Head of Management Accounts

Dignity Group; Birmingham; Hybride; GBP 72 000 - 88 000; Plein temps

Avantages offerts par ce poste

25 days leave

Up to 10% annual bonus

Private medical cover

4% pension match

Life assurance 2x salary

StaffShop discounts

EAP & wellbeing

Résumé du poste

Life Services Group in Birmingham seeks a Head of Management Accounts to lead the management accounting function across the group, including Funerals, Crematoria and Head Office, and to transform how we close, report and explain performance.

You will own the month-end close, drive automation and deliver insightful commentary for senior leaders, while partnering with FP&A and coaching a team of six people to excellence.

Qualifications

• Fully qualified accountant with leadership experience in a multi-site or group environment.
• Track record of delivering consolidated management accounts and month-end close to tight deadlines.
• Experience leading finance transformation projects (automation, reporting redesign or ERP implementations).

Responsabilités

• Lead the monthly consolidated Group and divisional management accounts for Funerals, Crematoria and Head Office, ensuring accuracy and timeliness.
• Turn numbers into a story with variance analysis and commentary for senior leaders.
• Own the Group month-end close and drive faster, more automated reporting.
• Shaping and transferring management reporting from FP&A into your team.
• Develop KPIs and align actuals, budgets and forecasts with FP&A.
• Drive reporting templates and reduce manual spreadsheets.
• Lead Ledger and reporting change projects (Oracle EBS, Tableau) from design to adoption.
• Maintain control environment with reconciliations, accruals and provisions.
• Support year-end and statutory reporting with auditors.
• Lead and develop a team of six.

Connaissances

Management accounting

UK GAAP IFRS

Excel advanced

Tableau Power BI

Team leadership

Formation

ACA/ACCA/CIMA qualified

Outils

Oracle EBS

Tableau

Power BI

Description du poste

Location: Birmingham, Hybrid Flexible Working (3 days in the office, 2 from home)

Contract: Full-time, Permanent

Salary: Up to £80,000 per annum + benefits

Bring Clarity to the Numbers Behind Life Services Group

At Life Services Group, our mission is to help every family in Britain navigate the hardest moments of life with simplicity, dignity, kindness and exceptional care. Our vision is to become the UK's leading end-of-life company, helping one in three people across the UK to plan for and deal with death.

We've recently come together as Life Services Group, bringing trusted names including Dignity Funeral Directors, CMG, Simplicity Cremations, Dignity Legal Services and Farewill under one roof. It's a genuinely exciting moment, and you can feel the momentum across the business. As we grow into this new chapter, a clear and trusted picture of how we're performing matters more than ever, because good decisions start with good numbers.

The Opportunity

That's where you come in. We're looking for a Head of Management Accounts to lead our management accounting function and transform how we close, report and explain our performance across the Group.

This isn't a role for keeping the lights on. You'll own the monthly management accounts for our Funerals and Crematoria businesses and the wider Group, with a clear remit to make them faster, more automated and more insightful.

Working hand in hand with FP&A, you'll bring business management reporting into your team, remove duplication between the two functions and create one version of the truth that leaders across the business trust and act on.

Reporting to the Director of Finance and leading a team of six, you'll be a visible voice in how our new Group understands its performance. It's a chance to put your stamp on a finance function at a defining moment, and to see the difference your work makes to the families we care for.

What You'll Be Doing

• Lead the monthly consolidated Group and divisional management accounts for Funerals, Crematoria and Head Office, delivered accurately and on time, every month.
• Turn the numbers into a story, with clear variance analysis and commentary against budget, forecast and prior year for the Director of Finance and the Executive team.
• Own the Group month-end close through our Month End Coordinator, bringing together Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Treasury, Fixed Assets, Payroll and Operations Finance, and drive it towards a faster close.
• Lead the transfer of management reporting from FP&A into your team, agreeing scope and ownership so FP&A can focus on planning, forecasting and forward-looking insight.
• Partner closely with FP&A to align actuals, budget and forecast on structure, cost centre hierarchies and definitions, and jointly develop the KPIs the business runs on.
• Drive transformation across the function, from journal and reconciliation automation to standardised reporting templates and far less reliance on manual spreadsheets.
• Act as Finance lead on ledger and reporting change projects, including Oracle EBS and Tableau, from design and testing through to adoption.
• Maintain a robust control environment, reviewing and signing off key reconciliations, accruals, prepayments and provisions, and co-owning the Oracle General Ledger.
• Support year-end and statutory reporting as a key contact for our external auditors on the areas you own.
• Lead, coach and develop a team of six: our Month End Coordinator, Head Office Management Accountant and four Management Accountants across Funerals and Crematoria.

