Financial Accountant

SPT Labtech; Hartford; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading life sciences company in the UK is seeking a Financial Accountant to join its reputable finance team. This role involves providing tax support, managing intercompany accounting, and driving process improvements. The ideal candidate will be ACCA, CIMA, or ACA qualified with strong financial reporting experience, particularly in a manufacturing environment. Excellent communication skills and proficiency in Excel are essential. This position offers a competitive salary and comprehensive benefits, including private medical insurance and an annual bonus.

Benefits

Private medical insurance

Generous pension plan

Annual discretionary bonus

Qualifications

• ACCA, CIMA, or ACA Qualified / Finalist.
• Technically strong with financial reporting understanding.
• Experience in a similar role with exposure to taxation.
• Clear communicator, proactive, and detail-oriented.
• Strong IT capability, including advanced Excel skills.

Responsibilities

• Provide tax support across multiple regions including VAT and GST.
• Manage prepayments and fixed assets.
• Handle intercompany accounting and reconciliations.
• Support month-end processes and ensure timely reporting.
• Drive efficiency and process improvements in finance.

Skills

Financial reporting

Taxation

Communication

Organization

Process improvement

Excel

Resilience under pressure

Education

ACCA, CIMA, ACA Qualified / Finalist

Tools

ERP systems

Job description

Overview

Reporting to the Finance Manager, this role will join an agile, highly regarded, and hard‑working UK Finance team. The successful candidate will report directly to the Finance Manager and work closely with our finance team, as well as supporting across the wider business to deliver high‑quality reconciliations, data analysis, and support to the business.

Responsibilities

• Tax support: VAT returns across multiple EU countries, GST, HST and PST returns in Canada, Sales Tax submissions in relevant US states, R&D tax credit calculations, PSA Submissions.
• Prepayments.
• Fixed asset management.
• Intercompany accounting and reconciliations.
• Payroll: Input monthly journals, quarterly sales commission calculations.
• Support the month‑end and balance sheet process for the above accounts. Ensure the process is robust, efficient and that the balance sheet accounts are reconciled. All reports are to be submitted in line with reporting deadlines.
• Drive for efficiency and process improvements throughout Finance and the business.
• Support the annual external statutory audit.
• Provide cover for the Management Accountant.

Qualifications

• ACCA, CIMA, ACA Qualified / Finalist.
• Technically strong with a good understanding of financial reporting in a manufacturing environment.
• Experience of working in a similar role with significant exposure to taxation.
• A clear and credible communicator.
• Naturally proactive and quietly tenacious, spotting issues early and seeing them through.
• Comfortable working independently, with the good sense to ask the right questions at the right time.
• Highly organised and deadline‑driven, able to juggle competing priorities while maintaining accuracy and control.
• Process‑minded and improvement‑focused, with the curiosity to challenge how things are done and the pragmatism to make them better.
• Quick to get up to speed, able to absorb new information, systems and regulations.
• Methodical with a sharp eye for detail.
• Strong systems and IT capability, including advanced Excel skills and the confidence to work with ERP systems.
• Resilient under pressure, consistently delivering high‑quality work to tight reporting deadlines.

Desirable Knowledge, Experience, and Technical Skills

• Relevant industry background, ideally within life sciences, biotechnology, medical devices, advanced manufacturing, or other regulated, technically complex environments.
• Experience in PE‑backed or international groups would be particularly welcome.
• Multi‑currency exposure.
• ERP system experience, ideally Infor Syteline, though exposure to other mid‑to‑large ERP platforms (such as SAP, Oracle, NetSuite, Microsoft Dynamics or similar) will be equally valuable.

Benefits

This Financial Accountant role is a key part of SPT Labtech's UK head office finance function and is far more than a box‑ticking exercise in debits and credits. Reporting to the Finance Manager, you will play a key role in maintaining the financial integrity of a £90m, EQT‑backed international life sciences group, with exposure across tax, balance sheet control, intercompany accounting and month‑end delivery. It's a broad, hands‑on position suited to a technically strong accountant who enjoys improving processes, supporting the wider business and quietly keeping everything on the right side of accurate, compliant and on time.

Based in Melbourn, near Cambridge, UK, SPT Labtech makes products that transform the way scientists work. For nearly two decades, our expert scientists, engineers and business innovators have provided scientists with world‑leading, innovative solutions for liquid handling, sample preparation, and sample management that help accelerate research and make a real difference to human health. We work collaboratively with our customers, building trusted relationships that enable us to deliver exceptional, personalised experiences designed for real‑world challenges in the lab.

Want to be part of a team that's making a difference to human health?

We offer a competitive salary package and comprehensive, valued benefits, including private medical insurance, a generous pension plan, and an annual discretionary bonus.