About the role

We’re looking for a Research Accountant to join our team to take the lead on the financial accounting and reporting of the University’s research activities. You’ll play a key role in ensuring accurate financial management, compliance, and insightful reporting, while also acting as a trusted business partner to Research Institutes and Core Research Facilities.

Your responsibilities will include:

• Monthly accounting of research costs and preparing quarterly/annual accounts
• Providing research income and overhead estimates for departmental planning purposes
• Offering advice to financial and non-financial stakeholders, building strong working relationships
• Maintaining detailed reports, supporting external returns (e.g. HESA), and ensuring accuracy of data
• Acting as Finance Business Partner for Research Institutes and Core Research Facilities, supporting budget planning, financial monitoring and overhead calculations

The role sits within the Management Information Section (MIS) team. We provide financial support to Academic and Professional Services departments, with responsibility for planning, budgeting, monitoring and reporting.

The department is based in the Virgil Building in the centre of Bath and there will be a requirement to work on the main campus at times, however, hybrid working is one of the many ways we recognise the importance of achieving a positive work life balance. Whilst the exact days you can work remotely will differ between teams and departments, it should provide you with greater flexibility, provided you are in the UK. Learn more about our future ways of working and explore further at interview.

What we’re looking for:

• A qualified accountant with experience or an interest in the Higher Education sector and how universities are funded.
• Strong accounting skills including budgeting, forecasting and other reporting.
• Excellent communication and analytical skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively across academic and administrative teams.
• Good excel skills and experience of using finance systems

Further information

The Finance and Procurement Office is responsible for handling the University’s income, expenditure, financial performance and procurement processes, ensuring value for money in its financial activities. In addition, the department provides high quality management accounting support as well as compliance with statutory and regulatory bodies.

We consider ourselves to be a university where difference is celebrated, respected and encouraged. We have an excellent international reputation with staff from over 60 different nations and have made a positive commitment towards gender equality and intersectionality receiving a Silver Athena SWAN award. We truly believe that diversity of experience, perspectives, and backgrounds will lead to a better environment for our employees and students and encourage applications from all genders, backgrounds, and communities, particularly from under-represented groups, and value the positive impact that will have on the university. We are committed to maintaining a safe and secure environment for our students, staff, and community by reinforcing our Safer Recruitment commitment.

We're very proud to be a signatory of the Armed Forces Covenant. an accredited Disability Confident Leader; autism friendly university, committed to building disability confidence and supporting disabled staff.