Senior Scheme Accounts Analyst

We're looking for a Senior Scheme Accounts Analyst to join our Pension Scheme Accounting Team. In this role, you'll take ownership of a key pension scheme accounting workstream, helping to ensure the delivery of accurate financial information, robust controls and high-quality reporting across the Scheme.

You'll lead the review and analysis of reconciliations, journals, management accounts and service provider outputs, ensuring issues are identified, challenged and resolved effectively. Working closely with TCS, Northern Trust and NatWest, you'll oversee critical accounting activities, support month-end reporting and contribute to the production of key financial and regulatory returns.

As a senior member of the team, you'll provide guidance and support to Scheme Accounts Analysts, help strengthen review and escalation processes, and drive continuous improvements to controls, documentation and ways of working.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced finance professional with strong reconciliation, reporting and analytical skills to play a key role in maintaining the financial integrity of one of the UK's largest workplace pension schemes.

Minimum criteria for this role are:

• Substantial experience of cash, bank, investment accounting, financial reconciliations or management accounts processes, ideally in a pension scheme, financial services, administration or high-volume transaction environment
• Experience supporting or coordinating month-end reporting, balance sheet reconciliations, journals, management account schedules or audit evidence
• Strong numerical, analytical and problem-solving skills, with sound judgement over accuracy, completeness, evidence, review and control requirements
• Strong Microsoft Excel skills and confidence using financial systems, reporting tools and large datasets to support analysis, review and decision-making
• Experience of working with third-party service providers, challenging outputs and following operational or financial issues through to resolution
• Degree educated, part-qualified, qualified by experience, or fully qualified accountant
• Excellent attention to detail, with analysis that is accurate, robust, well-evidenced and clearly explained
• A proactive and organised approach to managing deadlines, priorities, dependencies and follow-up actions across a workstream
• Ability to work independently, exercise sound judgement and escalate issues clearly when risks, delays or control matters arise
• Resilience and adaptability in a changing environment, including new processes, systems, provider arrangements and control requirements
  

Within the Finance team there are multiple disciplines, including the core financial control activities for which this role would be responsible. It is an exciting time to join the Finance function as the CFO is looking to make a significant amount of change and enhancement in each area, while also seeking synergies and alignment across the Directorate.

Within the Finance team and looking after the accounting for the Nest Pension Scheme (the Scheme) itself, is the Pension Scheme Accounting team (PSAT), which is responsible for:

• Ownership of the Scheme general ledger, ensuring all entries are complete, accurate, timely, appropriately supported and subject to effective review
• Production of high-quality monthly Scheme accounts
• Managing and delivering specific key external publications relevant to the Scheme, such as the Scheme Annual Report and Accounts (SARA), annual TPR return, and submitting quarterly returns to the ONS and ABI
• Providing challenge to the Fund Administration Team to ensure the data flows from the Scheme Administrator (TCS) and Fund Administrator/Custodian (Northern Trust) are timely and accurate
• Ensuring routine finance and cash reconciliations supporting the Pension Scheme financial statements are completed by the Scheme Administrator timely and accurately
• Main finance point of contact for SAPE
• Monitoring of the Scheme General Account and approval of payments from the account
• Day-to-day ownership of the banking relationship for Nest ensuring banking issues are dealt with effectively
• Day-to-day ownership of the tax adviser relationship ensuring all tax relevant to the Scheme is reclaimed where appropriate