Financial Change Accountant

Join Great Western Railway - Proud to Support Our People and Our Passengers This is a full time, 18 month fixed term opportunity. About the role At GWR, we're more than a train company – we're the custodians of one of the UK's iconic rail networks. Over 100 million people travel across South West, South Wales and London every year. With a modern fleet, ambitious plans and a 91% customer satisfaction score, we are on a journey of continuous improvement. As a Financial Change Accountant you will play a key role in ensuring GWR are set up for success. As the Financial Change Accountant, you will prepare GWR to move into direct government control. The role focuses heavily on reviewing and clearing reconciling items on balance sheet accounts, developing proposals to improve the reconciliation process and formally documenting processes where documentation does not exist or is out of date. The nationalisation process requires GWR to move from FRS102 to FRS101 accounting standards. Strong knowledge of IFRS and UK GAAP is important. New instances of key finance systems will be created at the point of transfer and the Nationalisation Accountant will ensure balances have migrated correctly. You will develop new procedures to comply with Department for Transport Operator (DFTO) requirements, compile the net asset statement on transfer and round up balance sheet items that have not transferred to “Newco”. Your main responsibilities Review balance sheet accounts and identify and resolve any differences on the reconciliations. Develop system transition plans for financial systems (including IFMS) to ensure the transfer into new instances and Bedding down of systems post transfer is successful. Assist with the development of the net asset statement and manage the rundown of balances kept within “Oldco”. Assist with preparing information requests from the business, DfT, internal and external auditors. Identify changes to how GWR will account under FRS101 and assist with implementing the changes. Clear down SAP balances not necessary for transfer. Document current processes and liaise with DFTO to implement changes to our procedures to comply with DFTO requirements. Support Financial Control, other Finance teams and the wider business as required. You’ll need to be A qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA etc). Organised and deadline driven, with an affinity for financial systems. Accurate, with a good eye for detail. A self‑starter with an ability to propose and implement changes to processes. Able to work efficiently and be confident enough to challenge the status quo. Able to prioritise your tasks and pivot quickly when necessary. A good team player as well as a strong independent worker. As a minimum you’ll need to have An accounting qualification. Experience in a large finance team. Experience with complex balance sheet reconciliations that utilise large data sets. An understanding of SAP S/4 HANA preferable or another large ERP. Experience with financial system changes. Good Microsoft Excel skills and numerical ability. A desire to improve the efficiency of current processes through innovation. About the location The role is based at Milford House in Swindon with occasional travel to other GWR locations as required. Working Pattern This is an 18 month fixed term opportunity. The role is 37 hours a week, with normal office hours Monday to Friday 08:30-16:30. A minimum of three days a week must be spent in a GWR office, with the majority of this spent in the office in Swindon. Application Please apply online via our website https://careers.firstgroup.co.uk/brand-gwr. If you have any problems applying, please email gwrrecruitment@gwr.com. The Reward On-going development. Defined benefit pension scheme with the Railways Pension Scheme. Free rail travel across the GWR network for you and your family. Company-sponsored health care plan. Discounted shopping and gym membership. Employee assistance programme and much more. We all belong at GWR. This is our vision for providing an inclusive environment for all our colleagues, ensuring all candidates have an equal opportunity to access meaningful employment. We value our differences such as age, gender, LGBTQIA, ethnicity, religion and disability. We maintain zero tolerance towards any form of prejudice towards our colleagues, customers and future talent. We celebrate and encourage diversity of thought, progressive ways of working and seeing all our colleagues grow and thrive. We review all roles and job descriptions to ensure they are accessible and, where possible, we support and provide flexible working options; we recommend that you refer to each vacancy description for further details. If you require additional support to complete your application due to a disability or neurodivergent condition such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, or autism, please follow the links below. We encourage you to share any additional needs you may require so we can provide a fair and equal process for all who apply. https://exceptionalindividuals.com/neurodiversity/ https://www.healthassured.org/blog/neurodiversity/ #J-18808-Ljbffr