Senior Financial Accountant

Job summary

UKRI
Salary: £46,743 per annum.
Band: UKRI Band E.
Contract Type: Open Ended.
Hours: Full-time.
Location: Swindon, Wiltshire - Hybrid working available, minimum 2 days a week in the office.

Closing Date: Sunday 15th March 2026.

Job description

About the role

Working closely with the other Senior Financial Accountants, Financial Control Mangers and Financial controller, the role will be responsible for ensuring accurate financial reporting, completion of external audits and liaising with National Audit office (NAO), Government Internal Audit (GIA) and Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) colleagues.

Your responsibilities:

Leadership / Teamwork / Collaboration

• Effective and active contributor to the team, where appropriate makes proactive suggestions to improve ways of working and coordinates with other teams within UKRI.
• Build & maintain good working relationships with colleagues & partners and provide input where needed to assist in the resolution of queries, & to share findings.
• Deal effectively with challenging situations and consults at a higher level when necessary.
• Adaptable and flexible approach to work; able to effectively multi-task

Delivery / Programmes / Projects / Process

Responsible for delivering allocated tasks and functions in support of the financial control team including:

• Production of monthly, interim, and year-end financial accounts for 1 UKRI entity including reporting onto DSIT accounts portal.
• Working in partnership with the UKRI entities Finance Business Partners (FBP) to ensure accurate management, financial accounts and reconciliations.
• Support on the preparation of UKRI consolidated TB and detailed TB for interim and final accounts to support UKRI accounts consolidation.
• National Audit Office (NAO) liaison and provision of audit data sets.
• Providing training and advice to colleagues producing Counterparty and Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) datasets.
• Liaise with the Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA), to ensure that evidence and robust explanations are provided to describe current controls and support the development of additional controls; implement audit recommendations and agreed management actions.
• We are implementing a cloud-based ERP system. This role will be integral to implementing continuous improvement across financial control.

This job description is intended to provide a broad outline of the main duties and responsibilities only. The successful candidate will need to be flexible in developing the role in conjunction with their line manager. They may be asked to carry out any other delegated duty or task that is in line with the post.

Person specification

The below criteria will be scored during Shortlisting (S), Interview (I) or both (S&I).

Essential

• CCAB qualified (desirable) or qualified by experience. (S)
• Previous experience working in a finance environment and dealing with tight deadlines, preparing financial accounts including notes to accounts from trial balance. (S/I)
• Experience of external audits, providing audit data and liaison with auditors. (S/I)
• Ability to prioritise work and meet tight timescales and adapt to regularly changing priorities. (S/I)
• Good understanding of financial accounts preparation and accounting principles. (S/I)
• Good written and verbal communication skills and the ability to communicate effectively with both internal and external customers. (S/I)
• Able to establish effective working relationships with colleagues and stakeholders. (S/I)
• Able to resolve problems independently whilst knowing when to consult or take advice. (S/I)
• Knowledge of Oracle/Fusion and Workday. (S)

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £46,743, UK Research and Innovation contributes £13,541 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

We recognise and value our employees as individuals and aim to provide a favourable pay and rewards package. We are committed to supporting employees' development and promote a culture of continuous learning!

We are offering this position with a whole host of benefits including:

• 30 days holiday (in addition to 10.5 bank holidays and privilege days).
• Flexible working hours.
• An excellent defined salary pension scheme.
• Easily accessible public transport links/ free parking.
• Excellent learning and development opportunities.
• Employee discounts and offers on retail and leisure activities.

For further information on our benefits please see :

Benefits of working at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

Please apply online, if you experience any issue applying, please contact Recruitment@ukri.org.

Please note, if you will require sponsorship to work in the UK, as part of your sponsorship application, you and any dependants travelling with you, will be required to pay costs directly to The Home Office for the application before you start your role with us. UKRI is normally able to reimburse some, or all of these fees after you have become an employee and this can be discussed with the Hiring Manager. For more information, please visit https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa/how-much-it-costs or contact Recruitment@ukri.org.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : UKRI Recruitment Team
• Email : Recruitment@ukri.org

Recruitment team

• Email : Recruitment@ukri.org