Financial Accountant – Tax

Contract: Permanent
Hours: Full-time
Location: London / Hybrid
Department: Finance

About the role:
We are looking for an experienced Financial Accountant – Tax to join the Financial Accounting, Tax & Treasury team within a leading higher education organisation.

This is an excellent opportunity for a qualified accountant or tax professional to take responsibility for a broad range of tax and financial accounting activities across a complex university group environment.

You will provide specialist and operational support across taxation, financial accounting and treasury activities, ensuring work is delivered accurately, compliantly and within agreed deadlines.

The role will involve working with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, including professional advisers and regulatory agencies, and will provide an opportunity to contribute to continuous improvement and service development.

Key responsibilities
You will be responsible for:
- Managing tax administration across the organisation and its group entities, predominantly covering VAT, Gift Aid and Corporation Tax.
- Handling tax queries, reporting, submissions and liaison with external advisers and relevant agencies.
- Supporting tax compliance activities including the Capital Goods Scheme, annual adjustments, PESM reviews, and Customs & Excise duties.
- Taking responsibility for the financial management, reporting, tax and administration of at least one subsidiary company.
- Supporting and providing cover for other Financial Accountants within the team.
- Undertaking general financial accounting activities.
Supporting month-end, year-end and audit processes.
- Reconciling and managing financial control accounts.
- Contributing to financial planning, policy development and service improvement initiatives.
- Maintaining strong financial controls and ensuring compliance with relevant regulations and requirements.
- Working collaboratively with colleagues and stakeholders to resolve queries and deliver accurate financial information.

About you
We are looking for someone with:
- A recognised accountancy qualification and relevant post-qualification experience.
- Experience across financial accounting, taxation and treasury.
- Strong practical experience of tax administration, particularly VAT, Gift Aid and Corporation Tax.
- Experience of working with tax compliance in a complex or partially exempt organisation.
- Experience of liaising with tax advisers, agencies and other external stakeholders.
- Working knowledge of Oracle Fusion or a similar accounting system.
- A tax qualification or current study towards CTA or an equivalent qualification would be advantageous.
- Excellent organisational skills and a high level of attention to detail.
- Strong communication and influencing skills.
- The ability to manage competing priorities and work effectively to deadlines.
- An understanding of financial regulations and value-for-money principles.
- A commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion.
- Experience of contributing to or leading service improvement and change initiatives would be desirable.

What’s on offer:
- £50,253 per annum
- Permanent, full-time position
- Hybrid working, subject to organisational requirements
- 30 days' annual leave, plus statutory and additional Christmas closure days
- Membership of the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), with the option to opt out
- Access to a range of employee benefits, including season ticket loan and fitness/social facilities
- A collaborative professional services environment within the higher education sector

If you are an experienced financial accountant or tax professional looking for a role offering broad responsibility across taxation and financial accounting, we would be keen to hear from you.