Senior Management Accountant

ScS; Sunderland; On-site; GBP 41,000 - 51,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

33 days holidays

Employee discounts

Pension scheme

Life assurance

Job summary

ScS is recruiting a Senior Management Accountant in Sunderland to join the Finance team. You will lead a small team and provide high-quality financial insight to support strategic decisions and business performance.

Reporting to the Head of Management Accounts, you will drive month-end close, lead on financial analysis, and ensure robust controls. The role offers progression within a fast-paced retailer environment.

Qualifications

• Fully qualified accountant (e.g., ACA, ACCA, CIMA) or equivalent professional qualification.
• 5+ years’ experience in management accounts.
• Strong technical accounting knowledge incl. accruals, prepayments, reconciliations, and month-end close.
• Experience producing monthly management accounts and financial performance reports.
• Proven ability to analyse complex financial information and communicate findings clearly.

Responsibilities

• Prepare accurate monthly management accounts in line with deadlines.
• Lead month-end close including journals, accruals and prepayments.
• Provide variance analysis and commentary against budget and forecast.
• Deliver high-quality reporting to support operational and strategic decisions.
• Maintain balance sheet reconciliations and resolve issues promptly.
• Ensure general ledger integrity and compliance with controls and standards.
• Identify risks and opportunities to improve processes and reporting.
• Support tax, VAT, statutory reporting and audits.
• Develop and coach the Finance team.

Skills

Fully qualified accountant

5+ years’ experience

Financial analysis

Excel

ERP systems

Budgeting

Attention to detail

Education

ACCA/ACA/CIMA or equivalent

Tools

ERP

Microsoft Excel

Job description

Department: Finance

Location: Sunderland - Customer Support Centre

Compensation: £46,000 / year

Description

We are looking to recruit a Senior Management Accountant to join our Finance team. This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in a fast-paced business, providing high-quality financial insight to support strategic decision-making and business performance.

What's the opportunity?

Reporting to the Head of Management Accounts, the Senior Management Accountant will lead a team of two Management Accountants and one Assistant Management Accountant, ensuring the delivery of accurate, timely and insightful management information.

The role is responsible for maintaining strong financial controls, supporting effective decision-making through financial analysis, and driving continuous improvement across financial processes, systems and reporting. Working closely with stakeholders across the business, the successful candidate will help deliver efficient financial operations while contributing to the achievement of organisational requirements.

What does the role involve?

• Prepare accurate and timely monthly management accounts in line with agreed reporting deadlines.
• Lead the month-end close process, ensuring journals, accruals, prepayments and reconciliations are completed accurately.
• Produce variance analysis and financial commentary to explain performance against budget, forecast and prior periods.
• Deliver high-quality financial reporting and analysis to support operational and strategic decision-making.
• Ensure balance sheet reconciliations are completed accurately and outstanding issues are resolved promptly.
• Maintain the integrity of the general ledger and ensure compliance with financial policies, accounting standards and internal controls.
• Identify financial risks, control weaknesses and opportunities to improve processes and reporting.
• Support tax, VAT, statutory reporting requirements and internal and external audits.
• Build effective working relationships with stakeholders across Finance and the wider business.
• Deputise for the Head of Management Accounts when required.
• Lead, coach and support two Management Accountants and one Assistant Management Accountant, reviewing work to ensure accuracy, consistency and timely delivery.
• Support the development of the finance team by sharing technical knowledge, promoting best practice and helping to manage workloads and reporting deadlines.

Who are we looking for?

• Fully qualified accountant (e.g., ACA, ACCA, CIMA) or equivalent professional qualification.
• 5 or more years’ experience of working within management accounts.
• Strong technical accounting knowledge, including accruals, prepayments, balance sheet reconciliations, and month-end close processes.
• Experience of preparing monthly management accounts and financial performance reports.
• Proven ability to analyse complex financial information and communicate findings clearly to both finance and non-finance stakeholders.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with excellent attention to detail and accuracy.
• Good understanding of financial controls, governance, and accounting standards.
• Experience of using integrated finance systems (ERP) and advanced Microsoft Excel skills.
• Ability to manage competing priorities and consistently deliver to tight deadlines.
• Strong organisational and planning skills with the ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Experience of supervising, coaching, or supporting the development of junior finance staff.
• Commitment to continuous improvement and identifying opportunities to enhance financial processes and reporting.

What’s in it for you?

• 33 days holidays including bank holidays
• Employee benefits platform - access to 100s of high street discounts and more - holiday discounts, gym discounts, cinema discounts, e-vouchers, cashback and more!
• Colleague Discount
• Career progression
• Long service awards
• Enhanced Maternity, Paternity and Adoption Leave
• Access to our dedicated Employee Assistance Programme - to give you free access to advice and information on a range of topics
• Virtual GP - Access to a GP service 24/7
• Salary finance scheme
• Pension Scheme
• Death in Service
• Life assurance

INDHP