Senior Finance Systems Accountant

The University of Manchester; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 80,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading UK university is seeking a Senior Finance Systems Accountant to enhance finance processes through system improvements. This role involves collaboration with IT and Finance teams, leading projects, and developing training. The position offers a competitive salary, generous annual leave, and opportunities for professional growth. This is a hybrid role, working two days a week at the university's campus in Manchester.

Benefits

Generous annual leave of 29 days + bank holidays

Additional 4 days off between Christmas and New Year

Comprehensive employee assistance programme

Leading pension schemes

Training and career opportunities

Qualifications

• Experience in delivering improvements in complex finance systems.
• Ability to develop training modules and presentations.
• Strong IT skills for system enhancements.

Responsibilities

• Drive system and process improvements for business needs.
• Lead small projects or change initiatives effectively.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to deliver system developments.

Skills

Finance systems expertise

Strong accounting skills

Excellent customer service

Attention to detail

Proactive team player

Job description

Overview

Are you a finance professional with a passion for innovation and efficiency? Join the UoM Finance Systems Team and lead exciting improvements to our Finance Systems landscape. Make a real difference in how we deliver solutions that enhance finance processes and meet business requirements across the University!

The Role

As a Senior Finance Systems Accountant reporting to the Head of Finance Systems, you will:

• Drive system and process improvements, delivering tailored solutions to meet business needs.
• Lead small projects or change initiatives, combining strong technical expertise with accounting knowledge to maximise system functionality.
• Build deep understanding of interconnected systems, data flows, and configurations.
• Develop and deliver training modules and presentations to a variety of audiences.
• Collaborate closely with IT, Finance, and external stakeholders to deliver seamless system developments and support.

This is a hands-on role where you will work on system updates and improvements that directly impact our operations.

While the role is predominantly a development and improvement role, the Finance Systems team operate as one, sharing knowledge and upskilling each other to support everything that we do, which means you may occasionally be required to support priority incidents (i.e. P1 or P2) involving out-of-hours or weekend work. Flexibility and a commitment to maintaining system uptime are important aspects of working in our team.

Our team currently works on a hybrid basis, comprising 2 days per week working from our Oxford Road campus.

Our University is positive about flexible working - you can find out more here.

The Team

About Finance Systems

The Finance Systems team is a small (5-10 person) team within Financial Services (Central Finance), working closely alongside the areas of Financial control, Corporate finance, Tax, and Finance Operations.

As part of the wider Directorate of Finance we are responsible for maintaining the Oracle Financials application, along with a number of other finance and reporting packages.

Our mission is to be experts in the systems we maintain and the environment in which we operate, providing exceptional guidance, support and insight to all users and working collaboratively with IT partners to deliver modern, innovative solutions to meet the needs of the Directorate and the University as a whole.

Primary responsibilities of the Finance Systems team include providing systems support to users, overseeing systems processes at month ends, responding to requests and issues as they arise, report development and distribution, ensuring systems-based control and reconciliations processes are in place and well managed, and supporting the continuous improvement of finance systems and processes.

About the Directorate

The Directorate of Finance comprises approx. 240 employees spread across 8 different teams managing a variety of finance activities. We are part of the Professional Services Faculty of the University of Manchester.

You can find more information here: Professional Services at The University of Manchester.

The Person

The successful candidate should be able to demonstrate:

• That they are a finance systems expert, preferably with Higher Education sector or equivalent experience delivering improvements in a complex finance system landscape
• Possess strong accounting and IT skills, demonstrating accuracy and attention to detail
• Excellent customer service skills and the ability to deliver a high-quality and professional service, maintaining good working relationships across the University
• A strong team player, with a proactive and dedicated work ethic and able to work with minimal supervision
• A continues improvement mindset and capability to adapt processes to adequately support business activities

What you can expect in return

As well as a competitive salary, and working for an internationally recognised University:

• A generous annual leave entitlement of 29 days + bank holidays
• Additional 4 days off between Christmas and New Year - on top of annual leave entitlement
• Access to a comprehensive employee assistance programme, supporting your physical, mental, and financial health and legal advice
• Leading pensions schemes, travel season tickets loans, workplace nursery, staff networking groups discounts for all the family to enjoy and so much more.
• Training, career opportunities, and continuous professional development.
• Find out more about all the benefits of working at the University of Manchester here

As an equal opportunities employer we welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of age, sex, gender (or gender identity), ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation and transgender status. All appointments are made on merit.

The Finance Systems team works on a hybrid basis, comprising 2 days per week working from the University of Manchester Oxford Road campus.

Our University is positive about flexible working - you can find out more here.

Selection Arrangements

We are expecting to hold in-person interviews for successful candidates late October or early November 2025. These interviews will be in person at the University of Manchester's Oxford Road Campus.

We ask candidates to use the relevant section of the application form to inform us of all dates they are unavailable for interview, so that these can be taken into consideration for the interview arrangements.

Enquiries about the vacancy, shortlisting and interviews:

Name: Mike Hale

Email: [e-mail]

General enquiries:

Email: [e-mail]

Technical support:

https://jobseekersupport.jobtrain.co.uk/support/home

This vacancy will close for applications at midnight on the closing date.

Please see the link below for the Further Particulars document which contains the person specification criteria.