Assistant Accountant

Octopus; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading investment firm in Greater London is seeking a detail-oriented candidate to join their Ventures Finance team. This role involves managing invoices, assisting with management accounts, and ensuring compliance with VCT regulations. Ideal candidates will have some experience in accounting and a desire to obtain an accounting qualification. The position offers a competitive salary, hybrid working options, and growth opportunities in a dynamic and ambitious environment.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Untracked holiday

Hybrid working

Wellness hub access

Up to 6 months paid parental leave

Life insurance and income protection

Private medical insurance

Electric vehicle leasing

Work overseas up to a month per year

Qualifications

• Some previous experience working within accounting, accounts or bookkeeping.
• Good attention to detail and comfortable working in a tight deadline environment.
• Proficient at using Microsoft Excel (formulas, pivot table, v-lookup).

Responsibilities

• Ensure seamless processing of invoices, payments, and cash movements.
• Assist with preparing management accounts, NAV calculations, and cash flow forecasting.
• Support the preparation of board reports and interim/annual accounts.
• Maintain good relationships with senior team members and other teams.
• Take on adhoc work when required.

Skills

Experience in accounting

Desire to gain accounting qualification

Proficient in Microsoft Excel

Attention to detail

Education

ACA/ACCA or equivalent

Job description

Company Description

At Octopus, we’re entrepreneurs and we’re investors, on a mission to back the people, ideas and industries that will change the world.

We think working here is great, but we’re understandably bias. Click here to explore Life at Octopus.

Job Description

What’s in it for you?

You will have the opportunity to take a hands‑on role in a commercially minded team that is responsible for funds within the Octopus Ventures part of our business. As one of the biggest VCT providers globally you will quickly become an expert in this field and gain a wide range of knowledge.

This role will offer a lot of variety and longer‑term development and growth opportunities through dealing with multiple workstreams and having the opportunity to be involved in projects outside of your day‑to‑day. You'll take full ownership of elements of management, statutory and regulatory reporting, as well as helping to manage the day‑to‑day operations of the funds.

The team

This role sits within the Ventures Finance team responsible for the provision of financial services across Venture Capital Trusts (“VCTs”) and a suite of institutional funds. Reporting to the Finance Manager, this role will be supporting the team in managing multiple VCT funds.

You will be joining a friendly, enthusiastic team in an exciting part of a hugely ambitious business, with large scope for personal development and the building of an exciting career. Additionally, you will also be part of a wider Finance function that is a diverse team of 60 that operates across various business areas and specialisms.

What will you be doing?

• You will ensure the seamless processing of invoices, payments and other cash movements across all of the VCT’s.
• You will assist the accountants in the team with preparing management accounts, NAV calculations, cash flow forecasting, VCT compliance, helping with audit requests and with the preparation of month end journals and related calculations.
• You will assist in a range of regulatory reporting, including helping to prepare board reports and interim/annual accounts.
• Use every opportunity to learn and develop to maintain a good understanding of VCTs and their portfolios, as well as gaining a broader understanding of wider funds.
• Maintain good working relationships with the senior members of the team, investment operations, Company Secretariat and other teams both within Octopus and externally, contributing to the seamless management of the funds.
• Taking on adhoc work when required. This could include supporting the team with other VCTs and institutional funds and projects.

Qualifications

Ideally, you’ll have:

• ✅ Some previous experience working within accounting, accounts or bookkeeping.
• ✅ A desire to learn and gain an accounting qualification (ideally you will have already started ACA/ACCA or equivalent).
• ✅ Proficient at using Microsoft Excel (formulas, pivot table, v‑lookup, basic modelling, etc).
• ✅ Good attention to detail and comfortable working in a tight deadline environment, with the ability to prioritise effectively.

We encourage you to apply even if you don’t tick every box. What’s the worst that can happen?

This role will evolve as we grow and develop. So, if you are looking for a challenge in a fast paced and dynamic business, we can deliver on that.

Additional Information

What we offer

• A competitive salary, bonus, pension and share incentive plan
• ✈️ Untracked holiday
• Hybrid working – most of our people spend 3 days a week in the office
• ⚓ Anchor (our wellness hub) which includes Headspace, one to one coaching through Wellness Cloud, Digital GP & more
• Up to 6 months paid parental leave regardless of gender
• ❤️ Life insurance, critical illness cover and income protection
• Private medical insurance for you and your family
• Electric vehicle leasing
• The option to work overseas up to a month per year

Our Values

At our core, we believe that how a company behaves is just as important as what it does. That’s why we chose to become an accredited B Corp (the equivalent of a Fairtrade coffee stamp but for companies) and to change our Articles of Association so that the interests all our stakeholders – employees, customers, communities, environment and shareholders – are considered in every decision we make.

We are committed to building a workplace where diversity is valued, and inclusion is a priority. By providing equal opportunities for growth and development, we embrace and celebrate all races, genders, religions, sexual orientations, ages, disabilities, and socio‑economic backgrounds. We believe teams achieve their best when every member feels safe, respected and empowered to be their authentic selves.

We're proud to be disability confident and are committed to supporting candidates with a disability, including neurodiversity and mental health conditions, throughout the recruitment process. Applicants are welcome to opt‑in to the disability confident scheme as part of our application process. If you require any adjustments to the interview process, we’ll be happy to accommodate where possible.