• Job Description

  Req#: 4442

  Position Details

  Finance Office

  Location: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham UK

  Full time starting salary is normally in the range £34,980 to £44,263 with potential progression once in post to £46,974

  Grade: 7

  Full Time, Permanent

  Closing date: 3rd April 2024

  Our offer to you

  People are at the heart of what we are and do.

  The University of Birmingham is proud to have been a part of the City of Birmingham and the wider region for over 100 years, and we are equally proud to be recognised as a leading global university. We want to attract talented people from across the city and beyond, support them to succeed, and celebrate their success.

  We are committed to helping the people who work here to develop through our sector-leading Birmingham Professional programme which provides all professional services staff with development opportunities and the encouragement to reach their full potential. With almost 5,000 professional services jobs in a wide-range of functions in Edgbaston and in our campus in Dubai, there are plenty of opportunities for you to be able to develop your career at the University.

  We believe there is no such thing as a typical member of staff and that diversity is a source of strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation, and debate. We warmly welcome people from all backgrounds and are committed to fostering an inclusive environment where diversity is at the heart of who and what we are, and how we work.

  Supporting our people to achieve a healthy work/life balance is important both to our employees and to the success of the University and, depending on the role, we offer a variety of flexible working arrangements. We therefore welcome discussions on all forms of flexible working. In addition, you will receive a generous package of benefits including 40 days paid holiday a year, one paid day a year for volunteering, occupational sick pay, and a pension scheme. We also have three high quality subsidised day nurseries.

  The University is situated in leafy Edgbaston and there are excellent transport links to our beautiful campus, including main bus routes and a train station on site. On campus we have a state-of-the-art sports centre with pool, shops, places to eat and drink, our own art gallery, museum and botanical gardens.

  Find out more about the benefits of working for the University of Birmingham

  Background

  Achieving the global ambitions of our University strategy depends on our people - and we are proud of our highly talented and engaged professional services colleagues. Our culture is ambitious and high-performing, but also supportive and inclusive. Career progression is encouraged, and you will have the opportunity to take responsibility for your own professional development and wellbeing. We actively support collaboration within and across disciplines and roles. Our staff have high levels of engagement and pride in the University.

  Roles at this level provide authoritative professional advice across a range of activities and/or will lead and manage diverse team(s) and resources. You will use your professional skills to make decisions, influence others’ thinking and to negotiate with them to achieve an outcome. You will typically need to resolve problems where the solution is not immediately apparent. Significant evaluation and independent thought is therefore required to resolve ambiguity and work within grey areas. You will have wide discretion to decide on direction whilst ensuring activities are broadly consistent with operational policies. You will be able to influence policy through advising on the impact of policy change and implementation in your area of work. You will need to assess the impact of your activities across your area, with related areas and to ensure they fit with the broader objectives of the University.

  Department Overview

  The Management Accounting team sits within the Financial Services department which also includes the Business Partnering and Corporate Accounting teams. Alongside Transaction Services these teams work closely together to support and advise the wider business.

  Management Accounts are financial outputs used by key stakeholders and management for day-to-day and strategic decision making. The Management Accounts team are responsible for preparing management reports and accounts to provide accurate and timely financial information required for day to day decision making and in year forecasting. This includes responsibility for the integrity of the general ledger, providing financial support and guidance to budget managers and producing relevant management information across all Colleges and Professional Services.

  Role Summary

  Working closely with senior management and Finance colleagues to deliver improvements to management information, accounting and reporting.

  The post holder will need to be innovative and driven to develop new ways of working in order to enhance processes and maximise the quality of management information and reporting.

  An ability to quickly understand data and communicate to non-financial users is key.