What We're Looking For

A fully qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA or CIMA) with experience as a Head of Management Accounts, Financial Controller or equivalent senior management accounting lead in a multi-site or group environment. You'll have a track record of delivering consolidated management accounts and month-end close to tight deadlines, and you'll be able to point to finance transformation you've led, whether that's close acceleration, process automation, a system implementation or a reporting redesign.

You’ll have worked closely with FP&A and business partnering teams, ideally reshaping who owns what to remove duplication. You'll bring strong knowledge of UK GAAP and IFRS, a solid grasp of controls and reconciliations, advanced Excel and experience of BI tools such as Tableau or Power BI. You'll have led and developed a team of management accountants, and you'll be confident presenting results to senior leaders.

Experience of Oracle EBS R12 or another ERP implementation, a multi-site service, retail, hospitality or regulated business, or lender and covenant reporting would all be a real bonus.

You’ll Excel in This Role If You

• Want to build and improve, not simply maintain, and you're genuinely energised by change.
• See FP&A as a close partner and share ownership of the numbers.
• Combine rigour with pace, holding high standards of accuracy and control while finding ways to close faster and smarter.
• Lead by coaching and bring your team with you through change.
• Can turn numbers into a story that non-finance colleagues can understand and act on.
• Share our values of dignity, kindness and care, and respect the purpose of the work we do.

Receive a Benefits Package That Reflects Your Leadership and Impact

• Time to recharge - 25 days' annual leave plus bank holidays, giving you the space to maintain balance and sustain performance.
• Rewarding your impact - Opportunity to earn up to 10% annual bonus, aligned to business performance and your contribution.
• Healthcare for you - Private medical cover for your family, offering reassurance and quick access to treatment when it matters most.
• Planning for your future - 4% matched pension contribution to help build long-term financial security.
• Enhanced peace of mind - Life assurance cover at 2x your salary to provide additional protection for your loved ones.
• Everyday savings and perks - Access to MyStaffShop, our employee rewards platform, with savings across high street and online retailers.
• Support when you need it - 24/7 Employee Assistance Programme, occupational health services and confidential counselling.
• Supporting your growth as a leader - Ongoing leadership development and long-term career progression opportunities within a national organisation.
• Additional wellbeing benefits - Including eye care support, flu jab reimbursement and lifestyle discounts.
• Making work easier - Free on-site parking available at most of our locations.

Why Life Services Group

Life Services Group exists to help every family in Britain navigate the hardest moments of life. We bring together trusted names across funeral services, crematoria and cemeteries, legal services, direct cremation and wills, including Dignity Funeral Directors, CMG, Simplicity Cremations, Dignity Legal Services and Farewill, so families can get more of the support they need in one place.

Our ambition is to support one in three families across the UK as they plan for, navigate and deal with death. We want to set a new standard for care, service and simplicity across the sector.

Death is part of life, and being there for families when it matters is what we do. That means making difficult moments feel more supported, more straightforward and more human.

We are building a modern group that supports families at every stage, from planning ahead with wills and funeral plans, to arranging a funeral, cremation or burial, and managing probate afterwards. This is a defining moment for our business. With stronger foundations, clearer strategy and real momentum, we can change end-of-life care for the better. We are modernising how we work, investing in our colleagues and technology, and helping more families than any one brand could alone.

Wherever you work in Life Services Group, in one of our local teams, specialist brands or group functions, you'll be part of work with meaningful purpose. You will help families through some of life's hardest and most important moments.

Across all our brands, we want colleagues to grow with us through better training, stronger support, modern tools and clearer opportunities to build skills and confidence. You'll be part of teams who care deeply about what they do, look out for each other and take pride in doing work that matters.

You will also help shape the future of end-of-life care. That means making support simpler, more connected and more human for families, while each brand keeps the identity, expertise and community connection people already know and trust.

If you want a career with meaningful purpose, room to grow with us and the chance to shape the future, find your Life's work.

FCA Statement

Dignity is part of a group that includes FCA-regulated activities, and some roles may be subject to relevant training, screening, conduct, and regulatory requirements. This will be confirmed as part of the recruitment process.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Statement

Our vision is to connect with our clients, colleagues, company, and communities based on our principles whilst celebrating our differences. We aim to empower leaders and colleagues to seek out and understand new voices and perspectives; to be vocal about inequity and exclusion, and to take decisive, informed, and bold action to promote inclusion and belonging.