Diamond Light Source is the UK’s national synchrotron science facility. Located on the Harwell Science & Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire a 20 minute drive south of Oxford in a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Diamond Light Source conducts world-class research in virtually all fields of science and offers rewarding career opportunities covering both technical and scientific disciplines.

To guide senior management in planning for, and controlling, the company by preparing financial forecasts & budgets and by monitoring  expenditure and progress against those plans. To support the finance function in the achievement of its wider objectives.

1.  Lead the  budgeting and forecasting process by:-

• Managing the processes across the company so as to produce timely, complete and meaningful financial plans, which reflect the Strategic and Delivery plans agreed by the Board.
• Assisting cost centre managers to prepare their financial forecasts and plans.
• Using the current system to produce detailed budget and forecast files
• Designing and developing further improvements to the budgeting processes and systems.
• Prepare accurate reports for the Divisional Directors, Shareholders Liaison Group and The Board of Directors.
• Provide reporting monthly to cost centre managers detailing spending against forecast

2.  Lead the cost control processes within Diamond by:-

• Reviewing the monthly expenditure by cost centre and meeting cost centre managers (at least once a quarter) to interrogate and review spending against budget/forecast .
• Monitoring expenditure commitments and trends and reporting on them to the Executive and Board.

3.  Manage the project cost accounting for all capital programmes, including Operations, Phase II and Phase III construction by:-

• Liaising with the Divisional Project Managers to ensure that cost reporting is correctly aligned with the projects list
• Liaising with the Divisional Project Managers, budget holders and procurement team to control the budgets and expenditure of major contracts
• Identifying any foreign currency exposures arising from major contracts and managing bank guarantees 
• Co-ordinating with the Finance Manager and the Assistant Financial Accountant to ensure the the above is properly accounted for and correctly reported in management accounts
• Identifying capital project budgets “at risk” and identify possible mitigating options with the budget holder and other divisional office staff
• Identifying any variances and acting upon them to limit the impact on the business, provide variance analysis and meet with each cost centre manager on a quarterly basis
• Assisting the Divisional Project Managers with re-forecasting exercises
• Ensuring all capital expenditure is appropriately authorised.

4.  Provide advice to the Director of Finance of:-

• Opportunities and threats to the financial plans
• Future options, including sensitivity analyses surrounding the forecasts.

5.  Support the finance team by:-

• Assist in the preparation of management accounts
• Undertaking a critical review of the management accounts
• Provide cross cover for the Finance Manager
• Verification of payment runs.

6.  Take a leading role in on-going system and reporting developments within the Finance function, with specific responsibility for (but not limited to) ensuring that the new finance systems can accommodate an appropriate budgeting and forecasting system.

7.  Support the year end process and the preparation of the statutory accounts by:-
Participating with impairment reviews and other preparations for the reporting of fixed assets in statutory accounts
Assisting with the production of various statutory accounts schedules.

8.  Any additional accounting duties as deemed necessary. 
 

• Qualified Accountant (CIMA/ACCA);
• Excel to pivot table and macro level;
• Ability to lead the annual budgeting and quarterly forecasting processes and provide error free reporting;
• Knowledge of how to detect and counter financial risks to projects;
• Attention to detail, able to review documents for errors and ability to correct them;
• Able to prioritise work and manage various  demands, from various sources, and time pressures;
• Ability to work as part of a team and independently as required;
• Good numeracy skills;
• Good communication skills (written and verbal);
• Experience of running an annual budgeting processes
• Taken the responsibility for the preparation of cost centre variance analysis and spending reviews;
• Proven ability to engage and communicate with managers across a variety of functions;
• Basic foundation of work within a finance department several years experience, so that basic accounting concepts are easily understood;
• Knowledge reporting for large capital projects which extend over long periods of time;
• Knowledge of reporting for fixed assets, depreciation and impairment;
• Experience in project and major asset accounting;
• Some experience of systems development either assisting, suggesting or taking part in an improvement project.

• Line management/supervisory experience of a small team;
• Ability to effectively communicate a financial perspective to highly qualified (but non financial) members of staff;
• Supervisory skills;
• Ability to adapt to a changing environment;
• Involvement in production of statutory accounts;
• Understanding of the requirements for producing the monthly management accounts.