Management Accountant

About Us

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At the FT, we aim for employees across all regions to have a voice so that diverse perspectives are heard and valued. We believe that a supportive workplace is one where employees feel they can be themselves at work and have the flexibility they need to meet their personal needs. We'll continue to remove barriers for all, and in particular barriers facing employees from underrepresented groups.

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Overview

Reporting to the Commercial Finance Business Partner, this role is responsible for providing end to end support for the FT's contra & barter processes which includes (but is not limited to) ensuring that we are able to maximise returns from all partnerships undertaken.

The successful candidate will gain a deep understanding of all departments of the FT, broaden their business partnering skills and develop knowledge of KPIs and reporting across these areas; in addition the role will be expected to identify and develop areas for improvement within the role as they become more familiar with their responsibilities.

This successful candidate will partner in the ownership of all relevant policies, procedure documentation & controls related to the contra process and will work closely with Group Finance, Internal Audit, Legal & Compliance and Tax teams to ensure these are kept up to date and all contra partnerships adhere to these policies.

The role will also have responsibility for carrying out monitoring and reporting on compliance with internal policies around filler and added value advertising agreements across the FT.

The successful candidate joins the Commercial Finance team at a time of growth, change and high ambition as we embark on an extensive cross team exercise of Finance transformation and help guide the FT towards its ambitious growth targets.

This is an exciting opportunity for someone to join a high-profile team that is having a significant impact on decision-making across the business.

What can you expect?

Establish and maintain strong working relationships with key stakeholders, including Commercial Management & other senior stakeholders as required.

Maintenance of the Contra Strategy, Policy and Procedure documentation. This includes the upkeep of internal educational documents to ensure the business is aware of the requirements relating to Contra at all times.

Work with FT Legal, where applicable, in the review of all proposed contra contracts to ensure compliance with internal contra, sanctions & ABC policies; as well working with Group Finance on the assessment of fair value to ensure contracts are compliant with accounting policies & regulations.

Ownership of the weekly contra 'netting' process between AR & AP. Liaison with both Accounting Services and commercial teams to ensure balances are cleared in a timely fashion.

Ensuring accuracy and timeliness of all reporting related to Contra to allow for robust review of all contracts from both a Financial and a Strategic view point. This will include the provision of regular reporting on Contra revenue and costs across the FT to ensure timely utilisation of services across all live contracts.

Monthly audit of all contra transactions to ensure revenue and costs are captured correctly and accruals/deferrals are made on a contract by contract basis.

Preparation of month end, annual budgets and quarterly forecasts for contra revenue and costs - including ownership of the balance sheet in relation to contra transactions.

Maintaining reporting on FT-wide compliance with filler and added-value advertising policies and processes.

Your profile

• Certified Public Accountant or equivalent
• A minimum of 3 years work experience in a relevant finance environment; ideally with exposure to legal agreements & contracts.
• Previous exposure to policy and process documentation is ideal.
• Ability to understand complex processes and the cause/effect relationship between interrelated systems.
• Able to build good relationships with key stakeholders at a senior level.
• Fluent in English (spoken and written) with excellent communication skills both within Finance & the wider business. The ability and desire to integrate into a remote Global team is essential for success. This role will also have a high degree of virtual interaction (telephone, video and email) with the UK, US and other FT global offices. The individual will need to build relationships with stakeholders within the business to produce key deliverables.
• Effective organisation and time management skills, able to handle multiple requests and prioritise accordingly.
• Strong work ethic and the ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines in a dynamic environment.
• Ability to work autonomously but not afraid to speak up, ask for help and elevate issues as appropriate.
• Demonstrable, excellent MS Excel skills & general ability to distil and analyse high volumes of information in a clear & insightful way. Experience with Google suite would be an advantage.
• Financial Systems literate; experience of Essbase & Oracle desirable.

What's in it for you? Our Benefits

Our benefits vary depending on location, but we are committed to providing best in class perks across all our offices as well as an inclusive environment to develop your career. Examples of our benefits include; generous annual leave allowances, flexible working (including working from home), medical cover, enhanced maternity & paternity packages, subsidised gym memberships and Giving Back opportunities. Full details of our benefits can be found here.

Further Information

The FT is committed to providing an inclusive working environment for all. We are an equal opportunities employer who seeks to recruit and appoint the best talent regardless of age, gender, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, socio-economic background, religion and/or belief. We also promote flexible working and will consider specific requests around flexibility for all roles where it can be accommodated. Please let us know if you require any adjustments as part of the application process or to enable you to attend an interview. If you would like to discuss your requirements, or have any questions, please contact a member of our HR team who will be happy to help.