Project Accountant

Callen-Lenz; Salisbury; On-site; GBP 50,000 - 55,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

25 days annual leave

Pension via Royal London

Private Health Insurance (Bupa)

Life assurance 6x salary

Income protection 75%

Private Dental insurance (Bupa)

Share Incentive Plan

Training & development opportunities

Job summary

Callen-Lenz is seeking a Project Accountant to provide financial support to the Finance Manager and project teams in Salisbury, Wiltshire. You will own project reporting, analyze performance, and guide investment decisions to optimise outcomes.

The role requires ACCA/CIMA/ACA qualification (or part qualified) and strong Excel/MS Office proficiency. A dedicated benefits package accompanies the position in a supportive, growth-focused company culture.

Qualifications

• Experience in a business partnering role with stakeholders to drive programme performance.
• Advanced Excel and MS Office skills for financial reporting and analysis.
• Ability to manage multiple internal/external reporting deadlines with strong prioritisation.

Responsibilities

• Finance business partner to project teams to drive programme performance.
• Provide financial support for internal investment requests (R&D, CAPEX) and assess business cases.
• Manage EAC estimates, challenge assumptions, and improve forecast accuracy.

Skills

Business partnering

Financial communication

Prioritisation

Advanced Excel

MS Office proficiency

Education

ACCA/CIMA/ACA qualified or part qualified

Tools

ERP system

MS Office

Job description

Project Accountant

Position: Full-time

Location: Salisbury, Wiltshire, UK

Salary: £50,000- £55,000

At Callen-Lenz, we are expanding the limits of what is possible. We specialise in crewed and uncrewed aircraft operations and technology and having recently received investment into the business we are going through a period of rapid growth and development and are looking for key roles to assist with these changes. Callen-Lenz offers innovative and customer-focused UAS solutions through our 4 key business strands: technical services, products, platforms and operational services. We are looking for individuals to help drive forward our expansion, placing you at forefront of UAS development in the UK.

Our Values

• Innovation
• Integrity
• Collaboration
• Excellence

Why Work for Us

Based in the heart of rural Wiltshire, close to the Historic city of Salisbury you will join our rapidly growing, friendly and multi-disciplined team, working on a range of diverse and interesting projects, leading the way in this exciting field and witnessing the full lifecycle of our products. The Callen-Lenz team are passionate about what we do, and we are searching for individuals to grow with us as we expand into the aerospace industry.

Our benefits include:

• 25 days annual leave per year (plus bank holidays)
• Buy/Sell holiday policy up to 5 days either way
• Pension Scheme via Royal London
• Company contributed Share Incentive Plan.
• Green Car Scheme
• Life assurance scheme (6x basic salary)
• Income protection policy (75% of basic salary)
• Private Health Insurance via Bupa
• Private Dental insurance via Bupa
• Enhanced Maternity and paternity
• 1 Professional membership reimbursed per year
• 1 paid volunteering day per year
• Access to an independent financial advisor year round
• Training & development opportunities

About the role

In this role you will provide financial support and analysis to the Finance Manager and Project teams to drive financial performance on the programmes.

You will manage and be responsible for the financial and project reporting requirements for specific projects (including internal investment), providing accurate, timely and relevant management information as well as providing advice and guidance to the project teams.

Responsibilities

• Finance business partner to the project teams, providing financial support and guidance to drive programme performance.
• Provide Financial support to requests for internal investment (R&D and CAPEX) to ensure business cases are understood and there is a route to recovering the investment through future work.
• Support the project team to manage the Estimate At Completion (EAC), challenging estimates and assumptions to drive financial performance.
• Produce monthly project financial reporting and analysis for the project teams.
• Identify and mitigate financial risks associated with the organisation's operations and projects.
• Own the investment register and produce monthly analysis to help the management team understand movements in project financial performance.
• Produce timely and accurate project forecasts for Order Intake, Revenue, Profit and Cash Flow and complete monthly variance analysis against actuals to help the business understand its performance.
• Complete monthly Revenue recognition under IFRS15 for your projects.
• Drive improvements with working capital management on the projects and produce analysis/reporting to highlight performance to management.

Health & Safety

• Demonstrate in daily activities a commitment to health and safety in the workplace by always ensuring tasks are performed in the safest possible manner.
• Report all hazards and incidents that the individual is party to, or observes, in the correct manner.
• When required or directed, participate in any health and safety training.

About You

Qualifications

ACCA/CIMA/ACA Qualified or part qualified

Skills and Experience

Essential

• Experience of working in a business partnering capacity with the ability to build strong relationships and challenge the status quo.
• Experienced in communicating financial knowledge across all levels of an organisation and cross-functionally.
• Excellent prioritisation and self-management skills are key, as is the ability to manage and meet a wide variety of internal and external reporting deadlines.
• Advanced Excel skills and proficient in MS Office.

Desirable

• Experience in Project Accounting roles.
• Understanding of revenue recognition under IFRS 15.
• Experience of working in an ERP system environment.

Personal Attributes

• Must be a British Citizen or have an existing right to work in the UK.
• A confident communicator.
• Excellent problem-solving ability.
• Ability to work well in a team and good at building relationships.
• Enthusiasm for their work and self-motivated.
• Ability to hold Security Clearance – 5 years residence in the UK.

Callen-Lenz is an equal opportunities employer, committed to building an inclusive working environment. We welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of their race, sex, disability, religion/belief, sexual orientation, or age. It is essential that the successful candidate must, by the start of their employment have permission to work in the UK. Proof of identity and eligibility to work in the UK will be required prior to commencement of employment.

Please be aware that many roles at BAE Systems are subject to both security and export control restrictions. These restrictions mean that factors such as your nationality, any nationalities you may have previously held, and your place of birth can restrict the roles you are eligible to perform within the organisation. All applicants must as a minimum achieve Baseline Personnel Security Standard. Many roles also require higher levels of National Security Vetting where applicants must typically have 5 to 10 years of continuous residency in the UK depending on the vetting level required for the role, to allow for meaningful security vetting checks.