Management Accountant

Thames Water Utilities Limited; Reading; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual leave

Pension

Wellbeing benefits

Cycle to work

Job summary

Thames Water is seeking a Management Accountant to support regulatory finance and the wider financial control team. Hybrid role at Clearwater Court, RG1 8DB, with a 18-month fixed-term/secondment and part-time options.

The post reports to the Regulatory Finance Manager and underpins governance, cost reporting, and close processes. The role requires IFRS knowledge, accounting standards expertise and SAP experience, with a qualification such as ACA/CIMA/CPA.

Qualifications

• Accounting qualification (ACA, CIMA, CPA, CMA, CHAE or equivalent).
• Systems experience with SAP.

Responsibilities

• Support Regulatory Finance Manager during external audits; track and address control observations.
• Develop monthly regulatory reporting feeding into Management Reporting Packs with deadlines.
• Own quarterly cost allocations review for the division and streamline end-to-end process.
• Assist Water and Waste Finance Managers with ad hoc tasks and analytics.
• Contribute to regulatory accounting returns to Ofwat and improve submission quality.
• Ensure compliance with accounting standards and Thames Water control frameworks.

Skills

Stakeholder engagement

Prioritisation

Communication

Team player/ownership

Education

Accounting qualification (ACA, CIMA, CPA, CMA, CHAE or equivalent)

Tools

SAP

Job description

Job title Management Accountant Ref 45374 Division Finance & Commercial Location Hybrid - Clearwater Court - RG1 8DB Contract type Fixed term/Secondment Full/Part-time Full-time Hours 36 Salary Offering between £65,000 to £70,000 per annum Job grade B Closing date 07/10/2026

The role is reporting into the Regulatory Finance Manager in Divisional Financial Control. The Management Accountant is responsible for performing general accounting functions in addition to the communication and promotion of financial position, insight, governance and control within the business. The role will be to mainly support the Finance Managers and the Divisional Financial Controller on ad hoc tasks.

Activities will cover general ledger and cost accounting activities covering, but not limited to:-

journal calculation and processing, GL account reconciliation and overall ownership and support of the period end close, ensuring the accurate capturing and reporting of financial and performance activities of the business.

What you’ll be doing as a Management Accountant

• Support the Regulatory Finance Manager by taking a lead on the external audit commitments. Review the control observations raised and address these ahead of the next audit, improve timelines and quality of the judgement papers. Maintain the audit tracker and ensure submissions are done on time.
• Understand and develop the existing monthly regulatory reporting feeding into Management Reporting Packs. Liaise with Central Finance to ensure key deadlines are achieved. Responsible for validating the numbers are accurate ahead of publication and coordinating with the Heads of Finance for Waste/Water to ensure commentaries are updated.
• Take ownership of the quarterly cost allocations review for the full division and streamline the E2E process
• Support the Water and Waste Finance Managers with ad hoc tasks
• Be involved in control improvement projects and assist the Divisional Financial Controller.
• Support the production and preparation of the regulatory accounting returns to Ofwat. Streamline the processes to ensure quality submissions. Coordinate half-year regulatory drafts together with the wider team
• Support compliance with accounting standards and Thames Water control frameworks, including communicating with internal stakeholders to ensure core system data is clean and accurate.
• Respond to ad hoc requests for analytics, through the agreed demand management framework to provide support to Business Partners for costs visibility, business case preparation and investigation into financial performance.

This is a fixed term contract/secondment for 18 months, potential extension if the Finance Transformation continues.

What you should bring to the role

To thrive in this role, the essential criteria you’ll need is:

• Ability to interact with the Finance leadership team and other key stakeholders.
• Ability to effectively prioritise multiple tasks to meet deadlines and produce high quality work in a fast‑paced environment.
• Clear communication.
• Ability to work well as part of a team but also take ownership to complete tasks independently

Technical

• Knowledge and understanding of IFRS, tax reporting
• Excellent knowledge of financial statements.
• Demonstrate thorough knowledge of accounting principles, systems, and procedures.

Qualifications

• Accounting qualification (ACA, CIMA, CPA, CMA, CHAE or equivalent)
• Systems experience with SAP

What’s in it for you?

• Competitive salary from £65,000 to £70,000 per annum
• Annual Leave - 26 days holiday per year increasing to 30 with the length of service (plus bank holidays)
• Performance-related pay plan directly linked to company performance measures and targets
• Generous Pension Scheme through AON
• Access to lots of benefits to help you take care of you and your family’s health and wellbeing, and your finances – from annual health MOTs and access to physiotherapy and counselling, to Cycle to Work schemes, shopping vouchers and life assurance.

Find out more about our benefits and perks (Please note different T&Cs apply if on secondment)

Who are we?

We’re the UK’s largest water and wastewater company, with more than 16 million customers relying on us every day to supply water for their taps and toilets. We want to build a better future for all, helping our customers, communities, people, and the planet to thrive. It’s a big job and we’ve got a long way to go, so we need help from passionate and skilled people, committed to making a difference and getting us to where we want to be in the years and decades to come.

Thames Water is a unique, rewarding, and diverse place to work, where every day you can make a difference, yet no day is the same. As part of our family, you’ll enjoy meaningful career opportunities, flexible working arrangements and excellent benefits.

If you’re looking for a sustainable and successful career where you can make a daily difference to millions of people’s lives while helping to protect the world of water for future generations, we’ll be here to support you every step of the way. Together, we can build a better future for our customers, our region, and our planet.

Real purpose, real support, real opportunities. Come and join the Thames Water family. Why choose us? Learn more.

We’re committed to being a great, diverse, and inclusive place to work. We welcome applications from everyone and want to ensure you feel supported throughout the recruitment process . If you need any adjustments, whether that’s extra time, accessible formats, or anything else just let us know, we’re here to help and support .

When a crisis happens, we all rally around to support our customers. As part of Team Thames, you’ll have the opportunity to sign up to support our customers on the frontline as an ambassador. Full training will be given for what is undoubtedly an incredibly rewarding experience. It’s also a great opportunity to learn more about our business and meet colleagues.

Disclaimer: due to the high volume of applications we receive, we may close the advert earlier than the advertised date, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.