Lead Accountant

Burberry; Leeds; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Burberry is seeking an RTR Lead Accountant to oversee the delivery of accurate financial reporting for its UK and Italy supply chain operations. You will provide leadership across record-to-report activities, ensuring compliance with IFRS and local standards, while strengthening controls.

You will drive process improvements, lead a team, and collaborate with stakeholders to deliver timely statutory accounts and drive automation.

Qualifications

• Qualified accountant with ACA/CA/ACCA/CIMA and post-qualification experience.
• Strong IFRS or local GAAP knowledge within a complex organisation.
• Experience leading accounting teams and developing staff.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills with stakeholders at all levels.
• Proficiency with SAP, BPC, Excel or Power BI; multi-currency experience is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Oversee month-end delivery, journals, balance sheet reconciliations and cash-flow reporting.
• Lead preparation and review of statutory accounts and local compliance reporting.
• Maintain internal controls over financial reporting and policy compliance.
• Provide direction to the team on priorities, deadlines and standards.
• Drive simplification, standardisation and automation of finance processes; use analysis to resolve issues.
• Partner with finance and other functions to implement change initiatives and system improvements.

Skills

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Process improvement

Data analysis

Education

ACA/CA/ACCA/CIMA

Tools

SAP

BPC

Power BI

Advanced Excel

Job description

At Burberry, we believe creativity opens spaces. Our purpose is to unlock the power of imagination to push boundaries and open new possibilities for our people, our customers and our communities. This is the core belief that has guided Burberry since it was founded in 1856 and is central to how we operate as a company today. We aim to provide an environment for creative minds from different backgrounds to thrive, bringing a wide range of skills and experiences to everything we do. As a purposeful, values-driven brand, we are committed to being a force for good in the world as well, creating the next generation of sustainable luxury for customers, driving industry change and championing our communities.

Job Purpose

We are hiring an RTR Lead Accountant to oversee the delivery of accurate, high-quality financial reporting for Burberry’s UK and Italy Supply Chain operations. You will provide leadership across record-to-report activities, ensuring compliance with Group policies, IFRS, local accounting standards and agreed service levels. Combining technical accounting expertise with an improvement-focused approach, you will strengthen controls, develop the team and help shape simpler, more effective ways of working.

Responsibilities

• Oversee month-end delivery, reviewing journals, balance sheet reconciliations, cash-flow reporting and management information for accuracy and quality.
• Lead the preparation and review of statutory accounts, local compliance activities and periodic returns, ensuring timely completion and submission.
• Maintain compliance with Group policies and ensure the effective operation of internal controls over financial reporting.
• Provide clear direction to the team on responsibilities, priorities, deadlines and expected standards while supporting development and collaboration.
• Drive the simplification, standardisation and automation of finance processes, using structured analysis to identify and resolve underlying issues.
• Partner with finance colleagues and other functions to deliver change initiatives, improve systems and respond effectively to stakeholder needs.

Personal Profile

• A professionally qualified accountant, such as ACA, CA, ACCA or CIMA, with relevant post-qualification accounting experience.
• Strong technical accounting knowledge, including experience applying IFRS or local GAAP within a complex organisation.
• Experience leading or supervising accounting colleagues, with the ability to set priorities, provide guidance and support professional development.
• A collaborative communicator who can build credibility and influence technical and non-technical stakeholders at different levels.
• A continuous-improvement mindset, with experience translating business needs into practical process, control or service enhancements.
• Confidence working with financial systems and complex data, ideally including SAP, BPC, advanced Excel or Power BI; experience in a multicurrency environment would be advantageous.

Burberry is an Equal Opportunities Employer and as such, treats all applications equally and recruits purely on the basis of skills and experience.