Senior Finance Manager - Accounting & Controls

easyJet; City Of London; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading airline company in the UK seeks a Senior Finance Manager to oversee accounting and controls within operational costs. This role involves managing a team, consolidating financial results, and driving process improvements. The ideal candidate will have a professional qualification and extensive experience in financial management, with strong leadership skills. Benefits include a competitive salary, bonuses, and flexible packages.

Benefits

Competitive base salary

Up to 30% bonus

25 days holiday

Flexible benefits package

Excellent staff travel benefits

Qualifications

• 10 years post qualification experience.
• Extensive experience of leading a transactional team.
• Proven ability to digest and interpret processing complexity.

Responsibilities

• Oversight of accounting and controls within operational costs.
• Consolidating financial results and summarising monthly performance.
• Drives supplier, operational and finance process improvements.

Skills

Professional Qualification (ACA, ACCA, CIMA)

IT literacy (Excel, VBA, SQL)

Leadership ability

Attention to detail

Communication ability

Education

Professional Qualification

Job description

Senior Finance Manager – Accounting and Controls

easyJet is a successful FTSE 100 company. When it comes to innovation and achievement there are few organisations with a better track record. Join us and you'll be able to play a big part in the success of our highly successful, fast‑paced business that opens up Europe so people can exercise their get‑up and go. With over 340 aircraft flying over 800 routes to more than 30 countries, we’re the UK's largest airline, the fourth largest in Europe and the tenth largest in the world. Flying over 94 million passengers a year, we employ over 20,000 people.

Job Purpose

Reporting to the Head of Financial Transactions, this is a key management role within the team and provides complete oversight of all accounting and controls within operational costs. This role will also be responsible for 3 direct reports and a wider team of 20 to support and deliver the activities under the leadership of this role.

• The Senior Finance Manager for Accounting and Controls has full accountability for overseeing the accounting across all areas within operations finance and responsible for all balance sheet reconciliations.
• Consolidating financial results across all areas within operations and summarising monthly performance.
• Providing a business partnership between the group financial control and the business partners within the operations finance team.
• Responsible for understanding and explaining all month end and accounting activities.
• Accountability for consistent accounting and evidence of key controls across all teams within the Transactions team and providing a true first line of defence.
• Delivering understanding and analysis on actuals and ensuring a true understanding of accounting & relevant accounting principles and guidance across all business partners.

Job Accountabilities

Business Partnering

• Provides a true Business Partner framework for both Operations Finance and Group Financial Control, ensuring that the business partners are supported with the right insight and information at all times. This role is accountable for all accounting and control related matters and will be the key contact during internal and external audits.

Business Partnering – Financial Leadership

• Reporting against all planning cycles including Budget, Prior year and PBT.
• Development of holistic deep dives to provide oversight into cost creep areas.
• Month end reporting and analysis.
• Ad-hoc projects.

Strategy & Performance

• Develops and delivers presentations to senior management regarding business performance and metrics that impact business outcomes.
• Helps identify cost areas for review that serve as a catalyst for change by helping leaders and managers deliver successful change programmes that impact on the business.
• Prompts emergent risks and issues to drive strategic interventions and business action.
• Supports reporting required for half year and full year guidance.
• Drives supplier, operational and finance process improvements for Operations finance.

Accounting and Control

• Has responsibility for all control, accounting and reporting activities.
• Ensuring the financial accuracy and consistency of the Group and entity Balance sheet for all areas of operations finance; including the timely production and review of all balance sheet reconciliations and journals in accordance with easyJet accounting policies.
• Ownership of the financial accuracy of the P & L and Balance Sheet including balance sheet reconciliations and accounting judgements in areas of responsibility.
• Creates timetable for Operations finance, in line with that issued by Group financial control, to ensure that all activities are produced in a timely manner and there are no surprises.
• Producing quality monthly reporting on variances; variance analysis to budget, forecast and prior year; identifying key cost differences and drivers to provide to the business partners.
• Drive confidence in the numbers recorded and communicate risks and opportunities to the business.
• Drive continuous improvement; actively engage in development of underlying reports, processes & systems.
• Supervise the input of new airports and ground handling rates and ensure any change in fuel suppliers and commodities are immediately captured to be able to account for these correctly.
• Ensure accuracy of billing from suppliers & where necessary, that errors are quickly identified & recovered.
• Supporting the annual audit process for areas of accountability including delivering key audit papers on areas of judgement to support all key accounting decisions.
• Ensures a robust control environment for the A & C team.

People Leadership, Relationships and Influence

• Providing strong leadership of the team as part of the Transactions Finance team.
• Leading and motivating the wider Finance department through effective cross functional relationships.
• Ability to build and lead a high-performing team who are focussed on providing accurate and robust accounting and controls, whilst providing insight to business partners.
• Deep understanding of knowing when to escalate issues and when to inform senior management of decisions being taken.
• Serves as a subject matter expert to the business regarding the use of financial insight and analysis to drive business performance and delivery.

Requirements of the Role

Competencies

• Ownership and Delivery – Has a clear focus to drive delivery of results, working to targets, reviewing progress and adapting their plans accordingly, motivating themselves and the team to achieve.
• Business Performance – Understands business and external environment, is cost conscious and understands the longer term perspective and implications of decisions.
• Innovation and Change – Is open to new ways of doing things and questions existing approaches, views change as an opportunity, comfortable working in a dynamic and ambiguous environment.
• Building Relationships – Expresses ideas confidently and clearly, builds positive and constructive relationships with others, gets to know colleagues within their own team and supports them to ensure team goals are achieved.

Key Skills Required

• Professional Qualification (ACA, ACCA, CIMA) and 10 years post qualification experience.
• A high level of IT literacy is essential eg excel, VBA, SQL.
• Extensive experience of leading a transactional team.
• Proven ability to digest and interpret processing complexity.
• Proven track record of sound and practical accounting judgement.
• Proven record of having a strong attention to detail in ensuring the accuracy of the financial accounts and supporting ledgers.
• Proven ability-based experience in talent management, organisational design, learning and development and resourcing.
• Proven leadership and communication ability.
• Able to confidently explain financial matters to both finance and non-finance contacts at various levels of seniority.
• Experience of operating at senior manager level and engaging with Directors.
• A track record of delivery and hitting deadlines.
• A proactive team player.
• An ability to work on own initiative, taking minimal direction and offer solutions to problems.

Benefits

• Competitive base salary.
• Up to 30% bonus.
• 25 days holiday.
• BAYE, SAYE & Performance share schemes.
• 7% pension.
• Life Assurance.
• Flexible benefits package.
• Excellent staff travel benefits.

Location & Hours of Work

This full‑time role will be based in Luton and will be 40 hours per week.