Financial Controller

Royal Academy of Arts; Greater London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Enhanced Pension

Generous holiday allowance

Wellbeing support

Flexible working

Employee Council and staff networks

Job summary

The Royal Academy of Arts in London is seeking a Financial Controller to lead financial control, compliance and accounting services, ensuring robust controls across financial operations.

You will manage the Accounting Services team (AP, AR, Cash, Fixed Assets, Payroll and Pensions), deliver timely month-end close, oversee cash management and statutory reporting, and ensure balance sheet reconciliations are accurate within a charity setting.

Qualifications

• Qualified accountant or qualified by experience with hands-on transaction processing experience.
• Significant experience in financial control, month-end reporting, cash management and compliance.
• Sound understanding of Charity SORP, Gift Aid and VAT.
• Experience leading payroll and pensions, with UK payroll regulations knowledge.
• Experience leading and developing teams; charity/not-for-profit sector experience valued.

Responsibilities

• Oversee the financial control framework and ensure robust controls across accounting services.
• Lead and develop the Accounting Services team (AP, AR, Cash, Fixed Assets, Payroll and Pensions).
• Deliver accurate, timely month-end close; oversee cash management and statutory reporting.
• Ensure preparation of balance sheet reconciliations and governance compliance.
• Support strategic financial planning within a charity context.

Skills

Qualified accountant

Team leadership

Attention to detail

Analytical thinking

Education

Qualified by experience

Tools

Sage Intacct

Job description

The Vacancy

The Royal Academy of Arts is currently looking to appoint a Financial Controller to join its Finance Department, providing leadership across financial control, compliance and accounting services, while helping to ensure the effective management of the RA’s financial operations.

The Financial Controller will oversee the RA’s financial control framework, ensuring robust controls and compliance across all accounting services. This role will lead and develop the Accounting Services team, including Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Cash Management, Fixed Assets, Payroll and Pensions, and will also be responsible for delivering an accurate and timely month-end close, overseeing cash management and statutory reporting, and ensuring the effective preparation of balance sheet reconciliations.

About You

To be considered for this role, you will be a qualified accountant, or qualified by experience, with hands‑on experience managing a transaction processing team. You will have significant experience in financial control, month‑end reporting, cash management and compliance, alongside a sound understanding of accounting standards, including Charity SORP, and excellent working knowledge of Gift Aid and VAT.

Previous experience managing payroll and pensions, together with a strong understanding of UK payroll and pensions regulations, is essential. You will also have experience of leading and developing teams, with excellent analytical and organisational skills and the ability to manage competing priorities and deliver accurate results to tight deadlines. Experience within the charity or not‑for‑profit sector, and familiarity with Sage Intacct, would be highly valued.

The Company

The RA dates way back to 1768 when a group of artists and architects persuaded King George lll to help them to ‘establish a society for promoting the Art of Design'. The original academy, in Pall Mall, was less than 10 meters long. Since then, there have been many changes, though the RA’s core purpose of bringing art and design to a broad audience and championing art and artists still holds true.

Today we are a contemporary art organisation hosting internationally acclaimed exhibitions and through investment in employee training and development, with courses such as Unconscious Bias, LGBTQ+ Awareness, Bystander, and Mental Health First Aid training, we are striving to foster a safe space for everyone through positive action. We also have Employee Network Groups, Ways In Groups, and an Employee Council so every employee has a voice and a way to feel heard by colleagues through the CEO.

The RA is truly a unique place, both as an attraction to our visitors, but also as a workplace. Our people are at the heart of all we do, and we support a broad and inspiring mix of departments; from exhibitions, curators, art handlers, researchers, publishers, and digital to schools and education, visitor welcome, fundraisers, and corporate support.

The Benefits

• Exhibitions
• Reciprocal Agreements with galleries across the UK
• Enhanced Pension
• Generous employer contributions
• Enhanced Holiday
• 25 days annual leave, plus bank holidays
• Wellbeing
• Access to a virtual GP Service and Mental Health First Aiders
• Agile Working
• The opportunity to work flexibly
• RA Staff Council
• Where your views are heard and listened to
• Employee Clubs
• Football, Staff Choir and more