Financial Accountant

THE ROLE

WiseEnergy is a trusted and established solar asset manager, offering all the services clients require to manage and optimize large-scale solar plants, from development and construction through to long-term operational asset management. We have an exciting opportunity for an experienced, passionate finance professional to support the delivery of finance asset management services to one of our most important clients in multiple international jurisdictions.

We are looking for someone who enjoys working in fast-pace and complex work environments and desires to develop experiences in the audit and compliance aspect of the business. The role will be a key member of the team who will be responsible for all financial reporting of three asset portfolios located in the UK.

The role demands strong accounting and audit capabilities, and exceptional stakeholder management. The successful candidate will be expected to be part of the core finance team and therefore you should have a strong analytical mind, process improvement driven, ability to grasp and solve complex issues, attention to details and strong communicator with ability to build relationship with financial and non-financial stakeholders.

We manage a fast-growing fund and as scale increases, various ad-hoc workstreams will be expected for the business. As such, effective time management, critical thinking and ability to solve problems are crucial. We have a hybrid working model between working from the London office and remotely. The hybrid arrangement is to be discussed and agreed with your line manager on a continuous basis and subject to changes.

There is an expectation of consistency and accuracy of outputs, as well as delivering and maintaining a high degree of customer service (internal and external). In view of this, you will be expected to appropriately flag issues and support their resolution through to the end and proactively drive continuous improvement.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Audit - Accounts Production

• Preparation of FRS 102 compliant financial statements, covering SPVs and HoldCos
• Set up financial statement templates using our current account production software, CaseWare
• Review of financial statements for SPVs (where prepared by other finance team members)

Audit - Audit Packs Preparation and Review

• Review year end SPV audit packs and supporting documentation (prepared by other finance
  team members)
• Prepare year end HoldCo audit packs and supporting documentation

Audit - Management 

• Part of dedicated internal Audit Team, from planning to completion stages
• Liaise with external auditors to address audit queries, including uploading of documents to auditors’ portal
• Liaise with external business partners, e.g. joint venture partner, 3rd party asset management service provider etc to collate information for the auditors
• Support on technical accounting complexities
• Tracking and ensuring audit tasks are completed to agreed deadlines as per audit timetable
• Escalate issues to manager and support issue resolution through to the end
• Assist and drive continuous improvement within audit processes

Corporate Tax

• Liaise with external tax agents, including addressing queries, collating and uploading of information for CT related queries to support preparation of tax provision calculations

Other

• To support and/or lead on project work (audit and across the other finance functions) as and when required (dependent on capacity)

SKILLS & COMPETENCIES

To be successful in this role, you will demonstrate:

• Excellent project management skills
• Superb stakeholder management and influencing skills
• Ability to compile and present data clearly, attractively concisely and in a way that others find compelling and easy to digest
• Ability to balance priorities
• Good commercial understanding of the sector
• Delivery focus – it may sound obvious, but the ability to proactively churn through work at pace and deliver quality outputs really matters
• Strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills
• Passion for our mission ‘to generate a more sustainable future by leading the transition to clean energy
• Our values: be a leader, build trust, be responsible, be innovative and ‘bring your alpha’.

EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS 

• ICAEW/ACCA qualification
• Experience of UK GAAP and FRS 102
• CaseWare (account production) software - advanced experience
• 4+ years’ finance audit experience. True depth in terms of finance, audit, tax and accounting knowledge
• A passion for process improvement and operational efficiency
• Renewable energy experience (highly desirable)
• Fluent, advanced business level English

 WHAT WE OFFER

• A busy role in a supportive team, with plenty of opportunities to learn.
• International scope – we operate in over 8 countries.
• Hybrid working – we will need you in the central London (Mayfair) office once a week.
• 30 days’ holiday per year (3 of which are taken during the festive shutdown in December).
• Private pension.
• BUPA Healthcare for you and qualifying dependents.
• Cycle to work and electric vehicle leasing schemes.
• Annual discretionary bonus.

