The Open University UK Hiring for Head of Financial Accounting and Systems Job at Milton Keynes, England Full Time

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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

This role reports to the Deputy Group Finance Director and is responsible for the team that provides the financial accounting and accounting systems support to the University. This includes:

• Leading the management and development of the University’s financial ledgers and finance related systems.
• Managing the co-ordination and production of the University’s formal statutory and regulatory consolidated financial statements.
• Provision of management and financial accounting support to the University’s in-house subsidiaries.
• Leading the provision of taxation advice and compliance.

As a Senior Manager within Finance and Business Services (FBS) you will collaborate and contribute to strategic and operational matters

Skills and experience required:

• A CCAB qualified accountant
• Financial accounting technical expertise coupled with experience of a regulatory sector and institutional governance
• High level understanding of taxation within the Higher Education or charitable sector including VAT, corporation tax and employment taxes
• Proven track record of strong leadership of a finance team, ideally within an SAP framework
• Extensive knowledge of ERP systems (Enterprise Resource Planning) ideally SAP, Microsoft Office and Excel
• Proven experience of leading, implementing and driving continuous improvements, including working with IT and other stakeholders

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 33 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 and following the instructions below and clicking the “APPLY NOW” link below. 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: reference, surname, first initial.

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

Closing date: 14 December 2022- 12:00 (Midday)

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.