Role: Group Head of Financial Reporting

Location: Shoreham / Hybrid

Salary: £90,000 to £95,000 plus benefits

Role ID: 2024-2324

Our vision is to create a safe and sustainable world.

Ricardo plc is a global strategic, environmental, and engineering consulting company, listed on the London Stock Exchange. With over 100 years of engineering excellence and close to 3,000 employees in more than 20 countries, we provide exceptional levels of expertise in delivering innovative cross-sector sustainable outcomes to support energy transition and scarce resources, environmental services together with safe and smart mobility. Our global team of consultants, environmental specialists, engineers and scientists support our customers to solve the most complex and dynamic challenges to help achieve a safe and sustainable world.

The Group Finance team, led by the Group Finance Director, is responsible for external financial reporting, budgeting and monthly business performance reporting, treasury, internal controls and small companies accounting.

Role overview

Ricardo plc is looking to find a technically strong Group Head of Financial Reporting, with clear credibility and gravitas, to join its plc accounting team. The role offers the opportunity to be a key member of a fast-paced team in a dynamic, international Group, with exposure to senior plc and business unit management.

Key Responsibilities

• Manage finance inputs into the Annual Report & Accounts and Interim Report processes, ensure that all finance sections within the documents have clear and consistent messaging and meet external reporting requirements.
• Manage the year end and interim financial reporting processes to ensure high quality reporting from the Business Units and the effective and efficient consolidation of Group results.
• Understand and summarise technical reporting issues as they evolve and communicate these effectively to Business Units and other internal and external stakeholders, including external auditors; this includes producing technical papers and presenting within Group and to the Business Units FDs as necessary.
• Manage transitions to new accounting standards.
• Manage external auditors and tax advisors to ensure period end processes are planned, managed and concluded effectively.
• Perform analysis on the reported numbers to ensure reported results are understood and can be explained.
• Lead the production of UK statutory accounts.
• Manage the Group review of the monthly Accounting Control Checklists, and assist with the development of best practice financial controls.
• Assist with due diligence on potential acquisitions, disposals, restructuring and on integration and accounting matters in respect of completed acquisitions.
• Business modelling and valuation including impairments.
• Drive the improvement in the efficiency and automation of key financial processes relating to financial reporting and compliance.
• Support the implementation of new ERP and supporting processes.

Key Attributes

• Qualified accountant (ACA) with considerable PQE ideally gained at a Big 4 firm.
• Plc reporting experience.
• Strong technical skills (IFRS and UK GAAP), including group consolidations. 
  Good IT skills, with strong Excel knowledge.
• Self-starter, energetic, keen to make a difference and be a key member of the senior finance team.
• Strong inter-personal skills and ability to manage effective relationships with senior staff in a plc environment, Business Unit finance staff and external advisors.
• Willingness to travel to other Ricardo sites, including occasional overseas travel.

Working here

You will be warmly welcomed into our workplace where every voice matters. We are diverse thinkers and doers, coming together to create a culture of inclusion. We will support you to find your place.

We will encourage you to use your passion and expertise to make a positive impact through the projects you work on.  Your knowledge and desire to bring about change will be invaluable in helping deliver innovative solutions that support communities across the globe in becoming safer and more sustainable.

Work life balance 

We offer flexible approaches to work, whether that is working from home, being in the office, or as a hybrid worker. We're happy to discuss flexible working arrangements. Wellbeing is at the core to our culture, allowing employees to flourish and to achieve their full potential.

Benefits

We want you to know how much you are valued. Your remuneration and benefits package will reflect that. You will receive a range of benefits which include support for your physical and mental health. 

Our core benefits include 25 days' annual leave, plus 8 flexible bank holidays, a competitive company pension scheme, life assurance and professional subscriptions reimbursement. We also offer a wide range of flexible benefits to suit your lifestyle.

Next steps

Once you have submitted your application a member of our Recruitment Team will be in touch. Please be aware that the timing can vary dependent on the volume of applications that we receive for each role and in some cases, we may start to review applications prior to the closing date.

Ricardo is a Disability confident employer please advise the recruitment team via recruit.ee@ricardo.com if you require any adjustments to support you throughout the recruitment process.

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