  Main Duties

  • Providing knowledge and advice on best practice relating to all aspects of accountancy, financial processes and management information.
  • Responsibility for driving change in relation to evaluating existing procedures and processes in association with other Finance team members to drive consistency, simplification and efficiency.
  • Developing and proposing solutions to problems for review with senior finance stakeholders.
  • Leading a team in the preparation of monthly accounts and change projects with timely and accurate interpretation of management information.
  • Reviewing the financial position of areas under their control, interpreting and analysing information and communicating these in a clear way to key stakeholders.
  • In collaboration with others, improving and developing budgeting and forecasting processes.
  • Continuous development of self and team through coaching and training, both formal and informal.
  • Planning and prioritisation of own workload and that of team.
  • Any other duties commensurate with the grade.
  • Actively manages equality, diversity and inclusion through monitoring and evaluation and actively challenging unacceptable behaviour.

  Required Knowledge, Skills, Qualifications, Experience

  • Educated to Degree level (or equivalent qualifications) plus relevant practical experience - where no equivalent qualification is held significant practical relevant experience and expertise in a series of progressively more demanding roles will be required.
  • CIMA/ACCA/ACA part qualified (finalist) with experience of working in a large and complex organisation.
  • Experience of managing people and an aptitude for challenging and enhancing existing practices and principles.
  • Excellent IT skills with experience in specific areas such as reporting systems and complex data sets.
  • The ability to work independently and to also manage and motivate a team.
  • Ability to organise workload and work to strict deadlines.
  • GCSEs to a minimum of grade C in English and Mathematics (or equivalent qualifications).

  Specific Skills

  Communication

  • Strong communication skills are essential, as the post holder will deal with a wide range of stakeholders.

  Analytical Skills

  • Proven excellent financial and analytical skills with experience of interpreting and communicating complex information.
  • Strong problem solving skills with the ability to utilise both financial and non-financial information and data to aid in decision-making processes.

  Leading Change

  • Adaptable and flexible when dealing with complex situations and the unexpected.
  • Ability to generate innovative solutions and provide valuable enhancements in the reporting of management information.
  • Resilient and positive in response to changes.
  • Able to influence within an organisation.

  Leading people

  • Experience of gaining and retaining the confidence of colleagues and having the standing to represent the team and the University externally.
  • Ability to create a motivating environment where people are challenged, developed, encouraged and supported to deliver outstanding results.
  • Able to lead people as a team and to inspire and manage them to achieve.

  Core competencies/transferable skills

  Working at this level you will be able to develop and demonstrate the following core competencies/transferable skills and will be expected to be flexible as required in supporting their department and wider University.

  Planning and organising

  At this level, role holders will have the ability to:

  • plan the running and development of service(s), overseeing resources and inputting into resource planning as appropriate;
  • develop, agree and implement standards for delivery for own area;
  • manage a team of staff and review, develop and motivate them;
  • plan relevant training and development;
  • provide professional advice, guidance and support to others within and outside their immediate work area;
  • oversee resources and make recommendations about future resource requirements.

  Problem solving and decision making

  At this level, role holders will have the ability to:

  • review, develop and propose solutions for problems with (for example) staff, budgets, services and/or systems;
  • deal effectively with unexpected issues, such as changing priorities;
  • deal with sensitive people matters/issues;
  • provide specialist advice and recommendations to support decision–making of others.

  Relationships and communication

  At this level, role holders will have the ability to:

  • influence decision makers and win support for proposals;
  • develop excellent working relationships within and outside of own area and potentially with external stakeholders;
  • co-ordinate activities across a number of areas.

  Informal enquiries to Chris Froggatt , email: c.froggatt@bham.ac.uk

  View our staff values and behaviours here

  We believe there is no such thing as a 'typical' member of University of Birmingham staff and that diversity in its many forms is a strength that underpins the exchange of ideas, innovation and debate at the heart of University life. We are committed to proactively addressing the barriers experienced by some groups in our community and are proud to hold Athena SWAN, Race Equality Charter and Disability Confident accreditations. We have an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Centre that focuses on continuously improving the University as a fair and inclusive place to work where everyone has the opportunity to succeed. We are also committed to sustainability, which is a key part of our strategy. You can find out more about our work to create a fairer university for everyone on our website .

• About the company

  The University of Birmingham is a public research university located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom.

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