Senior Accountant; Team Lead

CMA Recruitment Group is working with a major UK organisation in the aerospace sector to recruit a Senior Accountant (Team Lead) on a 14‑month fixed term contract, covering maternity leave. The role is based at their Whiteley offices on a hybrid basis. The business employs several thousand people across the UK and is a long-standing, well-regarded employer in Hampshire. The Senior Accountant sits within a Finance Operations team of around 20, line managing three accountants and helping to lead the wider function, with a strong focus on automation and continuous improvement.

The package includes a pension with up to 18% employer contribution, a 35-hour week with flexible start and finish times, and hybrid working.

• Line managing three accountants, setting objectives and running regular performance reviews
• Reviewing outputs and workload across the Finance Operations service team alongside the other Senior Accountants
• Overseeing period-end close, P&L preparation and balance sheet reconciliations for assigned business areas
• Financial oversight of fixed assets, external funding and billing, cross-company transactions, and UK and overseas statutory and regulatory compliance
• Acting as the main point of escalation for the Finance Business Partners, working with them on budgets, forecasts and performance commentary
• Interrogating cost drivers, contracts and balances to ensure accurate financial treatment
• Working with business stakeholders and Group Financial Control on technical accounting decisions
• Supporting the external audit and bid work
• Identifying and driving automation, standardisation and digital improvements, and maintaining strong financial controls

• Qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or CA) with broad finance experience
• Experience managing and developing a team of direct reports
• Strong background in period end, balance sheet control and financial controls, ideally within a large or complex organisation
• Confident using finance systems and tools such as SAP, BPC, Power BI or Power Automate, and keen to use them to improve processes
• Able to build relationships with business partners and operational managers, and to challenge them constructively
• Eligible for UK Security Clearance (SC)

• Salary £63,130 – £84,173, dependent on experience
• Pension with up to 18% employer contribution
• 35-hour week with flexible start and finish times
• Hybrid working, with a minimum of one day a week in the office
• 26 days' holiday plus bank holidays, rising with service
• Life assurance, income protection, and medical and dental cash plans
• 14‑month fixed term contract, covering maternity leave