Research Accountant

University of Bath; Bath; On-site; GBP 47,000 - 57,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading educational institution in Bath is seeking a Research Accountant to manage financial accounting and reporting for research activities. The role involves preparing financial reports, advising stakeholders, and maintaining data accuracy. Candidates should have strong accounting skills and experience in the Higher Education sector. Hybrid working is available, enhancing work-life balance.

Benefits

Free counselling services

Cycle to work scheme

Generous annual leave allowance

Relocation allowance

Visa reimbursement

Qualifications

• Experience or interest in the Higher Education sector.
• Ability to work collaboratively across teams.
• Experience in budgeting, forecasting, and reporting.

Responsibilities

• Lead financial accounting for research activities.
• Prepare monthly accounting of research costs.
• Maintain detailed reports and ensure data accuracy.

Skills

Strong accounting skills

Excellent communication skills

Good Excel skills

Analytical skills

Education

Qualified accountant

Tools

Finance systems

Job description

Overview

Research Accountant

Department: Finance & Procurement

Salary: Starting from £47,389, rising to £56,535

Closing date: Sunday 05 October 2025

We’re looking for a Research Accountant to join our team to take the lead on the financial accounting and reporting of the University’s research activities. You’ll play a key role in ensuring accurate financial management, compliance, and insightful reporting, while also acting as a trusted business partner to Research Institutes and Core Research Facilities.

What you’ll do

• Monthly accounting of research costs and preparing quarterly/annual accounts
• Providing research income and overhead estimates for departmental planning purposes
• Offering advice to financial and non-financial stakeholders, building strong working relationships
• Maintaining detailed reports, supporting external returns (e.g. HESA), and ensuring accuracy of data
• Acting as Finance Business Partner for Research Institutes and Core Research Facilities, supporting budget planning, financial monitoring and overhead calculations

The role sits within the Management Information Section (MIS) team. We provide financial support to Academic and Professional Services departments, with responsibility for planning, budgeting, monitoring and reporting.

The department is based in the Virgil Building in the centre of Bath, and there will be a requirement to work on the main campus at times; however, hybrid working is one of the many ways we recognise the importance of achieving a positive work-life balance. Whilst the exact days you can work remotely will differ between teams and departments, it should provide you with greater flexibility, provided you are in the UK. Learn more about our future ways of working on our website and explore further at interview.

What we’re looking for

• A qualified accountant with experience or an interest in the Higher Education sector and how universities are funded.
• Strong accounting skills, including budgeting, forecasting and other reporting.
• Excellent communication and analytical skills.
• The ability to work collaboratively across academic and administrative teams.
• Good Excel skills and experience of using finance systems.

Further information

The Finance and Procurement Office is responsible for handling the University’s income, expenditure, financial performance and procurement processes, ensuring value for money in its financial activities. In addition, the department provides high-quality management accounting support, as well as compliance with statutory and regulatory bodies.

We consider ourselves to be a university where difference is celebrated, respected and encouraged. We have an excellent international reputation with staff from over 60 different nations and have made a positive commitment towards gender equality and intersectionality, receiving a Silver Athena SWAN award. We truly believe that diversity of experience, perspectives, and backgrounds will lead to a better environment for our employees and students and encourage applications from all genders, backgrounds, and communities, particularly from underrepresented groups, and value the positive impact that will have on the university. We are committed to maintaining a safe and secure environment for our students, staff, and community by reinforcing our Safer Recruitment commitment.

We're very proud to be a signatory of the Armed Forces Covenant, an accredited Disability Confident Leader, autism-friendly university, committed to building disability confidence and supporting disabled staff.

What we can offer you

We're continually expanding our benefits package to better support you and enhance your experience with us, and the following is just an example of some of the many great benefits we offer:

• Free counselling services through Health Assured
• Cycle to work scheme
• Electric vehicle salary sacrifice scheme
• Staff discount at Team Bath gym
• Staff discounts on postgraduate tuition fees
• Staff discount on language courses
• Generous employer contributory pension schemes
• Generous annual leave allowance with an additional 5 discretionary days so that you can enjoy a positive work-life balance
• A wide range of personal and professional development opportunities, including Apprenticeships, LinkedIn Learning and more
• Free entry to the Holburne Museum in Bath
• Local discounts and more
• A family-friendly workplace
• An excellent reward package that recognises the talents of our diverse workforce
• Relocation allowance
• Visa reimbursement and an Interest-Free Loan to help with the cost of some immigration expenses

Find out more about our benefits and watch the video to hear from our staff about what makes the University of Bath a great place to work on our website, as well as following us X and LinkedIn.