Head of Finance Operations
Salary: c. £80,000 - c. £90,000We have a wide salary band for this role as we welcome a broad range of candidates. During the recruitment process, candidates will be assessed on their skills, experience and other role related factors to determine the final salary offer that is made within this band.
Bonus:
Discretionary
Location:
Kings Cross, London (Tuesdays-Thursdays - in our office, Monday and Friday - anywhere.)
Employment Type:
We plan for this role to be full-time, but we’re open to discussing flexible working arrangementsClosing Date For Applications: 21.07.2024
About ARIA
ARIA is a new kind of R&D funding agency. We fund scientists and engineers to pursue research at the edge of the possible. From climate change to AI, society faces enormous challenges and opportunities that can be uniquely addressed by science and technology. ARIA was created to activate the UK’s world-class R&D in new ways, so we can meet these head on.We are growing our team to develop bold new approaches that can scale – from programmes to systems, processes and everything in between. If that sounds fun, come and build ARIA with us.Learn more about how we work here.
Role Summary
ARIA is seeking a finance leader to be our first Head of Finance Operations. This is ARIA’s lead role in connecting the day-to-day financial management of ARIA with the tactical leadership required to support the organisation’s current and future business model.The role will involve optimising project accounting systems and processes, to ensure they are agile and customer-centric to meet the varying needs of our Programme Directors and the funding they disseminate as part of their research programmes.
You will also be the technical accounting expert ensuring accuracy in ARIA accounting and tax matters and compliance with all appropriate regulatory and governance standards, including fraud. The successful candidate will have a proactive and solution-focussed outlook, as well as the ability and appetite to look further down ARIA’s growth phase to ensure that finance systems and processes scale to match the ambitions of the organisation. Working as part of a small team, this role reports into the Director of Finance and Accounts, and it is expected that the role holder will bring both the capability and the appetite to deputise into this position.
What you’ll do
The scope of the role will evolve as ARIA continues to grow, but will broadly involve the following:
Lead the delivery of financial operations and control processes, including P2P, month-end cycles, cash management and tax. This will be supported by the Finance Operations Manager, but there is scope to grow the team
Provide an excellent level of financial information and advice to underpin informed strategic decisions across the organisation, business partnering across various departments and evolving the use of data visualisation tools
Lead on the evolution of financial control policies and processes, fraud reporting, and ensure that financial risks are minimised in line with Managing Public Money principles
Leadership in management reporting and financial accounting, engaging with internal and external stakeholders including: Audit and Risk Committee, Board, and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT)
Play an active role in developing ARIA’s culture, values and supporting organisational structures. ARIA is essentially a “start-up”, so you will need to be comfortable with an ever-changing evolving business model
Who you are
Essential Criteria
Significant experience in overseeing financial operations and controls to mitigate financial and fraud risk, including but not limited to P2P, month-end cycles, cash management, policy creation and implementation, and tax
Demonstrable experience and expertise across all aspects of financial management/FP&A within a similar sized organisation, including management reporting, budgeting/ forecasting cycles, financial modeling and business partnering with operational teams
Experience of developing new processes and/or systems which drive agile and distributed decision-making, ideally within an innovation-led or start-up/scale-up environment
Highly numerate with excellent written and oral communication skills, including demonstrable experience of working with key stakeholders
Ability to understand and manage central government stakeholder reporting requirements and deliverables
Experience in line management, including ability to switch as necessary between hands-on day-to-day management as required in a small team, and medium-term tactical improvement required to support the future business model
Naturally passionate about improving the world with science / technology and highly motivated by the opportunity to build a world-changing organisation and community
Desirable Criteria
Track record of working with financial operations teams in a grant-giving or receiving organisation
Experience of owning the Annual Report and Accounts delivery for a similar-sized organisation
Demonstrable experience in working cross-functionally on areas not typically seen as core finance-related, such as with People Operations, Operations or IT projects
Experience using a diverse range of systems associated with start-ups and scale-ups, including Google suite and data visualisation systems such as Tableau or Power BI
Qualifications
You hold a relevant financial qualification as a member of professional accounting body (ACA/ACCA/CIMA, etc)
Benefits
27 days annual leave provision, with the option to buy/sell additional days
Hybrid working arrangements; 60% in office / 40% at home
Supportive environment for learning and development opportunities
Enhanced family leave arrangements
A free and confidential 24/7 employee assistance programme
Life Assurance
2 days of paid volunteer days
5% defined contribution pension scheme with Smart Pension
Cycle to Work scheme
An excellent office location in Kings X, London
Not sure you meet 100% of our criteria? Don’t worry! If you believe that you could excel in this role, we encourage you to apply. We want to attract the broadest array of candidates, including those with diverse workplace experiences and backgrounds. Whether you’re new to the field, returning to work after a gap in employment, simply looking to transition, or taking the next step in your career path, we will be glad to have you on our radar. Please use your cover letter to tell us about your interests and what you hope to bring to this role.If you require any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process, please notify us and we will make every effort to accommodate you.
Disclosing any requests are intended to provide ARIA with the best opportunity to support candidates and will have no negative impact on your recruitment process.ARIA adopts a highly considered approach to ethical and social responsibility. You can read our policy here. Our research and development activity will abide by the 3Rs principle. You can read about those here.
