Head of Group Reporting - 6 Month FTC

Trainline plc; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Private healthcare

Dental insurance

Work from Abroad policy

EV Scheme

Festive time off

Family-friendly benefits

Job summary

Trainline plc is seeking a Head of Group Reporting to lead IFRS annual and half-year statements, the annual report, and subsidiary accounts across the UK and international entities.

You will oversee audits, drive the cashflow forecasting process, and act as the technical accounting authority across complex areas while collaborating with auditors, treasury, legal and CoSec.

Qualifications

• Qualified accountant with post-qualification experience in industry, preferably in a listed business.
• Strong IFRS knowledge and ability to defend accounting positions to auditors and committees.
• Experience researching and implementing new accounting or reporting standards.

Responsibilities

• Take ownership of IFRS annual and half-year statements and annual report.
• Lead year-end and half-year audits, préparation of Audit Committee papers.
• Oversee subsidiary accounts across UK and international entities.
• Own cashflow forecasting, provide liquidity insights to CFO and Board.
• Act as technical accounting authority, research complex areas and communicate conclusions.
• Lead cross-functional projects and support monthly reporting and budgeting.
• Build relationships with auditors, lenders, bankers; work with CoSec and legal.
• Contribute to material controls framework and accounting policy development.

Skills

IFRS expertise

Technical accounting

Auditor liaison

Leadership

Cashflow & liquidity

Multi-currency consolidations

Revenue recognition

Leases & business combinations

Education

Qualified accountant

Job description

About us

At Trainline, our purpose is to empower greener travel choices, connecting people and places. Trainline enables millions of travellers to find and book the best value tickets across carriers, fares, and journey options through our highly rated mobile app, website, and B2B partner channels.

Great journeys start with Trainline

We’re Europe’s leading independent rail platform, helping millions of travellers find and book the best-value rail and coach journeys across our app, website and partner channels.

Our job is to make the green travel choice the best choice. By building a better train travel experience, we help more people choose rail - creating a positive impact for customers, our business and the planet.

We’re a team of more than 1,000 Trainliners from over 50 nationalities, working across London, Paris, Barcelona, Milan, Edinburgh and Madrid. Now is a brilliant time to join us and help shape the future of travel.

Introducing the Trainline Group Reporting Team

As a fast moving FTSE 250 business, we're looking for an experienced and technically excellent Head of Group Reporting to join us for a 6 month contract. This is a senior role at the heart of our external reporting and financial control framework, calling for deep IFRS expertise and the confidence to navigate complex and judgemental accounting areas. It's a role that goes beyond a typical Group Reporting position, suited to someone who thrives in a varied, fast paced environment, is always ready to get involved, and loves learning new things. Our business changes daily, so we need someone who stays close to the operational side of things and can help us respond quickly and effectively.

Technical rigour is non-negotiable here. You'll be the go-to person for complex and judgemental accounting questions, expected to research positions thoroughly, form a clear view, and defend it with auditors and advisors, while translating that thinking into clear, accessible communication for senior non-financial stakeholders. You'll also bring commercial awareness, particularly around cashflow, liquidity and capital, along with the analytical instinct to spot when the numbers don't add up.

In this role as the Head of Group Reporting, you will...

• Take ownership of producing the Group's IFRS annual and half yearly listed financial statements and annual report.
• Lead the year end and half year external audit and review processes end to end, keeping key stakeholders informed and preparing and presenting Audit Committee papers.
• Oversee the production and filing of subsidiary statutory accounts across our UK and international entities.
• Own the Group's cashflow forecasting process, providing insight and analysis on liquidity, capital allocation and capital structure to support CFO and Board decision making, working closely with treasury on execution.
• Act as the Group's primary technical accounting authority, researching and forming well reasoned positions on complex and judgemental areas, implementing new standards, and presenting conclusions to senior management, the Audit Committee, auditors and advisors.
• Take the lead on one off projects, partnering with teams across the business, while contributing to monthly reporting, annual budgeting, and ownership of specific balance sheet, cashflow and working capital areas.
• Build and support strong external relationships, including with auditors, loan providers and banking partners, and work closely with legal and CoSec to ensure reporting requirements are met on time.
• Lead Finance's contribution to the Group's material controls framework under Provision 29, maintain and develop the Group's accounting policies including for acquisitions and legal structure changes, and guide reporting systems and process change to protect the integrity of our control environment.

We'd love to hear from you if you have...

• You're a qualified accountant with significant post qualification experience, including meaningful time spent in industry within a listed business, and are comfortable with the reporting obligations and scrutiny that come with that environment; you have a consistent record of delivering to deadline.
• You bring extensive IFRS expertise and a strong technical accounting grounding, confident researching and forming defensible positions on complex areas such as multi-currency consolidations, share based payments, EPS, impairment, revenue recognition, leases and business combinations.
• If you're currently in practice, you'd be operating at Director level or above, with substantial experience advising listed groups on complex technical matters and be ready to step into a senior in-house leadership role.
• You have experience researching and implementing new accounting or reporting standards.
• You're analytical and thorough when reviewing financial information, quick to spot errors in accounting treatment or anomalies that don't add up.
• You have proven people management experience, with a track record of leading, motivating and developing high performing teams across multiple disciplines.
• You're an excellent project manager, organised in your own workload while confident delegating and developing others, equally comfortable working independently or as part of a team.
• You're ambitious and driven, energised by a fast paced environment, always ready to get involved in team projects and try new things; it would be helpful if you're open to occasional travel to our Paris and Edinburgh offices.

More information:

Enjoy fantastic perks like private healthcare & dental insurance, a generous work from abroad policy, 2-for-1 share purchase plans, an EV Scheme to further reduce carbon emissions, extra festive time off, and excellent family-friendly benefits.

We prioritise career growth with clear career paths, transparent pay bands, personal learning budgets, and regular learning days. Jump on board and supercharge your career from day one!

We're operating a hybrid model and ask that Trainliners work from the office a minimum of 60% of their time over a 12-week period. We also have a 28-day Work from Abroad policy.

Our values represent the things that matter most to us and what we live and breathe everyday, in everything we do:

• Think Big - We're building the future of rail
• Own It - We focus on every customer, partner and journey
• Travel Together - We're one team
• Do Good - We make a positive impact

We know that having a diverse team makes us better and helps us succeed. And we mean all forms of diversity - gender, ethnicity, sexuality, disability, nationality and diversity of thought. That's why we’re committed to creating inclusive places to work, where everyone belongs and differences are valued and celebrated.

Interested in finding out more about what it's like to work at Trainline? Why not check us out on LinkedIn, Instagram and Glassdoor!