Project Finance Lead - Capital & Investment

BAE Systems.; Carnforth; Hybrid; GBP 57,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading defense contractor in the UK is seeking a Project Finance Lead to join their Air Project Finance Capability Centre. This role involves delivering finance support for customer projects, ensuring accuracy in financial reporting, and fostering a data-driven culture. The ideal candidate is a fully qualified accountant with strong Excel skills and the ability to influence stakeholders. Join a diverse team focused on continuous improvement and best-in-class financial performance management.

Benefits

Competitive pension scheme

Employee share plans

Flexible health and wellbeing benefits

Qualifications

• Fully qualified accountant with relevant certification.
• Ability to communicate effectively with stakeholders.
• Advanced proficiency in Excel and MS Office.

Responsibilities

• Deliver customer-focused Project Finance support.
• Ensure accurate and timely reporting of financial performance.
• Contribute to digital transformation and financial process improvement.

Skills

Advanced Excel

MS Office proficiency

Influence and communication skills

Experience in supporting teams

Education

Fully qualified accountant (CIMA, ACA, ICAEW, or ACCA)

Tools

Power BI

Power Query

Job description

Job Title: Project Finance Capability Centre - Project Finance Lead

Location: Warton - We offer a range of hybrid and flexible working arrangements - please speak to your recruiter about the options for this particular role

Salary: £56,766+

What you’ll be doing

The Project Accountant will be a member of the FP&A Project Performance job family and will deliver ongoing support across Project Finance, as well as the wider Finance function. The exact responsibilities will be depend on business need but based on previous experience are likely to include:

• Delivering customer focused Project Finance support as part of the Capability Centre, aiding the Business Unit in the effective and profitable delivery of customer projects by owning all Finance aspects of the project life cycle
• Delivering best-in-class financial planning, analysis and insights, to all internal and external customers, to drive growth and deliver superior performance.
• Contributing to the implementation of common and consistent Project Finance processes, a culture of performance excellence and “right first time”, and optimising key financial controls
• Ensuring that the financial performance of projects is reported accurately and on time, producing forward forecasts so that stakeholders have the information required for effective decision-making.
• Contributing to the modernisation of Project Finance and delivery of continuous improvement
• Contributing to a data focused and digital culture whilst digitising ways of working through the support of implementation of digital project management, reporting and financial toolsets. Using dashboards to provide insights and improve performance. Support ownership of data, and drive focus on “right at source”, to prevent manual corrections / duplication of data
• The role requires an individual with strong leadership skills, influencing through strong internal networks within finance and collaboration with other functions. You will collaborate with internal stakeholders, including Finance Business Partners (FBPs) and Integrated Project Teams (IPTs).
• The role holder will work independently on the majority of tasks reporting into the Project Finance Capability Centre Team leads.

Your skills and experiences

Essential:

• Fully qualified accountant (CIMA, ACA, ICAEW, or ACCA - AAT not accepted)
• Ability to influence and communicate effectively with stakeholders and cross-functional teams
• Experience in supporting and developing teams
• Advanced Excel and MS Office proficiency

Desirable Skills

• Experience using Power BI or Power Query for analysis and reporting
• Background in project accounting or financial project support

Benefits

As well as a competitive pension scheme, BAE Systems also offers employee share plans, an extensive range of flexible discounted health, wellbeing and lifestyle benefits, including a green car scheme, private health plans and shopping discounts - you may also be eligible for an annual incentive.

Team

Join our Air Project Finance Capability Centre, a cornerstone of financial excellence within BAE Systems Air Sector. The team of around 150 finance professionals provides end-to-end project finance support across the Air portfolio, from advanced technology contracts to major production and world-class support programmes. Working at the heart of a through-life business, the team delivers best-in-class financial planning, analysis, and insight to enable effective strategy-making and drive sustainable performance. With a focus on consistency, digital transformation, and continuous improvement, the team is shaping the future of project finance through smarter data use, modernised systems, and a culture of “right first time” delivery.

Why BAE Systems?

This is a place where you’ll be able to make a real difference. You’ll be part of an inclusive culture that values diversity of thought, rewards integrity, and merit, and where you’ll be empowered to fulfil your potential. We welcome people from all backgrounds and want to make sure that our recruitment processes are as inclusive as possible. If you have a disability or health condition (for example dyslexia, autism, an anxiety disorder etc.) that may affect your performance in certain assessment types, please speak to your recruiter about potential reasonable adjustments.

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.

Closing Date

12th January 2026

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.