A vacancy has arisen in the GB Financial Controllership group for a Senior Financial Accountant working primarily within the Willis Limited Finance team. The successful candidate will be a bright, committed, and proactive individual to join WTW as a qualified accountant with a minimum of two years post qualification experience, having gained experience either through a professional practice or medium/large organization.
The successful candidate will benefit from working within a vibrant and ambitious team with the opportunity to network more widely within a Company where every day presents a new challenge. Development opportunities exist throughout the WTW Controllership Team, and to be successful in this role the role will necessitate working alongside a number of finance teams as well as other stakeholders in the wider business. The role includes the management and mentoring of a direct report.
The WTW Financial Controllership group operates across a number of teams and locations, and whilst this role will include activities and responsibilities spanning this wider group, the main focus will be the financial accounting and statutory and regulatory reporting activities of Willis Limited, WTW's principal UK FCA regulated insurance intermediary. The WTW Controllership Team are actively focused on structured process and controls improvement, including consistency and efficiency through the extended use of technology and automation, in line with WTW wider financial objectives. The successful candidate would be expected to be a key part of developing and implementing these improvements, which will include working alongside the wider Finance team both in the UK and internationally.
The Controllership function is committed to investing team development through an online training platform supporting certain process improvement and automation initiatives. The successful candidate would be encouraged to take an active role in this activity.
The Role:
Within the Controllership Team your accountabilities will include:
- As a senior member of the team, there will be numerous responsibilities over the accounting and reconciliation activities for key parts of the Willis Limited monthly close cycle;
- Responsible for end-to-end Revenue Recognition controls and processes for insurance broking activities. This is a core responsibility of the role and acts as the conduit between operational teams and finance business partners to ensure GAAP compliant revenue recognition accounting and reporting. This responsibility extends from the accounting policy documentation and training, SOX control design & operation, the coordination and delivery of month end revenue accrual and deferral activities through to managing the external audit requirements.
- In supporting this activity, the role will have at least one direct report as well as support from our offshore service provider EXL.
- Other responsibilities would include oversight and review of journal and reconciliation activities performed by junior colleagues and our offshore accounting partners;
- Understanding, apply and document accounting policies under US GAAP and FRS101
- Act as a key point of contact with both internal and external audit teams in the delivery of statutory and SOX audit activities
- Understanding and completion of quarterly and ad-hoc regulatory returns and requests;
- Engagement on certain FCA CASS5 client money activities, including client money calculation reconciliation preparation and liquidity and cashflow analysis;
- Assist in the reconciliation and interrogation of the insurance broking ledger;
- Assist in the preparation of monthly balance sheet review reporting, including KPI analysis of revenue accruals and deferrals;
- Supporting the wider WTW Financial Controllership function in identifying, designing and implementing control and process improvements, including through new technology and automation; and,
- In addition to the regular month-end activity, there will be a significant volume of ad-hoc project work, with the opportunity to work with other areas of the WTW Group Finance organisation.
The Requirements:
- Qualified accountant, ACA or ACCA, with a strong technical accounting and a minimum of two years post -qualified experience
- Strong academics, with excellent A level (or equivalent) grade, with degree level an advantage
- Have had experience working in or auditing large or complex environments
- Have had experience in the preparation, audit or review of statutory accounts (FRS101 or FRS102)
- Have had experience of control and process design, testing and reporting;
- Have an ability to deal with large and/or complex volumes of data;
- Have the drive to get tasks done by immovable deadlines whilst not losing attention to detail;
- Have experience of improving processes and successfully implementing change;
- Be able to solve problems and explain solutions to management logically and clearly;
- Be able to work alone and as part of a team
- Have the ability to deal with senior personnel and non-accounting personnel; and
- Be able to communicate effectively both orally and in writing.
- Proficiency in MS Office applications.
- Knowledge of other systems and data manipulation tools an advantage
Equal Opportunity Employer
At WTW, we believe difference makes us stronger. We want our workforce to reflect the different and varied markets we operate in and to build a culture of inclusivity that makes colleagues feel welcome, valued and empowered to bring their whole selves to work every day. We are an equal opportunity employer committed to fostering an inclusive work environment throughout our organization. We embrace all types of diversity.
At WTW, we trust you to know your work and the people, tools and environment you need to be successful. The majority of our colleagues work in a "hybrid" style, with a mix of remote, in-person and in-office interactions dependent on the needs of the team, role and clients. Our flexibility is rooted in trust and "hybrid" is not a one-size-fits-all solution.
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