Senior Management Accountant

ITV; Manchester; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - GBP 65,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading media company in Manchester is seeking a Senior Management Accountant to join their Finance team. This role involves ensuring robust financial control, insightful planning, and fostering collaboration with production labels. Key responsibilities include budgeting, cash flow management, and acting as a trusted partner for senior stakeholders. Ideal candidates are fully qualified accountants with a strong background in media and excellent analytical skills. The position is initially a 12-month fixed-term contract with opportunities for permanency.

Qualifications

• Significant post-qualification experience in accounting is required.
• Understanding of the High End Scripted TV Production process is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Own monthly forecasting and annual budgeting processes.
• Monitor financial performance against budget and forecast.
• Lead relationship with external accountancy partners.
• Provide finance controls and frameworks across the labels.

Skills

Fully qualified Accountant (CIMA, ACCA, or ACA)

Strong Excel skills

Experience within Media, TV Production, or Creative industries

Education

Professional Accounting Qualification

Tools

ITV systems or similar ERPs like SAP/Hyperion

Job description

The team

The role sits within the ITV Studios UK Finance team, working directly with two Scripted Production Labels’ (Moonage Pictures and Hartswood Films) management teams and the wider ITV Studios UK finance function. The finance operations work in a hybrid model, combining third-party accounting support with this new role, a commercially focused in-house support that partners closely with creative and operational leaders. It provides robust financial control, insightful planning and analysis, and clear reporting to both label management and ITV Group, enabling informed decision-making while balancing strong governance with the demands of a fast-paced creative environment.

The role

ITV Studios UK Finance is seeking a commercially minded and technically strong Senior Management Accountant to support two scripted production labels, Moonage Pictures and Hartswood Films, within the ITV Studios portfolio, alongside wider ITV Studios responsibilities. This newly created role has been established to strengthen the link between external accounting support and ITV’s internal financial planning, control and strategic decision-making, ensuring high-quality insight, robust governance and alignment with Group expectations. With day-to-day accounting delivered by a third-party provider, the role focuses on FP&A, financial control, Group reporting and senior-level business partnering with Managing Directors and Senior Management. The position is offered on an initial 12-month fixed-term contract, with the potential to become permanent, and reports directly into the Finance Project Lead, ITV Studios UK.

Some of your key day to day responsibilities will include:

• Own the monthly forecasting and annual budgeting processes, partnering with Managing Directors and Heads of Department to deliver robust plans, variance analysis and forward-looking insight.


• Monitor financial performance against budget and forecast, proactively identifying risks and opportunities and escalating issues to senior management.


• Manage cash flow forecasting, working capital and production-level funding to ensure liquidity is optimised across the labels.


• Act as the primary reviewer of monthly management accounts prepared by third-party accountants, ensuring accuracy, quality and compliance with ITV Group policies.


• Lead the relationship with external accountancy partners, driving process improvements to enhance the speed, accuracy and usefulness of month-end and management information.


• Manage timely and accurate submission of monthly load files and financial data into ITV Group systems, maintaining alignment between label performance and Group expectations.


• Own finance controls and control frameworks across the labels, including oversight of payment runs, expenses, approvals and audit planning.


• Provide hands-on production and operational finance support, including oversight of production cash flows and acting as the main point of contact for audit queries.


• Act as a trusted finance business partner to Managing Directors, Producers and senior stakeholders, translating complex financial data into clear, actionable insights.


• Support strategic and commercial decision-making through financial modelling, commission negotiations and contributing to future finance systems and operating model developments.

Skills you’ll need (minimum criteria)

• Fully qualified Accountant (CIMA, ACCA, or ACA) with significant post-qualification experience.


• Experience within the Media, TV Production, or Creative industries is highly desirable. Understanding the High End Scripted TV Production process and lifecycle is advantageous. Good understanding of the AVEC process


• Strong Excel skills are essential. Familiarity with ITV systems (or similar large ERPs like SAP/Hyperion) is beneficial.


• Proven experience in a multi-entity environment or working with a parent/group structure.

Other things we’re looking for (key criteria)

• Commercially astute – able to see beyond the numbers and understand the creative, production, and commissioning drivers that shape financial performance.


• Strong business partner – builds credibility with Managing Directors, Producers, creative talent, and senior executives, confidently explaining finance to non-finance stakeholders.


• Analytical and detail-driven – interrogates complex financial information and maintains accuracy, even while juggling the priorities of two labels plus Group requirements.


• Proactive and value-focused – looks for opportunities to add insight and improve processes rather than waiting for instructions, particularly since routine number crunching is outsourced.


• Clear communicator – translates complex financial data into concise, actionable insights for non-finance audiences.


• Resilient and adaptable – thrives in a fast-paced, deadline-driven media environment, balancing governance, deadlines, and competing priorities.


• Strong relationship manager – effectively manages third-party providers and internal stakeholders to deliver high-quality outputs on time.


• Comfortable with ambiguity and change – able to shape ways of working in a newly created role and operate effectively in a dynamic, creative environment.

Please note, on occasion we may receive a very large volume of applications which means applications for a role may close earlier than the referenced closing date. We’d encourage you to apply as soon as possible if interested.