HOW TO APPLY

If you are interested in this opportunity, please follow the link to apply or send your application to careers@nextenergygroup.com. If you have been shortlisted for the next stage, we will be in contact within 14 days.

By selecting “Apply” or sending us your CV, you indicate you have read and acknowledged NextEnergy Group’s Candidate Privacy Notice.

DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

Our approach to diversity and inclusion is a natural extension of our values. Our entrepreneurial culture inspires us to try new things, be open to different viewpoints and be bold. Our Group is committed to cultivating and preserving a culture of connectedness that values difference and gives space for individual expression. The collective sum of our individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, innovation, self-expression, and talent and hard work form the bedrock of who we are and who we aspire to be.

We are committed to equal employment and advancement opportunity irrespective of race, color, ancestry, social background, religion, gender, national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability and gender identity.

 ABOUT US 

NextEnergy Group was founded in 2007 to become a leading market participant in the international solar sector.  Since its inception, it has been active in the development, construction, and ownership of solar assets across multiple jurisdictions.  NextEnergy Group operates via its three business units: NextEnergy Capital (Investment Management), WiseEnergy (Operating Asset Management), and Starlight (Asset Development).

NextEnergy Capital manages the Group's investment activities and has invested in over 520 solar plants, exceeding 2GW in capacity across its institutional funds.

• NextEnergy Solar Fund (NESF): Listed on the London Stock Exchange, NESF manages 102 solar and energy storage assets in the UK and Italy, with a total installed capacity of 983MW and a gross asset value of £1,014m.
• NextPower II (NPII): A private fund of 105 solar plants (149MW) focused on Italy, successfully divested in January 2022, delivering net IRRs exceeding its 10-12% target.
• NextPower III ESG (NPIII ESG): A private fund targeting solar infrastructure in OECD countries (e.g., US, Spain, Italy), with $896m raised, exceeding its $750m target.
• NextPower UK ESG (NPUK ESG): A private fund dedicated to new-build solar plants in the UK, with ~£600m raised.
• NextPower V ESG (NPV ESG): A private OECD solar fund investing in solar and adjacent technologies like battery storage. To date, it has raised $745m, targeting $1.5bn ($2bn ceiling).

WiseEnergy® is NextEnergy Group’s operating asset manager.  WiseEnergy is a leading specialist operating asset manager in the solar sector.  Since its founding, WiseEnergy has provided solar asset management, monitoring, technical due diligence and under construction services to over 1,500 utility-scale solar power plants with an installed total capacity in excess of 3.4 GW.  WiseEnergy clients comprise leading banks and equity financiers in the energy and infrastructure sector. 

Starlight is NextEnergy Group’s development company that is active in the development phase of solar projects.  It has developed over 100 utility-scale projects internationally and continues to progress a large pipeline of c.10GW of both green and brownfield project developments across global geographies.

NextSTEP is the venture capital fund of NextEnergy Group, dedicated to investing in innovative startups in the field of environmental sustainability. The fund primarily focuses on investments in Italy and the United Kingdom but also extends its reach to the rest of Europe and the United States, targeting startups in the pre-seed and seed stages. NextSTEP pays particular attention to emerging entities from incubators, startup accelerators, universities, and research centers, supporting projects that address global challenges in crucial areas such as Climate Change, Energy Transition, CO2 Capture and Sequestration, Circular Economy, Sustainable Cities, Sustainable Mobility, Sustainable Fashion, Waste Management, Water and much more.

NextEnergy Foundation is a non-profit organisation founded in 2016 by the NextEnergy Group that operates internationally and whose mission is to proactively participate in the global effort to reduce carbon emissions by providing clean energy sources in regions where they are not yet available and thereby contributing to poverty reduction. As the main sponsor of this foundation, the NextEnergy Group donates at least 5% of its consolidated net profits each year. The NextEnergy Foundation has no overhead costs and therefore 100% of the funds raised go to donations for the various projects. Since 2016, in 8 years of operation the foundation has donated more than £1.2 million, supporting over 30 projects in 27 different countries around the world.