Assistant Accountant - Post Award

The role

We are looking for motivated and detail-orientated finance professionals to work as Assistant Accountants within the Research Centre of Excellence at the University of Bristol. You will join an area of the larger Finance Division working within the Post Award team supporting specific Schools and Faculties. This is an exciting opportunity to work as part of the Centre, playing a key role in the delivery of the organisation’s internationally renowned research.

The Post-Award team provides accounting, financial management and financial reporting services which support the management of research grants and other funding streams across the University. As Assistant Accountant, you will deliver strategic financial advice and support to Schools and Divisions in a research management environment. In addition to the provision of accounting, you will be the first point of contact for a range of colleagues seeking advice.

What will you be doing?

• Providing advice and guidance you will build effective working relationships with a variety of stakeholders acting as their first point of contact.  

• Responsible for a portfolio of research grants you will ensure that all income and expenditure is maximised according to the funders’ rules.  

• You will monitor and forecast expenditure to ensure invoices are processed on time and the correct VAT treatment is applied. 

• You will produce financial reports to be shared with a range of internal and external stakeholders.  

• Supporting on external grant audits you will ensure documentation is prepared within specific deadlines.   

• Other day to day tasks to include acting as an authorised signatory, ensuring best practice across the division, monthly compliance, and due diligence checks, as well as working with colleagues to produce dashboards and reports. 

You should apply if

• You have an aptitude for working in a financial environment, with great Excel skills.  

• You have excellent analytical and problem-solving skills, and you can use these to analyse data to make decisions on the correct accounting treatment.  

• Customer service and effective communication is important to how you work, meaning you can build up good working relationships and present financial information to a range of contacts. 

• You are highly organised and able to work to strict deadlines while maintaining excellent written and verbal communication skills. 

• You may be working towards an Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT) or accounting qualification.  

• We are developing our Power BI reporting and therefore experience of using the software is desirable. 

Additional information

Contract type: Fixed term contract until 31/10/26

This advert will close at 23:59 UK time on Thursday 29th January.

For informal queries please contact Chris Scrase (Research Finance Team Manager - Post-Award) on chris.scrase@bristol.ac.uk.

Our strategy and mission

We recently launched our strategy to 2030 tying together our mission, vision and values.

The University of Bristol aims to be a place where everyone feels able to be themselves and do their best in an inclusive working environment where all colleagues can thrive and reach their full potential. We want to attract, develop, and retain individuals with different experiences, backgrounds and perspectives – particularly people of colour, LGBT+ and disabled people - because diversity of people and ideas remains integral to our excellence as a global civic institution.

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