Project Accountant and Finance Operations Lead

Closing Date: 23:59pm, Tuesday 17 February 2025

Interview Date: Friday 6 March 2026

About Us:

The Cairngorms National Park is an incredible place to live and work. The UK’s largest national park is a place of sheer abundance, having more high mountain ground than anywhere else in the UK, the largest Caledonian forest, some of Scotland’s purest rivers and finest livestock rearing farmland. It is also home to 25 percent of the UK’s rare and endangered species. It is a truly unique place to work, with our dedicated and passionate Corporate Services team who are committed to providing the best people experience, every day. Furthermore, there is access to some of the most beautiful countryside straight from our Headquarters office door.

The Cairngorms National Park Authority is a fantastic place to work and offers great opportunities to grow your career. The Park Authority is listed in the UK’s top 100 best not- for-profit companies to work for. We’re dedicated to both this amazing place and our employees.

We now have an exciting opportunity for a Project Accountant & Finance Operations Lead to join the the Park Authority, to manage financial support services both to core services and to externally funded projects, to line manage the finance team, and to support the Head of Finance and Corporate Operations by providing an effective and efficient financial management and accounting service to the Park Authority.

Equalities:

CNPA is an inclusive organisation and we welcome applications from everyone irrespective of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, race, religion and belief, pregnancy and maternity, relationship status, disability, age and social class. We particularly welcome applications from individuals from Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities, disabled and LGBTQ+ communities, as they are under-represented in the environment sector.

We are Disability Confident committed employer, if you are an applicant with disabilities who meets the essential requirements of the post, we will interview you. In all circumstances CNPA appoints on merit-based evidence the applicant supplies in meeting the essential criteria for the post.

The Role:

As the Project Accountant & Finance Operations Lead you will manage financial support services both to core services and to externally funded projects, including the National Lottery Heritage Funded “Cairngorms 2030” Programme.

You will support the Head of Finance and Corporate Operations by providing an effective and efficient financial management and accounting service to the Park Authority, including integration with corporate budgeting, financial accounting and final accounts.

The postholder will support non-financial colleagues to develop their financial expertise and to comply with financial procedures.

As the Project Accountant & Finance Operations Lead, you will also oversee the payroll and pensions service and provide line management to the finance team.

So, if you are keen to be our Project Accountant & Finance Operations Lead and you can display the skills and experience listed here, this is the role you’ve been waiting for.

Further information regarding the role can be found in the job description.

CNPA Benefits:

• 25 days annual leave, increasing to 30 days with service, plus Public Holidays
• Professional development
• Flexible working
• Cycle to work scheme
• Use of pool cars
• Civil service pension scheme – some of the benefits include:
• member contribution rates among the lowest in the public sector
• tax relief on your contributions
• generous employer contributions
• a secure, inflation-proof pension for life, with no investment uncertainty
• the option of tax-free lump sum on retirement
• potential access to ill health and injury benefits if you become too ill to work
• life assurance cover
• benefits for loved ones and dependants
• options to increase your pension
• keeping all your pensions in one place by transferring in a pension you have built up elsewhere
• support from our trusted charity partners

About You:

To be considered as our Project Accountant & Finance Operations Lead, you’ll need:

• Fully qualified accountant / CCAB professional accountancy qualification
• Knowledge and experience of running an organisational payroll and managing all associated tax and other returns
• Must have excellent numerical skills and substantial, proven experience of using excel spreadsheets and manipulating financial data and figures
• Demonstrable capacity to analyse information and to present the results of that analysis in a clear and accessible manner
• Demonstrable aptitude and skills to deliver payroll and pensions administration services
• Must have experience of handling confidential information, and respecting and adhering to that confidentiality
• Excellent communication skills – verbal, written and presentational
• IT skills – competent user of the standard Microsoft suite of products
• Permission to work in the UK

How to apply:

To apply, please click on the ‘Apply’ button

Please note, we do not accept Curriculum Vitae (CV).

If you require more information, or if you require any adjustments to be made to the application process due to disability please contact us on 01479 873535 or email: recruitment@cairngorms.co.uk

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