Financial Accountant / Operations Assistant

Circa £ 33.07 Umbrella / Circa £ 25.00 PAYE
Job Summary
AALTO HAPS is looking for an experienced Financial Accountant to join our team as we establish our new entity and scale up business activity. You will be part of a small team moving all accounting functions ‘in-house’. There will be lots of opportunity to establish new processes to support a growing business. So flexibility and willingness to take on new challenges is essential.
You will work on month end close, regulatory and financial reporting, external audit, budget and forecast preparation. This role will be reporting to the Head of Financial Control and offers hybrid working, based at Farnborough, Hampshire, UK.
The Company
Developed by Airbus, the AALTO HAPS Zephyr is a solar-electric unmanned aircraft system (UAS).
Capable of flying continuously for months at a time at around 70,000 feet, above weather and conventional air traffic, the aircraft acts as a platform for telecommunications and earth- observation applications.
Following significant success in its testing, product development and certification, the Zephyr program operations have now been carved out of Airbus into AALTO HAPS ltd, a newly established separate entity to further scale the business with commercial customers and involve third party investors into the program.
Job Profile
Key Duties
This will be a very ‘hands on’ role as we move all accounting activity in-house and introduce new accounting systems
• Financial and GL Accounting
• Lead month-end and year-end close process
• Preparation of the budget and financial forecasts and variance analysis
• Preparation of regulatory reporting & government statistics
• Preparation of VAT & Tax returns
• Support AP, AR & purchase order approvals processes
• Lead external audit activity
• Support accounting for US legal entity
• Support the development and documentation of business processes and accounting policies to maintain and strengthen internal controls
Key Requirements
• Proven experience as a Financial Accountant or similar role holding a recognised UK or US Accounting qualification (ACA, ACMA, ACCA, CPA etc.)
• Demonstrable evidence of creating financial statements (UK GAAP or IFRS) from an extended trial balance (ETB) for a large entity (GBP £20m+ turnover)
• Demonstrable evidence of managing an audit for a large entity (GBP £20m+ turnover)
• Experience in developing and implementing appropriate financial controls
• You must have a flexible attitude to support additional requirements for this dynamic start up.
Desirable Skills & Experience
• Prior experience with US GAAP reporting
• Experience using MS Dynamics or SAP
• Previous start up/scale up experience
• Experience with setting up or managing an Accounts Payable (AP) function
• Demonstrable practical knowledge of revenue recognition /accounting for Leases/Fixed asset accounting?
Requirements and Skills
• Thorough knowledge of accounting principles and procedures
• Experience with general ledger functions and the month-end/year end close process
• Prior experience with US GAAP reporting is desirable
• Experience using MS Dynamics or SAP is beneficial
• Previous start up/scale up experience is desirable
Target Industries –
Space
Aerospace
Communications
Motorsport
High Tech Manufacturing
Automotive
Working Pattern
Monday to Friday days
Travel
Occasional travel to other UK sites
Extension
Possible extension after initial contract duration
Base of Work
This role will be hybrid working, based at Farnborough, Hampshire, UK
Reason for vacancy
Workload
Interview Process
Two stage interview – telephone
Clearance
The successful candidate will be required to apply for and receive a basic disclosure certificate prior to commencement of the contract.
Applications are via - https://request-copy-criminal-record - at a fee of £23 which will need to be paid by card in full at the end of the application process. The cost of the application is only recoverable from the client once the contractor has started and that recovery of costs is via the expense process.
The successful candidate will be required to pass BPSS security clearance before confirmation of contract offer.
IR35 regulations
A CEST assessment has been carried out for this role and it has been deemed Inside Scope of IR35
A further CEST assessment taking in to account individual contract details will be carried out should a successful candidate choose to operate as Deemed LTD.