The Open University UK Hiring for Accounting Assistant Job at Milton Keynes, England Full Time

Hybrid working is available with the expectation of working in the Milton Keynes office 2 days per week.

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The Open University was established by Royal Charter in 1969 with the mission is to be ‘open to people, places, methods and ideas’. It is a national university, working in all four nations of the UK as well as globally, employing around 8,000 people across a range of academic, associate lecturer and professional services roles. Pioneering higher education by distance learning over 2 million people have studied with the OU, predominantly part-time and often while in paid work.

The role

The Accounting Assistant role is part of the Finance Business Services team who provide high quality financial services and support to the units of Research, Enterprise & Scholarship and Institute of Educational Technology (RES & IET)

The role assists the Finance Business partners and Assistant Finance Business partner to provide an excellent finance service to the RES & IET Units. This includes monitoring and reporting on externally and internally funded projects budgets, forecasting, providing costings and financial monitoring, in compliance with both the University’s financial regulations and procedures and also the terms and conditions of the funders of the projects.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone to be part of a busy finance team.

Skills and experience required:

• AAT Intermediate or equivalent, with evidence of exam success
• Recent, relevant experience of working in a financial/accounting environment, focused on management accounts.
• Experience of costing /budgeting / forecasting for projects
• Excellent communication/interpersonal skills
• Knowledge and application of IT skills – specifically competent Excel user plus experience of ERP finance systems
• Experience of meeting critical deadlines and working under pressure without impairing accuracy

What you get in return

We have a strong commitment to providing training and development in and beyond your current role. This includes thorough induction into the organisation and regular reviews of your training and development needs.

We also offer a great range of benefits that support our employees and their families for the long term. Benefits include an attractive pension proposition and 30 days holiday per annum pro rata, plus Bank Holidays and Christmas closure days.

How to apply

Unless otherwise stated in the advert, all applications are completed online via the OU Job’s page by following the instructions below and clicking the “APPLY NOW” link. Applications submitted via 3rd party websites will not be considered.

Access details for disabled applicants are available from the Resourcing Hub, telephone: 01908 655544, quoting the vacancy reference above.

To apply for this role please submit the following:

• CV
• Personal statement, up to 1,000 words, you should set out in your statement why you’re interested in this role and provide examples of where your skills and experience meet the required competencies for this role as detailed in the job and person specification.

The above documents will need to be submitted as one attachment during the application process, please include the personal statement followed by the CV in this document.

To ensure your file is uploaded to our system correctly, please make sure your document is saved with the following file name as appropriate to the vacancy you are applying for: 20528, surname, first initial.

You will need to have your documents ready ahead of submitting the electronic application.

Closing date: 30 November 2022- 12:00 noon

You will receive updates regarding your application from [email protected]. Please ensure this email address is added to your list of trusted senders. Please also keep an eye on your junk folder to ensure you do not miss any important updates regarding this role.

You can view your application communications on the Candidate portal.

Please note: If you have not heard from us within 2 weeks of the application closing date, please assume that on this occasion you have not been selected for interview, however we thank you for your interest in The Open University and encourage you to apply for future positions.

Find out more about us and our mission by watching this short video (you will be taken to YouTube by clicking this link).

The Open University is committed to equality, diversity and inclusion, which is reflected in our mission to be open to people, places, methods and ideas. We aim to foster a diverse and inclusive environment so that all our staff can reach their potential and attract diverse candidates. We recognise that different people bring different perspectives, ideas, knowledge, and culture, and that this difference brings great strength.

We offer a range of inclusive employment policies which include family and carer friendly flexible working arrangements and have many supportive staff networks and wellbeing services. We also endorse the principles of Athena SWAN, with commitment from all levels of the organisation in promoting gender equity.