Head of Accounting Shared Services

abrdn plc; City of Edinburgh; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

40 days annual leave

16% employer pension contribution

Private healthcare

Flexible benefits (gym discounts, etc)

Job summary

Aberdeen plc in Edinburgh seeks a senior Finance Operations leader to run the Record-to-Report function and the general ledger controls environment. You will steer month-end, quarter-end and year-end close, oversee reconciliations, and drive governance, control maturity and data integrity across global onshore and offshore teams.

The role focuses on operational excellence, process transformation, and scalable finance delivery, with emphasis on continuous improvement and AI-enabled efficiencies.

Qualifications

• Fully qualified accountant with leadership in large-scale R2R or Finance Operations.
• Experience in shared services and offshore delivery environments with strong governance.
• Deep expertise in GL operations, reconciliations and period-end close management.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Record to Report function across Finance Operations.
• Oversee GL operations and ensure data integrity across the Group.
• Own reconciliations and Balance Sheet Substantiation processes.
• Maintain governance, risk management and financial controls.
• Develop GL Leads and wider R2R organisation across onshore/offshore.
• Drive standardisation, automation and AI-enabled efficiencies.

Skills

Fully qualified accountant

R2R leadership

Shared services/SSC/offshore

ERP familiarity (Oracle)

Education

CA/ACA/ACCA/CIMA or equivalent

Tools

Oracle ERP

Job description

Job Description

About Aberdeen

Aberdeen plc is one of Europe's largest investment companies, and we are built on a long-standing culture of caring about the future and making a positive impact. Together we invest for a better future. We do it to make a difference to the lives of our clients and customers, our employees, society, and our shareholders. Our business is structured around three distinct areas focused on our clients' changing needs: Aberdeen Investments, Aberdeen Adviser, and interactive investor. As Head of Accounting Shared Services, you will help bring 'Invest in your tomorrow' to life by protecting financial integrity and enabling trusted decisions for our clients and our business.

About the Department

Finance Operations is a core part of Aberdeen's Finance function, delivering services across Record to Report, Billing, Banking, Accounts Payable and Supplier Relationship Management. Within Group Financial Control, the Record to Report team is responsible for managing General Ledger operations, balance sheet control, reconciliations and the delivery of month-end, quarter-end and year-end close activities across the Group. Working closely with colleagues in Edinburgh and Chennai, the team operates within a shared services environment, ensuring robust controls, accurate reporting and high-quality financial outcomes. Through strong governance, continuous improvement and operational excellence, the team helps enable our clients to be better investors.

About the Role

This is a senior Finance Operations leadership opportunity within the Record-to-Report (R2R) function, responsible for leading the organisation's General Ledger operations and financial control environment.

As head of a large-scale operational finance function, you will be accountable for the delivery of core finance processes including ledger integrity, reconciliations, balance sheet substantiation, controls governance and period-end close activities. Working across Edinburgh and offshore teams, you will lead a shared services operating model focused on operational excellence, control effectiveness, service delivery and continuous improvement.

The role is particularly suited to finance operations, shared services, R2R, controllership and finance service delivery leaders who have experience managing large operational teams and driving high-volume finance processes. Rather than focusing on statutory reporting and external accounts production, this role centres on the effective running of finance operations, ownership of key control frameworks and ensuring the integrity of financial data and processes across the business.

Leading a team of General Ledger Leads and Analysts, you will establish performance standards, strengthen governance processes and develop a culture of accountability, customer service and operational excellence. You will also play a key role in future operating model development, leveraging automation, AI and process transformation initiatives to improve efficiency, scalability and control across the finance function.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the Record to Report function across Finance Operations, ensuring the consistent delivery of month-end, quarter-end and year-end close activities.
• Oversee General Ledger operations, ensuring the accuracy, completeness and integrity of financial data across the Group.
• Own reconciliations and Balance Sheet Substantiation processes, ensuring all balances, journals and outputs are fully supported and audit ready.
• Maintain and strengthen the operational control environment through governance, risk management and financial controls.
• Lead and develop GL Leads and the wider R2R organisation across onshore and offshore delivery teams.
• Drive process standardisation, continuous improvement, automation and AI-enabled efficiencies.

About the Candidate

Essential requirements

• Fully qualified accountant, such as CA, ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent.
• Significant experience leading a large-scale Record to Report or Finance Operations function within a complex global organisation.
• Strong leadership experience within a shared service centre and/or outsourced delivery environment, including offshore teams.
• Deep expertise in General Ledger operations, reconciliations, balance sheet substantiation, financial controls and period-end close management.
• Proven ability to establish and maintain robust operational control environments while delivering accurate and timely financial reporting.
• Experience operating as the senior escalation point for R2R, control and financial risk matters, ideally using Oracle or a comparable ERP platform.

Preferred experience

• Experience leading finance process standardisation, operating model transformation, automation and AI initiatives that improve efficiency, control and service delivery within Record to Report or Finance Operations environments.

Our benefits

There's more to working life than coming home with a good salary. We have an environment where you can learn, get involved and be supported.

When you join us, your reward will be one of the best around. This includes 40 days' annual leave, a 16% employer pension contribution, a discretionary performance-based bonus (where applicable), private healthcare and a range of flexible benefits - including gym discounts, season ticket loans and access to an employee discount portal. You can read more about our benefits here.

Our business

Enabling our clients to be better investors drives everything we do. Our business is structured around three distinct areas - our vectors of growth - focused on our clients' changing needs. You can find out more about what we do here.

An inclusive way of working

Whatever way you like to work, if you have the talent and commitment to join our team, we'd like to hear from you.

At Aberdeen we've adopted a 'blended working' approach. This approach combines the benefits of face-to-face collaboration, coaching and connecting in our offices with the flexibility of working from home. It enables colleagues to find a balance that works for their roles, their teams, our clients and our business.

An inclusive culture, where diverse perspectives drive our actions, is at the core of who we are and what we do. If you need assistance with your application, or a reasonable adjustment to your interview arrangements - for example, because you are neurodivergent, or have a physical, sensory, cognitive, mental, visible or invisible disability - please let us know and we'll be happy to help.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Committed employer.

If you have a disability and would like to apply to one of our UK roles under the Disability Confident Scheme, please notify us by completing the relevant section in our candidate questionnaire.

One of our team will reach out to support you through your application process.

We're committed to providing an inclusive workplace where all forms of difference are valued and which is free from any form of unfair or unlawful treatment.

We define diversity in its broadest sense - this includes but is not limited to our diversity of educational and professional backgrounds, experience, cognitive and neurodiversity, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief and ethnicity and geographical provenance.

We support a culture that values meritocracy, fairness and transparency and welcomes enquiries from everyone.

If you need assistance or an adjustment due to a disability please let us know as part of your application and we will assist.