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.

This position will continue to develop, improve and streamline all financial accounting processes ensuring that the finance system solution is fit for purpose and enables an efficient delivery of all statutory returns and reporting, payment of suppliers and collection of income.

This position will drive consistency across Diamond in all aspects of financial management through the development of across the board processes; ensuring an appropriate level of detail so that senior management and budget holders have a good understanding of all areas of Diamond from a financial perspective at a given level in the organisation and by category of spend and income.

It is critical that the post holder ensures that the financial tools, analysis and reporting facilitates informed and optimal corporate level decisions, ensuring that constrained resources are aligned with Diamond’s Strategy and future Delivery Plans. Analysis and reporting produced must help senior leaders manage corporate financial risks, in both the short-term and long-term decision making process, e.g. capital investment decisions, management of resource funding and short term liabilities.

Key Responsibilities include:

General:

• Manage and develop the overall Finance function;
• Provide advice and guidance to the Director of FCS on all financial matters; including Corporate Governance, taxation, other relevant legislation and accounting best practice;
• Lead on the interactions with Diamond’s shareholders, Internal and External Auditors and other stakeholders as appropriate;
• Take the lead on ensuring Diamond has the right advice relating to areas such as VAT and Corporation tax; liaising with HMRC as required;
• Lead the well-being and development of Diamond’s Finance team;

Financial Accounting:

• Lead the planning, production and delivery of unqualified Annual Accounts on a timely basis working with the Company’s external and internal Auditors as required;
• Lead the development of and maintenance of all accounting procedures, ensuring that they are documented, disseminated, and understood, that they comply with all applicable accounting policies, that they are effective and enable good financial internal controls across the Company and operate effectively, making improvements where appropriate;
• Manage the Company’s cash flow, banking, and treasury matters; liaising with the Bank as required ensuring the availability of funds when needed and that any “surplus” cash is invested as availability enables;
• Responsible for the completion of all statutory returns and the provision of financial information to the shareholders and Department of Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) as required;

Financial Management:

• Lead the compilation of Diamond’s budgets and forecasts providing clear direction and guidance to both Directors and the Finance staff who support them;
• Lead the financial control, analysis and management reporting of Diamond’s Divisions ensuring accurate and timely reporting of actuals for input into quarterly reports;
• Work with other members of Finance to coordinate, support and report on relevant matters, ensuring optimised efficiency, consistency of approach, and sharing of best practices;
• Lead the continued development and implementation of the financial tools and processes necessary to run Diamond from a financial perspective, including the capacity to undertake financial modelling against different strategic scenarios;
• Provide ad-hoc financial analysis as necessary to provide management with information to support decision making;
• Ensure compliance with all fiduciary responsibilities.
   

• CCAB Qualification;
• Leadership;
• Team management;
• Excellent interpersonal skills;
• Proactive with a can do attitude;
• Ability to articulate succinctly;
• Track record of delivery;
• Ability to build successful relationships with all stakeholders;
• Building and leading teams;
• People management;
• Compilation of statutory accounts according to appropriate accounting; standards;
• Financial management -including budgeting, forecasting and “value added” reporting. 

• Working knowledge of VAT, Corporation Tax and PAYE regulations.

Agency applications are not accepted.