Management Accountant (Finance Operations Lead)

Fxplus; Falmouth; Hybrid; GBP 40,000 - GBP 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent UK university is seeking a Management Accountant to oversee financial operations and provide strategic financial guidance. The ideal candidate will manage finance for a portfolio, prepare insightful management accounts, and ensure compliance for audits. This full-time position offers a hybrid working model with an emphasis on collaboration and continuous improvement in financial practices. Benefits include a substantial pension contribution, annual increments, and various salary sacrifice schemes. Apply to join a dynamic finance team within a creative academic environment.

Benefits

Employer Pension Contribution up to 12%

35 days + 8 days bank holiday

Relocation Assistance up to 10% of salary

Annual salary increments

Enhanced Maternity/Paternity Pay

Salary Sacrifice Car Scheme

Salary Sacrifice Cycle Scheme

Salary Sacrifice Home & Tech Scheme

Life Assurance

Qualifications

• Qualified accountant with a recognised body (ICAEW, CIMA, ACCA, CIPFA).
• Experience in management or financial accounting within complex organisations.
• Skilled in clear communication of financial information to non-finance staff.

Responsibilities

• Lead finance operations for a defined portfolio ensuring efficient service.
• Provide timely commercial advice to leaders across services.
• Produce high-quality monthly management accounts with analysis.

Skills

Analytical skills

Financial communication

Leadership and supervision

Proficiency in Excel and financial regulations

Education

Qualified accountant (ICAEW, CIMA, ACCA, CIPFA)

Tools

Integrated finance systems

Job description

Overview

About The Role

We’re looking for a dynamic Management Accountant to deliver high-quality financial and management accounting for Falmouth University and our partners, Falmouth Exeter Plus. This is your opportunity to influence strategic decisions, modernise financial practices, and make a visible difference. You’ll lead the finance operations for a defined portfolio, combining hands-on delivery with value-adding partnership to senior stakeholders. You will:

• Own and modernise day-to-day finance operations across your area, ensuring a seamless, accurate and efficient service with consistent standards and strong controls.
• Partner leaders across academic and professional services, providing timely, commercial advice that informs operational and strategic decisions.
• Produce high-quality monthly management accounts with insightful variance analysis, lead regular budget-holder reviews, and provide accurate income & expenditure forecasts.
• Shape plans and cases: support capital and revenue planning, full-economic-costing and investment appraisals to enable long-term sustainability.
• Lead and develop a team, coaching for consistency, service excellence and continuous improvement.
• Ensure compliance and readiness for audit; contribute to statutory returns and annual financial statements, improving policies, processes and systems where needed.
• Drive cross-University projects, bringing financial insight to transformation and performance improvement.

You’ll work at the intersection of higher education and commercial operations, gaining breadth across multi-entity/group finance.

About You

You’ll bring sharp analytical skills, strong professional judgement and the confidence to engage at all levels. We’re looking for someone who is:

• A qualified accountant (e.g., ICAEW, CIMA, ACCA, CIPFA)
• Experienced in management or financial accounting within a complex organisation, operating at both operational and strategic levels
• Skilled in communicating financial information clearly to non-finance colleagues
• Proficient with integrated finance systems, Excel and current financial regulations; proactive about process improvement and change
• Experienced in leading or supervising teams and building a collaborative high-performing culture

Experience in Higher Education and/or multi-entity organisations together with VAT and Corporation Tax knowledge is an advantage.

For further details on the skills/experience required for this role, please see the full job description above.

This is a permanent, full time, 35 hours a week position across Monday-Friday. We operate a hybrid flexible approach to working with the opportunity to work from home and either our Penryn or Falmouth campus. An on-campus presence will be required for at least 2 days per week.

If you are looking to have an informal discussion about the vacancy ahead of applying, please email [e-mail].

The closing date for the position is Sunday 1 March 2026.

About Us

With 120 years’ creative arts experience, we are on a quest to offer the highest standards of teaching and professional facilities, as well as a vibrant creative community. With over 7,000 students, our portfolio of undergraduate and postgraduate courses and postgraduate research represents the breadth of the creative industries, from art, design and fashion, to games, music, film and business.

Our mission is to deliver exceptional higher education and research, harnessing the fusion of creativity and technology as foundations of the future economy. We use our knowledge and expertise in these disciplines to generate positive and sustainable opportunities for all.

In return for your hard work and commitment, we offer the successful candidate for this role a range of benefits, including:

• Employer Pension Contribution up to 12%
• 35 days + 8 days bank holiday.
• Relocation Assistance to 10% of salary.
• Annual salary increments (Until top of grade reached)
• Enhanced Maternity/Paternity Pay
• Salary Sacrifice Car Scheme (Tusker)
• Salary Sacrifice Cycle Scheme
• Salary Sacrifice Home & Tech Scheme
• Life Assurance

Full details on our employee benefits can be found on our careers page www.falmouth.ac.uk/jobs. Alongside these benefits we offer a first class working environment across our campuses with all the facilities you would expect from a leading University.

A successful external candidate for this position would be employed by Falmouth Staffing Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Falmouth University. Employees of Falmouth Staffing Ltd work alongside Falmouth University colleagues in the delivery of Falmouth’s strategic vision and will adopt Falmouth University’s HR policies and procedures in full.

Falmouth University welcomes and encourages job applications from people of all identities and backgrounds, particularly those under-represented and/or marginalised, as it is important we have a diverse range of candidates to consider.