About the job

Job summary

UK Research and Innovation

Salary: £29,922
Hours: Full time 
Contract Type: Fixed Term apprenticeship for 3 years
Location: Polaris House, Swindon, Wiltshire OR Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot, Oxfordshire
Start Date: September 2024
Interviews: Initial interviews held via Zoom w/c 27th May; In-person interviews (meet and greet) at Polaris House 17th June

With a strong interest in launching a career in finance, we know that you want to use your talent, skill, and dedication to make a difference. At UKRI, you will get the opportunity to do just that. Our finance teams support world-leading science and innovation and enable ground-breaking research that will inspire, shape and define our future.

UKRI is the largest public sector funder of research and innovation with an annual budget of over £8bn. With a Finance team of just over 150 people across our UK sites, we have responsibility for enabling the delivery of high-quality financial services to ensure public funding for research and innovation is spent efficiently and effectively. We are part of the Government Finance Function with the ambitious vision to “put finance at the heart of decision making; driving the agenda, not just keeping score.”

Our impact is felt across the whole organisation where we work with policy makers, leadership teams, researchers, programme and project managers, engineers and scientists, to share perspectives and expertise, influence decisions, and put forward creative solutions to problems. 

Finance is a large department and the work is always varied. One day you might find yourself supporting UKRI’s overall budgeting and associated financial planning at Corporate and Council level; the next you may be providing financial advice or supporting the production of our Statutory Accounts. We can offer you real breadth of experience in a truly unique organisation.

Job description

The UKRI Finance Team are looking to recruit Graduate Apprentices to start in September 2024 based at Polaris House, Swindon and the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxfordshire. The role will incorporate a ACCA Level 7 Professional Accountant Apprenticeship, delivered by training provider First Intuition, alongside a challenging but rewarding role. We will fund and support your studies over a 3-year period to achieve full ACCA qualifications in addition to helping you develop a broader range of personal and professional skills. The Apprenticeship programme consists of exams and work-based learning, and so you should be prepared to work hard to achieve the substantial rewards these placements will offer.

For more information, please use the following links:

• https://www.firstintuition.co.uk/programmes/level-7-professional-accountant/  
• https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeship-standards/accountancy-or-taxation-professional-v1-0
• https://www.accaglobal.com/uk/en/employer/acca-apprenticeships.html

Key Accountabilities

Prior financial experience is not required, and this opportunity is ideal for graduates looking to start a career in finance or those who are looking for a career change. 

The key accountabilities will depend on the specifics of each placement. However, they are likely to include:

• Carry out reconciliations, monitor expenditure / income and support the production of management accounts, including variance analysis
• Cost centre and Project budget setup and maintenance
• Maintain key spreadsheets and trackers, providing advice and analysis on the financial data
• Prepare journals and collate backing papers and evidence to maintain an audit trail
• Support writing the annual accounts and year end processes, including collating and preparing notes to the accounts
• Supporting asset management, recording and physical verification
• Preparing reports, including graphs and data to help explain numbers in reports
• Preparing forecasts to help effective cash management
• Support to the Governance team on the internal audit programme
• Working with partners within UKRI
• Develop knowledge of the rules and guidance that underpins Government Finance
• Provide ad-hoc administrative tasks across the team
• Take ownership for your learning and development under the apprenticeship.

During your training, you will be expected to be self-motivated, organised and able to follow policy whilst meeting deadlines. With great attention to detail, you’ll work diligently through the varied work assigned to you. We will provide the support to enable you to succeed.

We know it’s important to consider future career prospects and there are plenty of opportunities to continue your professional development after your initial apprenticeship within UKRI.

Important Considerations

1. To be considered for the apprenticeship, you will need to provide evidence of a Degree qualification or equivalent Level 6 qualification, and Maths and English GCSE at grade 4/C or above.
2. When applying for an apprenticeship, there is a set residency eligibility criteria that must be met by the applicant. To check your eligibility please click here
3. If you already have a Level 7 or equivalent qualification within Finance/Accountancy or similar, unfortunately we will be unable to consider your application
4. We reserve the right to close the vacancy early should a sufficient number of applications be received. Therefore we encourage you to apply as soon as possible in order to be considered.

Person specification

Shortlisting criteria

Key - (S) will be assessed at shortlisting, (I) will be measured at interview, (S&I) is both:

Essential Criteria: 

• Degree, equivalent qualification or relevant experience (S)
• GCSE Level 4 / C or above n Maths and English (S)
• Cover Letter that clearly demonstrates your motivation to undertake this apprenticeship within UKRI, paying particular attention to the essential and desirable criteria (S)
• Good inter-personal skills, particularly in communication (both written and verbal) and problem solving
• Excellent numeracy skills (S)
• Good ICT skills, including MS Office (S&I)
• Self-motivated and able to demonstrate initiative (S&I)
• Good time management skills (I)
• Ability to work independently (I)
• Ability to work effectively within a team (S&I)
• Able to travel occasionally to other UKRI sites; and to Reading for training. (I)

Desirable Criteria:

• Experience working in a finance or business environment (S&I)

Benefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A benefits package designed to provide an excellent work/life balance including 30 days’ annual leave, 10.5 public and privilege holidays, flexible working hours and an exceptional pension scheme
• You’ll get the chance to work on innovative projects with international collaborators
• Cycle-2-work scheme
• Discount vouchers for high street stores and attractions

Things you need to know

Selection process details

The Selection Process

1. Initially, you will be asked to submit an online application including a CV and Covering Letter outlining your suitability for the role. You will then be invited to complete a numerical reasoning test.
2. If you successfully complete these stages you will be invited to an interview which will be held via Zoom
3. Final interviews will be in person in Polaris House, Swindon 

For more details and to apply: https://careersportal.co.uk/UKRI-careers/jobs/level-7-master%E2%80%99s-acca-finance-apprenticeship-4326

How to apply 

Online applications only preferred for this role. Please submit a CV and covering letter which clearly outlines how you fulfil the criteria specified along with your motivation for UKRI and the role. Ensure that the job reference number is included in the filename description of each document uploaded. Note that failure to address the above criteria or submit an application without a covering letter may result in the application not being considered. Assessment will only be based upon the content of your submitted covering letter and CV and not the ‘experience’ section of the application. 

UKRI seeks to ensure it creates and maintains a system of openness, fairness and inclusion – a collaborative, trusted environment, which is attractive to and accessible to everyone who is interested in developing their career with us. 

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission. The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.