Assistant Finance Accountant

This posting is for hourly paid logistics employees to apply through.

Ocado Group is an equal opportunities employer and as such makes every effort to ensure that all potential employees are treated fairly and equally, regardless of their sex, sexual orientation, marital status, race, colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin, religion or belief, age, or disability or union membership status.

About Us

Our teams are putting the world’s retailers online using the cloud, robotics, AI, and IoT. We provide services to partner clients globally via our innovative advanced robotics technology, known as the Ocado Smart Platform ("OSP"), this drives our highly automated, multi-million pound Customer Fulfilment Centres (CFCs). In our CFCs - together with the proprietary software applications - we operate a world-class online grocery business that automates the single pick of products, ready for your online delivery.

About the role

The Assistant Finance Accountant is responsible for assisting in the delivery of the financial close activities and reporting financial results for their nominated area.

Some of your key responsibilities will include;

• Undertaking of transactional processing activities (journals, allocations and reconciliations) for nominated areas.
• Preparation of monthly P&L (including variance analysis), Balance Sheet and other related reporting in line with group policies & practices
• collaborating with Commercial Finance business partners to ensure accuracy of financials
• supporting with interim and year-end reporting and audit
• Support with identifying areas for improvement

 Accountabilities

• Performing and reporting on ongoing and monthly accounting transactional activities including journal and allocation processing; balance sheet reconciliation & review; period close accounting; and reporting on financial performance for nominated mission area(s)
• Complying with group accounting policy & practices
• Submitting for review and approval of transactional postings to support closure of the financial books (journal postings/processing, adjustments, allocations and transfers)
• Substantiating account/general ledger balance reconciliations
• Working to the general ledger close / Period End close calendar timelines
• Support the Half Year and Year End close process, ensuring that audit queries are dealt with in line with agreed deadlines
• Partnering closely with the relevant Commercial Finance teams, including understanding the budget/forecast for the relevant mission area(s) in detail and attending stakeholder meetings as and when required
• Providing level 1 commentary on designated management account lines as appropriate and attending stakeholder meetings as required
• Raising issues with management and helping resolve them
• Proactively identifying problems and opportunities to standardise, streamline and improve processes and accuracy
• Produce adhoc reporting where required
• Provide the accurate numbers for all disclosures in the annual report and statutory accounts

 About you 

• Studying towards (ACA, ACCA, CIMA) and understanding of relevant regulatory environments
• An understanding of core financial processes and relevant systems
• Awareness of accounting and reporting standards & principles
• Experience in a fast-paced global environment
• Experience in delivering great customer / user experience
• Experience in process improvement, automation

What we offer you

Our employee benefits are designed for you, we care about people and we’ve ensured we have a wealth of benefits that focus on your well-being. We regularly review our benefits to ensure we are supporting our employees appropriately.

• 30 days ‘working from anywhere in the world’ policy
• Wellbeing support through dedicated apps and an Employee Assistance Programme
• 25 days annual leave, rising to 27 days after 5 years service (plus optional holiday purchase)
• Pension scheme (various options available including employer contribution matching up to 7%)
• Generous Private Medical Insurance (within the first month of joining!)
• Income Protection (can be up to 50% of salary for 3 years) and Life Assurance (3 x annual salary)
• 22 weeks paid maternity leave and 6 weeks paid paternity leave (once relevant service requirements complete)
• Train Ticket loan (interest-free)
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Free shuttle bus to and from Hatfield Train Station to the Hatfield offices
• Free shuttle bus to and from Welwyn Garden City Train Station to the Welwyn Garden City offices
• Opportunity to participate in Sharesave and Buy as You Earn share schemes
• 15% discount on Ocado.com and free delivery for all employees (within the first month of joining!)