Management Accountant

Forestry Commission; Bristol; On-site; GBP 40,000; Full time

Job summary

Join the Forestry Commission as a Management Accountant and play a key role in enhancing financial performance for the recreation and leisure sector. This position requires delivering high-quality management accounting services, insightful financial reporting, and collaboration with operational teams to support financial decision-making.

Benefits

Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension Scheme

28.97% pension contribution

25 days holiday increasing with service

Employee benefits scheme for discounts

Free parking at sites

Commitment to career development

Qualifications

• Proficient in financial systems and Microsoft Excel.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Part qualified with a recognized IFAC body.

Responsibilities

• Deliver high-quality management accounting services.
• Provide insightful financial reporting and analysis.
• Support continuous improvement in financial performance.

Skills

Analytical Skills

Problem-Solving

Budget Management

Financial Performance Analysis

Data Analysis

Communication of Financial Data

Education

Part Qualified Accountant (AAT, ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA)

Tools

Microsoft Excel

Power BI

Job description

Stoke Gifford, South West England, BS16 1EJ

Job Summary

What you’ll do…

Role

As a Management Accountant, you will play a key role in supporting Forestry England’s recreation and leisure business. You will:

• Deliver high-quality management accounting services
• Provide insightful financial reporting and analysis
• Support continuous improvement in financial performance and data quality
• Collaborate with operational teams and finance colleagues to enhance financial decision-making
  
  

Please see the job description below for more information and details about what we need from you.

Job Description

Management accounting

• lead month-end processes, ensuring timely and accurate reporting
• prepare financial reports for recreation and leisure activities
• monitor and forecast income and expenditure
• create and post journals
  
  

Financial planning

• support the development and submission of annual business plans
• provide financial analysis to inform strategic and operational planning
• contribute to financial appraisals and cost-saving initiatives
  
  

Reporting

• build strong relationships with budget holders to support financial understanding
• produce financial reports for specific business areas
• contribute to the Annual Report & Accounts and audit processes
• track and report on KPIs, including non-financial metrics
  
  

Data Management

• ensure financial data integrity in collaboration with operational and finance teams
• identify and correct material miscoding and ensure timely accruals
• develop and enhance financial reporting tools and outputs
  
  

Occasional travel and overnight stays required.

And any other tasks, reasonably requested by your line manager.

Management accounting

• lead month-end processes, ensuring timely and accurate reporting
• prepare financial reports for recreation and leisure activities
• monitor and forecast income and expenditure
• create and post journals
  
  

Financial planning

• support the development and submission of annual business plans
• provide financial analysis to inform strategic and operational planning
• contribute to financial appraisals and cost-saving initiatives
  
  

Reporting

• build strong relationships with budget holders to support financial understanding
• produce financial reports for specific business areas
• contribute to the Annual Report & Accounts and audit processes
• track and report on KPIs, including non-financial metrics
  
  

Data Management

• ensure financial data integrity in collaboration with operational and finance teams
• identify and correct material miscoding and ensure timely accruals
• develop and enhance financial reporting tools and outputs
  
  

Occasional travel and overnight stays required.

And any other tasks, reasonably requested by your line manager.

Person specification

Essential Professional And Technical Experience

• proficient in financial systems and Microsoft excel
• strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• budget management and forecasting
• financial performance analysis
• communicating financial data to non-finance stakeholders
• data analysis and visualisation
  
  

Desirable Professional And Technical Experience

• power BI
• knowledge of public sector finance, including Managing Public Money and HM Treasury’s FreM
• familiarity with International Accounting Standards
• costing, pricing and benchmarking
• business case development
• capital project evaluation
• working in a shared service or a national team environment
  
  

Essential Qualifications

• part qualified accountant (or equivalent experience) with a recognised IFAC body (e.g. AAT, ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA)
  
  

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing
  
  

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• More information provided to those successful at sift.
  
  

Alongside your salary of £39,135, Forestry Commission contributes £11,337 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Benefits…

Alongside your salary, Forestry England contributes an average of 28.97% towards your pension. You will become a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension Scheme.

• 25 days holiday a year, raising by one day every year’s service, up to 30 days (pro-rated for part time employees) plus additional days off such as bank holidays.
• STaR is our employee benefits scheme offering discounts on everyday supermarket shopping, as well as other things such as hotel stays clothes, mobile phones, other electrical items, medical and car insurance, holidays, gym discounts, household bills, Headspace wellbeing app.
• free parking at Forestry England sites and free entry to our National Arboretums at Westonbirt and Bedgebury.
• a commitment to lifelong learning through career development. Forestry England will support your career development in a variety of ways, including continual professional development, support for individual learning plans and sponsored membership of professional bodies.
  
  

Read more about the benefits on the Forestry England website.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.

How To Apply…

You will be asked to write a 200 word statement on your relevant experience and career history, along with a personal statement of no more than 500 words. You will be assessed on both during sifting. More details about how to apply are listed on the application form.

You will be assessed on a technical skill and strength based questions during your interview.

The Behaviours being assessed at interview are –

• Managing a Quality Service: Have a clear understanding of stakeholders’ needs and expectations. Plan, organise and manage your time to deliver a high-quality service. Act to prevent problems by identifying issues, reporting them and providing solutions.
• Working Together: Establish professional relationships with a range of stakeholders, and collaborate with them to share information, resources and support. Invest time to develop a common focus and genuine positive team spirit where colleagues feel valued and respect one another.
• Delivering at Pace: Always work with focus and pace to get the job done on time and to a high standard. Have a positive and focused attitude to achieving outcomes, despite any setbacks
• Communicating and Influencing: Communicate in a straightforward, honest and engaging manner, choosing appropriate systems to maximise understanding and impact.
  
  

Successful candidates will undergo a criminal record check and the government baseline personnel security standard check.

If you require any reasonable adjustments, please email [e-mail].

Read more about our application process and working with us on the Forestry England website.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This Job Is Broadly Open To The Following Groups

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
  
  

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job Contact

• Name : FC Recruitment Team
• Email : [e-mail]
  
  

Recruitment team

• Email : [e-mail]
  
  

Further information

Our recruitment process is underpinned by the principle of appointment on the basis of fair and open competition and appointment on merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles.If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact FCE by email: [e-mail]. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission, which regulates all Civil Service recruitment.