Head of Finance Reporting

Railpen•Darlington, SC

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

A newly created exciting opportunity to join the Finance team as the Head of Finance Reporting for a period of 12 months (FTC) based in our Darlington office (hybrid working). Who we are Railpen is responsible for the safekeeping and investment of around £34 billion in assets and the administration of several pension schemes, including the Railways Pension Scheme, one of the UK's largest and longest established pension funds. Our heritage of looking after the pension needs of the rail industry and its employees gives us our name and our unique outlook on how we serve our members. Railpen takes a holistic view, focusing on how we serve members today and how we can positively impact the communities and the world they will retire into. To learn more about Railpen including our values, culture and purpose, visit our LinkedIn Life page here. The Role The Head of Finance Reporting is responsible for leading the financial reporting function, ensuring accurate, timely, and compliant financial reports. This role plays a critical leadership position within the finance team, overseeing statutory and management reporting, regulatory compliance, and strategic financial analysis—while leveraging technology and automation to improve accuracy, efficiency, and insight. The Person The successful candidate will be a qualified Accountant with significant experience of financial reporting, team leadership and process improvement. An effective working knowledge of UK GAAP and regulatory standards is key for this role, alongside expertise in ERP and reporting tools such as Workday, SAP, Oracle or Power BI. We are looking for someone with excellent analytical, problem solving and communication skills, alongside the ability to influence across departments and communicate financial data to non-financial stakeholders. Our values of integrity, community and alignment are the guiding principles that influence our behaviour. They help us make decisions and shape our relationships with others. They’re what we stand for. You will actively demonstrate our values, helping to create a safe environment, to place the needs of the community above oneself and, through a culture of ‘fair challenge’, align to the best interests of our members. What we can offer you Rewarding you A competitive salary 28 days annual leave, plus bank holidays (pro rata) Defined Contribution pension Heath & Wellbeing Employee assistance programme Health cash plan Eye care vouchers Flu vaccination Lifestyle Give as you earn scheme Paid volunteering days Next Steps Please apply for the apply button or visit Careers Page by 5pm on 26th January 2025. Railpen is committed to creating an inclusive and diverse environment, we value diversity and welcome people from all backgrounds and walks of life. At Railpen we know that it’s the talent of our people that makes us good at what we do and enables us to continue to achieve our mission to pay members’ pensions securely, affordably and sustainably. The unique nature of Railpen offers our people a wide variety of interesting opportunities for innovation, thought leadership and personal development. We encourage people to challenge, explore unconventional ideas and give each other the space to learn from our mistakes. We take time to listen to each other’s ideas and understand what we each do, and what we need from each other to help us be at our best. Railpen is committed to creating an inclusive and diverse environment, we value diversity and welcome people from all backgrounds and walks of life.

Requirements

qualified Accountant
significant experience of financial reporting, team leadership and process improvement
effective working knowledge of UK GAAP and regulatory standards
expertise in ERP and reporting tools such as Workday, SAP, Oracle or Power BI
excellent analytical, problem solving and communication skills
ability to influence across departments and communicate financial data to non-financial stakeholders
actively demonstrate our values, helping to create a safe environment, to place the needs of the community above oneself and, through a culture of ‘fair challenge’, align to the best interests of our members

Responsibilities

leading the financial reporting function
ensuring accurate, timely, and compliant financial reports
overseeing statutory and management reporting
regulatory compliance
strategic financial analysis
leveraging technology and automation to improve accuracy, efficiency, and insight