The Role:
The role is placed in the Trustee Services Unit (TSU) that provides executive support, including advice and recommendations for actions, to Trustees of Shell pension schemes in the UK, and manages the pensions administration and related activities, including accounting to 10 schemes of varying size and complexity in total. The Unit operates as a division of one of the Shell companies.
The Assistant Fund Accountant works within the Finance Team and provides support for all schemes and key stakeholders supported by the UK Trustee Services Unit (TSU).
The primary purpose of the Finance Function of the Pension Team is to provide finance and accounting services to the Board of Trustees of the schemes, including fund and group accounting, management information, budgeting and cost control, banking, taxation, and audit.
The Assistant Fund Accountant will take the responsibility for all daily financial accounting activities for the UK & Bermudan pension funds (+ other small funds and/or cover for other funds).
This is a uniquely broad role with exposure to multiple finance activities including external financial reporting, internal group reporting, cash management, tax, AR, and AP amongst others.
The role provides an opportunity to see the end-to-end process of financial flows for the Funds from receiving contributions, investment through the investment manager, paying pensioners, and reporting all of the above in the annual report and financial statements.
Dimensions:
The biggest pension schemes have a fund membership of approximately 50,000 members, including a pensioner payroll of £40 million per month for a population of 35,000 pensioners in the UK and overseas.
Principal Accountabilities:
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Vendor Invoice Processing
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Executing Payments
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Processing bank statements
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Cash flow activities (including cash forecasting)
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Processing journals
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Issuing contribution invoices
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Reconciling contributions (to ensure that all pension fund contributions from employees and employers are received on an accurate and timely basis)
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Supporting closing activities
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Other reporting activities
We are looking for candidates who have a bachelor's or master's degree in Economics, Finance or Accounting. We'd hope to see as many following as possible on Your CV:
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Very good accounting knowledge
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Min 3 years of experience in a relevant accounting environment
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English language min. C1.
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Working level of MS Office (especially Excel).
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Experience with SAP (especially SAP4HANA) would be an asset
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Experience of pension fund accounting is preferred but not essential
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Excellent interpersonal skills, able to deal with all levels of stakeholders, and have the flexibility to deal remotely with other departments across Shell.
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Experience of working in a virtual environment.
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Good analytical and problem-solving skills
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Critical thinking
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Ability to perform work independently with minimal supervision