Client Accounts Compliance Lead

Octopus Legacy Limited; West of England; On-site; GBP 95,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

27 days holiday + extra day off for BD

Work from anywhere worldwide 4 weeks/年

Vitality Health & Life Insurance

Enhanced parental leave

Free Will & LPAs + discounts

Cycle to Work + EV Salary Sacrifice

Charity match up to £500

Springboard: entrepreneurship support

Dog-friendly office

Breakfast and wellness

Job summary

Octopus Legacy, the estate planning arm of Octopus Group, seeks a Finance lead to build and own the matter ledger and compliance functions. You will embed SRA rule compliance, manage client and office accounts, and drive the migration to a new case management platform, working with product and engineering.

You will partner with the COFA, set up breach identification, and build a scalable finance function in a changing regulatory environment.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated legal cashiering experience in a UK law firm.
• Deep working knowledge of the SRA Accounts Rules with a genuine instinct for compliance.
• Experience managing client and office accounts, reconciliations and reporting.

Responsibilities

• Own end to end client and office account transactions in line with SRA Accounts Rules.
• Process BACS, Faster Payments, CHAPS and international payments via HSBCnet.
• Manage receipts, payments, completion transactions and matter level ledger postings.
• Process client to client, matter to matter, client to business and disbursement transfers.
• Raise, post, distribute and bank cheques, and reconcile out of date cheques.
• Calculate client interest in line with firm policy.
• Run daily client account bank reconciliations, investigating and resolving discrepancies.
• Build and own our SRA Accounts Rules compliance framework from the ground up.
• Support the COFA on breach identification, reporting and registers.
• Prepare documentation for the annual SRA Accountant's Report.
• Manage disbursement ledgers, including HMCTS, Land Registry and HMRC IHT.
• Support fee earners with billing and bill transfers.
• Build out and lead the client accounts and compliance team, currently a Senior Legal Cashier, sized as case volume grows.
• Act as finance SME on our new case management platform build, working directly with product and engineering.
• Own the migration to Actionstep across Octopus Legal Services, working in Proclaim during the transition period.
• Embed finance touchpoints directly into operational workflows, so the system triggers the right action at the right point.
• Build the function to flex ahead of expected SRA rule changes over the next 6 to 12 months.

Job description

We're Octopus Legacy: the estate planning arm of Octopus Group, one of the UK's most trusted financial services brands, and part of a mission to change how people plan for death and support each other after loss.

Our legal services arm, Octopus Legal Services Limited, is SRA regulated and growing fast: wills, LPAs, trusts, probate and Court of Protection work for thousands of families, including around 1,200 active probate matters since our acquisition of NewLaw's private client business.

None of that works without a finance function built right from day one. That's where you come in.

The Role

This is a build role, not a maintain role, with a defined scope: matter ledger, compliance and the system work that ties them together.

You'll set up and lead our matter ledger and compliance function: the team responsible for every pound of client money that moves through Octopus Legal Services, and for keeping us right against the SRA Accounts Rules. You'll work directly with our COFA to get the audit function embedded, personally own breach identification and case audits day to day, and act as the finance authority on our new case management platform build.

Get this right and you keep the team lean as we scale. Workflows that put finance checks where they need to be, not bolted on afterwards. With SRA rule changes expected within the next 6 to 12 months, this function needs to be built to flex, not patched after the fact.

Key Responsibilities:

• Own end to end client and office account transactions in line with SRA Accounts Rules
• Process BACS, Faster Payments, CHAPS and international payments via HSBCnet
• Manage receipts, payments, completion transactions and matter level ledger postings
• Process client to client, matter to matter, client to business and disbursement transfers
• Raise, post, distribute and bank cheques, and reconcile out of date cheques
• Calculate client interest in line with firm policy
• Run daily client account bank reconciliations, investigating and resolving discrepancies
• Build and own our SRA Accounts Rules compliance framework from the ground up
• Support the COFA on breach identification, reporting and registers
• Prepare documentation for the annual SRA Accountant's Report
• Manage disbursement ledgers, including HMCTS, Land Registry and HMRC IHT
• Support fee earners with billing and bill transfers
• Build out and lead the client accounts and compliance team, currently a Senior Legal Cashier, sized as case volume grows
• Act as finance SME on our new case management platform build, working directly with product and engineering
• Own the migration to Actionstep across Octopus Legal Services, working in Proclaim during the transition period
• Embed finance touchpoints directly into operational workflows, so the system triggers the right action at the right point
• Build the function to flex ahead of expected SRA rule changes over the next 6 to 12 months

Who Are You?

• Demonstrable legal cashiering experience in a UK law firm
• Deep working knowledge of the SRA Accounts Rules with a genuine instinct for compliance
• Experience managing client and office accounts, reconciliations and reporting
• Confident processing payments across BACS, Faster Payments, CHAPS and international transfers
• A track record of setting up or significantly improving a compliance or cashiering function, not just running one
• Experience leading system migrations in a legal cashiering or compliance context
• Comfortable working closely with product and engineering to help shape a system, not just use one
• Calm under pressure, sharp attention to detail, a genuine builder
• Bonus: probate, private client or trust accounting experience
• Bonus: experience with Proclaim, Actionstep or other legal case management systems
• Bonus: ILFM membership

Why You'll Love It Here

• Build a function from the ground up, not maintain someone else's
• Real influence over the system that will run this team for years to come
• Backed by Octopus Group: financial strength, brand and stability
• Work directly with our Head of Finance, shaping how this function grows
• Support for professional qualifications, case by case

Our Mission

Octopus Legacy is the place to plan for death and find support after loss. When people think about planning for death they think about wills, life insurance and funerals. We take these cold processes and turn them into something more human. Share more than money: leave voice notes, music, recipes. Shape a legacy that connects you while you're here. And after you're gone.

Founded by Sam after his mum died suddenly, we're a group of people who work in death because we've been affected by it. We know the difference a good plan makes, and what it's like when there isn't one.

Death can come between us, leaving mess, legal fees, frustration. But it can also make us stronger. We see a world where people talk openly about death, and work out the real meaning of legacy, one that connects to them. We're here to make that world happen.

Estate Planning is delivered through Octopus Legal Services Limited, our SRA regulated legal entity. We offer a full estate planning service: will writing, lasting powers of attorney, trusts, probate and Court of Protection work. Following our acquisition of NewLaw's private client business, we now look after around 1,200 active probate matters alongside our growing book of will writing and estate planning clients. Our finance function sits at the heart of that: it's how we manage client money safely, stay right with the SRA, and give leadership what they need to grow the business responsibly.

• 27 days holiday + extra day off for your Birthday.
• Work from anywhere in the world for up to 4 weeks per year.
• Vitality Health & Life Insurance.
• Enhanced parental leave.
• Free Will & LPAs + discounts on other Octopus services.
• Cycle to Work Scheme and access to the Electric Vehicle (EV) Salary Sacrifice Scheme.
• Octopus Giving: we match any charitable fundraising that you do up to £500.
• Octopus Springboard: where we help our employees become fully-fledged entrepreneurs.
• Dog friendly office.
• Breakfast every day, snacks and wellness activities.