Deputy Head of Finance

Armstrong Knight are delighted to have parterned with one of the UK's industry-leading property management companies, with their head office based in East London.

Our client is London’s largest privately owned property development and management group overseeing residential, hospitality, mixed-use, and commercial projects across London, the Home Counties, and the Midlands.

Currently, we are seeking to hire a Deputy Head of Finance with an ACCA or equivalent and significant service charge accounting experience.

This position is part of the group's internal property management division, and will report to the Head of Finance as the second position on the accounting team in the absence of the Head of Finance.

The chosen applicant will ultimately be in charge of overseeing the daily operations of the accounts and credit control teams and will be required to work directly with the most challenging service charge accounts. You must be capable of handling each aspect of the duties you are supervising.

Key Responsibilities:

• Manage a team of 8 direct reports and 3 indirect (7 in Accounts and 1 in Credit Control / Legal).
• Mentor and support the professional development of the team.
• Ensure that reconciliations are performed regularly, and strong financial controls are observed.
• Prepare monthly management accounts and prepare the company’s year end pack for the auditors.
• Prepare TBs and draft Year End Service Charge Accounts on the more complex sites.
• Supervise and sign off TBs, Service Charge Year End Accounts and Year End Reports prepared by the accounts team and liaise with the external certifying accountants.
• Monitor Purchase Ledger unauthorised bills and report weekly to highlight and avoid backlogs.
• Prepare monthly analysis of Debtors by site and cost type and interpret that analysis for non-financial stakeholders.
• Analyse external staffing costs to ensure all extra costs are fully understood.
• Forecast staffing and utility costs as part of budget preparation and mid-year revision.
• Perform mid-year expenditure reviews with the team and advise on actions needed.
• Prepare ad-hoc reports as required by leaseholders or internal stakeholders.
• Check and approve payments on Barclays.
• Oversee and support the team in the preparation of VAT Returns and Trust Tax Returns.
• Apply professionalism, accountability, and integrity in all dealings for and on behalf of clients and within Galliard.
• Champion exceptional customer services and ensure high levels are maintained.
• Encourage close working links between the property management team, accounts team, and credit control/legal team.
• Along with the Head of Property, ensure both property and finance teams work effectively to deliver budgets, year ends and mid-year reviews on time.
• Have a good knowledge of VAT accounting for service charges and rent on both residential and commercial sites.
• Be involved in establishing new accounting processes as needed, for instance in response to changing legislation.
• Identify the need and source training sessions from external companies as needed.
• Assist in the maintenance and development of software systems and technology such as BlueBox. Be involved in making the existing systems meet our changing needs.
• Contribute your ideas to departmental policies, driving change and improvements.

Skills Required:

• Experience in the service charge accounting field.
• Must be fully qualified ACCA or equivalent.
• An understanding of the principles of lease structure and aptitude to read and interpret a range of leases and legal documents.
• You need to enjoy preparing detailed analysis, have an eye for the detail and keep sight of the big picture.
• Advanced Excel.
• To uphold the ethics of service charge management to ensure compliance.
• An in-depth comprehension of budgets and accounts, apportionments, utility billing, VAT, banking, and credit control.
• Ability to delegate, supervise and develop junior members of staff.
• Understanding of data security including GDPR.

The Person:

• Maintains a positive attitude, is upbeat, flexible, and confident.
• Ability to work under pressure and prioritise their workload.
• Passionate about clients and a customer-first approach.
• Self-starter with excellent organisational skills and accurate attention to detail.
• Strong communication skills, quickly able to gain trust and confidence with people at all levels.
• Pro-active and enjoys working both independently and in a team, building and maintaining strong cross-functional relationships.
• Leads by example.
• Life assurance.
• Matching contribution pension scheme.
• Discretionary salary and bonus review.
• Employee assistance programme.
• Discounted gym memberships.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Sponsorship of professional qualifications and accreditations.

I just want to say thank you so much Georgia for all your help with this position you have sent us some great candidates and the Directors are very impressed with Armstrong Knight and your work, if we have any future positions we will be coming straight to you.

Many thanks again for all your hard work. 

I received a call from Luke after uploading my CV to an online job site, we spoke on the phone and I felt that Luke was very personable and we built a strong rapport which built my trust in him as my consultant. After speaking to him about what job I was looking for and sending him an updated version of my c.v it wasn't long before I received a call from Luke with a job interview. The job was everything I had asked for Amazingly the day after my interview I was told I had the job. Luke was great at negotiating my Annual pay and working hours. My life has completely transformed in such a short space of time, I love my new job and I also get more time in the evenings with my daughter. I cant thank Luke enough. He still checks in with me regular to make sure i'm doing OK.10/10. Thank you Luke

I would have no hesitation whatosoever in recomending the outstanding service that we have received from Armstrong Knight, whom we have used exclusively for the last two years. 

They have demonstrated a thorough understanding of our business and have consistetly found us exceptional staff ,who have proven to be valuable additions to the company. 

As you are aware in the last 20 months you have been our exclusive supplier of recruitment services and have provided seven new members of staff at senior level or below. Your understanding of our needs and identification of suitable candidates has been impeccable and all of them have been excellent additions to our team, and in that period all have grown as individuals and have contributed positively to our business. We are happy to continue our arrangement and heartily recommend you to others, and will be in contact in the near future.

I just want to say thank you so much Georgia for all your help with this position you have sent us some great candidates and the Directors are very impressed with Armstrong Knight and your work, if we have any future positions we will be coming straight to you.

Many thanks again for all your hard work. 

I received a call from Luke after uploading my CV to an online job site, we spoke on the phone and I felt that Luke was very personable and we built a strong rapport which built my trust in him as my consultant. After speaking to him about what job I was looking for and sending him an updated version of my c.v it wasn't long before I received a call from Luke with a job interview. The job was everything I had asked for Amazingly the day after my interview I was told I had the job. Luke was great at negotiating my Annual pay and working hours. My life has completely transformed in such a short space of time, I love my new job and I also get more time in the evenings with my daughter. I cant thank Luke enough. He still checks in with me regular to make sure i'm doing OK.10/10. Thank you Luke