Interim Management Accountant

The Role

Reporting into the management accounts function, you will take ownership of budgeting, forecasting and cost control activities, working closely with budget holders to ensure accurate financial reporting and effective financial management.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Managing budgets and forecasts for a full directorate, ensuring financial information is accurate and up to date.
• Monitoring expenditure against budget, investigating variances and highlighting potential financial pressures.
• Partnering with budget holders across professional services functions, including areas such as IT and HR.
• Reviewing spending patterns, discussing forecasts and constructively challenging assumptions where appropriate.
• Analysing financial data and translating findings into clear, accessible information for non-finance stakeholders.
• Using Excel to manipulate and analyse data, supporting accurate reporting and informed decision-making.
• Working collaboratively with the wider finance team to maintain effective management accounting processes and reporting deadlines.

What We're Looking For: To be considered for this role, you will ideally have:

• Proven experience in a Management Accountant or similar management accounting position.
• Strong budgeting and forecasting experience, ideally managing the finances of a full directorate or comparable business area.
• Practical business partnering skills, with the confidence to engage with budget holders and explain financial information clearly.
• Excellent Excel skills, including VLOOKUPs, pivot tables and data manipulation.
• Experience using a large ERP or finance system.
• The ability to work independently, manage competing priorities and hit the ground running in a short-term assignment.
• A part-qualified accountancy qualification or equivalent experience (QBE).

Previous Higher Education experience is not essential. We are particularly interested in candidates with strong cost-centre management, budgeting and forecasting experience who can quickly adapt to a new environment.