About the Role
Senior Financial Accountant
Full-Time, Permanent
Barrow-in-Furness, Hybrid working
About the Company
James Fisher Everard (JFE) operates vessels along the European coastline and in the Caribbean islands, carrying grades such as petrol, diesel, kerosene and easy chemicals. The company reflects the group's shipping division mission to provide competitive, flexible maritime transportation of liquid products and high-quality ship management solutions.
The Role
As the Senior Financial Accountant, you will be a key driver in fostering a robust financial controls environment, promoting process efficiency, and supporting business decision-making. You will ensure the accuracy and integrity of financial reporting, compliance with regulatory and organisational standards, and the continuous improvement of financial processes.
By leveraging your strong technical accounting expertise and analytical skills, you will act as a trusted business partner, providing actionable insights and leading initiatives to enhance financial systems, streamline operations, and drive sustainable growth within the division.
Principle Accountabilities
1. Oversee the preparation, review, and delivery of accurate monthly, quarterly, and annual financial reports.
2. Develop and implement a streamlined and well-documented month-end process to reduce reporting cycles and improve efficiency.
3. Ensure all financial outputs comply with IFRS and company accounting policies.
4. Build and maintain robust management reporting packs with insightful analysis to support divisional performance review.
5. Oversee day-to-day accounting activities and general ledger reconciliations.
6. Work closely with the Financial Controller to prepare fully audited, accurate and timely annual statutory accounts.
7. Work closely with the Financial Controller and Divisional FP&A on all aspects of financial planning.
8. Report on budget performance and understand variances.
9. Prepare accurate cash flow forecasts and provide variance analysis.
10. In collaboration with Group Internal Controls, implement and monitor an effective internal control framework.
11. Collaborate with IT to ensure financial systems have appropriate access controls, cybersecurity measures, and segregation of duties.
12. Ensure timely and accurate compliance with regulatory requirements, including VAT submissions and audits.
13. Lead preparations for internal and external audits, ensuring efficient and effective processes with no critical findings.
14. Own the end-to-end optimisation of financial processes, identifying bottlenecks, implementing automation, and standardising workflows.
15. Drive the adoption of advanced tools such as Power BI and other digital solutions to enhance reporting and reconciliation accuracy.
16. Collaborate with shared services to ensure seamless accounts payable (AP) and accounts receivable (AR) operations, driving continuous improvement.
17. Champion initiatives to simplify financial systems and reporting frameworks while maintaining accuracy and compliance.
18. Mentor and support junior finance staff, providing opportunities for growth and skill development.
19. Lead cross-functional workshops and training to promote financial literacy and engagement across the division.
Qualifications and Experience
1. ACA/ACCA/CIMA qualified with solid post-qualification experience in a senior accounting role.
2. Experience in optimising financial processes and systems is essential.
3. PLC reporting exposure including IFRS (desirable).
4. Advanced Excel user with experience in financial analysis and reporting.
5. Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.
6. Ability to constructively challenge the status quo to drive improvement.
7. Strong interpersonal and communication skills with a can-do attitude.
8. Exposure to financial systems such as Business Central, AMOS, Veson, Opera, Power BI, O365 suite, CoreStream and or similar tools.
James Fisher and Sons Commitment
James Fisher and Sons is a global engineering services company committed to taking positive action on diversity and strongly encourages applications from candidates of all backgrounds. We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer and recognise that our success depends on our talented and diverse workforce. If the above captured your interest, click 'apply' now! #J-18808-Ljbffr