financial duties, typically working with senior stakeholders in the Finance and Corporate Services directorate, to aid value-added decision making.
• Bringing IPSA’s core values of Staying Connected, Seeing The Bigger Picture, Being Open, Doing The Right Thing and Making A Difference to life through behaviors and actions.

Who we are looking for

You’ll be a qualified accountant or finalist with a recognised CCAB body and be able to demonstrate that you possess a reasonable knowledge of technical accounting and that you have had experience of working with transactional processes and using accounting and finance systems. You’ll obsess over the integrity of management information which you provide internally and externally and take a collaborative approach to decision-making, always looking to improve our processes and help stakeholders make sound decisions.

Your numeracy skills to be first rate and you’ll have a strategic mind-set. You’ll enjoy cultivating effective working relationships and always be happy to help others turn challenges into opportunities thorough financial insights and interpretation.

You’ll be working in a pressured environment, so resilience is a key attribute that you’ll need to have along with great listening and observational skills. High initiative and a flexible approach to work and change are important, too.

You’ll be joining a diverse and knowledgeable bunch of people, passionate about making IPSA brilliant and so you’ll need to fit right in and help the organisation to grow, improve and change.

A full JD and person specification is attached below.

Benefits

• Civil Service Pension
• Generous holiday entitlement
• Season ticket/rent deposit loans
• Flexible Working
• Access to learning and development
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity; with LGBT+, BAME, and Green workplace groups
• Cycle to work scheme
• Volunteering days
  

Our commitment and values

We’re committed to making IPSA a more diverse and inclusive organisation and we choose to recruit, retain and develop people with a diverse mix of skills and experience. We are a high-performing organisation that respects diversity and promotes our values through all the work that we do. Our inclusive workplace environment welcomes people from all backgrounds and our BAME, Green and LGBT+ networks signal our commitment to celebrate and promote diversity and sustainability. Our core values are Staying Connected, Seeing The Bigger Picture, Being Open, Doing The Right Thing and Making A Difference. If you share our values, then we would like to hear from you and as we are a values-based organisation, you can expect these to feature throughout the recruitment process and beyond.

How to apply

If you are interested in applying for this role, please send your CV and a one-page cover letter to ipsa.recruitment@theipsa.org.uk. We operate a blind recruitment process, so please remove any reference to your:

• Name and title
• Educational institution names
• Age and gender
• Email address
• Postal address and telephone number
• Nationality and immigration status

Please ensure that your CV and cover letter does not contain any personal details which could identify you. We may be unable to consider your application if you do not follow the application guidelines above.

When you submit your application via email to our HR team, your name and email address will only be visible to them and not those who will conduct the shortlisting. The People team will contact you if you have been shortlisted. If you would like further information or an informal discussion please contact us at HR@theipsa.org.uk