Lead Accountant

About the Role

We have an excellent opportunity for a Lead Accountant to join us at our DS Smith Business Services Centre in Caerphilly. The main purpose of the role is to assist in the delivery of a world-class accounting service to the UK Packaging business. This involves performing general accounting and reporting activities in accordance with Group Accounting Policies, financial controls and service level requirements.

The position requires a strong understanding of finance and business processes, with regular interaction across the Business Services Centre, including the P2P and C&C teams, to ensure processes are understood, supported and continuously improved.

As a key member of the finance team, you will take ownership of month-end reporting, financial controls, statutory compliance and management reporting activities. Alongside your technical accounting responsibilities, you will lead and develop a small team, providing guidance, coaching and support to ensure high performance and exceptional service delivery.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced accountant who enjoys balancing hands-on financial responsibilities with people leadership in a fast-paced shared services environment.

Key Responsibilities

Financial Accounting & Reporting

• Manage the production of timely and accurate month-end activities, including reporting, analysis and key performance metrics.
• Own and maintain a robust financial control environment, ensuring compliance with internal control frameworks, SOX requirements and Group policies.
• Ensure compliance with Group Accounting Policies and relevant accounting standards.
• Support internal and external audits, ensuring audit requests are delivered accurately and agreed actions are completed within required timelines.
• Drive governance and compliance activities across designated entities, ensuring risks are identified, mitigated and escalated appropriately.
• Support year-end activities and liaise with internal and external auditors.
• Work closely with Group and Divisional Finance teams to meet reporting and compliance requirements.
• Take overall ownership for the integrity of the balance sheet across designated entities, ensuring risks, aged items and unreconciled balances are actively reviewed, challenged and resolved.
• Oversee the balance sheet review process for the team, providing challenge, guidance and support to ensure strong financial control, compliance and accountability across all entities within scope
• Partner with P2P and C&C teams to ensure efficient and effective end-to-end financial processes.

Leadership & Team Management

• Manage, review and take accountability for the quality, accuracy and timeliness of work performed by team members, ensuring service levels and control requirements are consistently achieved.
• Coordinate and lead the month-end close process across designated entities, ensuring activities are completed accurately and within agreed reporting deadlines.
• Lead, coach and develop a small accounting team, fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement.
• Support employee development through regular feedback, training and mentoring.
• Manage team priorities and workloads to ensure deadlines and service levels are consistently achieved.
• Act as a role model for DS Smith values and ways of working.
• Manage and coordinate team balance sheet review activities, ensuring reviews are completed to the required standard and that governance requirements and control deadlines are consistently met
• Partner with site finance teams and operational stakeholders to provide financial insight, challenge and support business decision-making.
• Act as the primary accounting contact for designated entities, building strong relationships with key stakeholders across the business.

Continuous Improvement

• Work collaboratively with colleagues to continuously improve accounting processes, controls and reporting.
• Lead or participate in user groups to implement standardised processes and best practices.
• Support Business Services initiatives, including cross-departmental projects, transformation programmes and work transfer activities.
• Identify opportunities for automation, efficiency and process optimisation.
• Support finance transformation initiatives, including ERP enhancements, process standardisation, automation projects and system implementations.
• Act as a key stakeholder in testing and deployment activities, ensuring processes and controls are maintained throughout change programmes.

About You

We're looking for a technically strong accountant who is equally passionate about developing people and driving operational excellence. You'll be comfortable working with multiple stakeholders, leading a team and delivering high-quality financial information that supports business decision-making.

Essential Experience & Skills

• Experienced accountant with up-to-date knowledge and application of accounting standards.
• ACCA, ACA or CIMA qualified. Part-qualified candidates with significant relevant experience and demonstrable leadership capability will also be considered.
• Proven experience delivering accounting, reporting and month-end close activities.
• Previous experience leading, mentoring or managing a team, with the ability to motivate and develop others.
• Experience using ERP systems, including SAP, QAD or similar platforms.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving and organisational skills.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication abilities.
• A proactive approach to process improvement and service excellence.

Desirable Experience

• Experience working within a manufacturing environment.
• Previous experience in a shared services or business services function.
• Experience supporting finance transformation, standardisation or continuous improvement initiatives.

Benefits

We know it’s important to feel valued and rewarded, so at DS Smith you’ll get:

• A competitive salary
• Discretionary bonus based on team performance
• 25 days holiday plus bank holidays
• Pension scheme, life assurance and income protection
• Digital GP Service & Employee Assistance Programme
• Cycle to work scheme
• Retail discounts

Location: Caerphilly - hybrid working (3 days office / 2 days home).

About us

We are DS Smith, together with International Paper, we are a global leader in sustainable packaging solutions and other fibre-based products. We believe a better, more sustainable tomorrow is possible with the right people, who challenge and support one another to enact positive change. We employ more than 65,000 colleagues in North America and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), who are experts in innovation, manufacturing, design, sales, sustainability, supply chain, and much more. Together with our customers, we make the world safer and more productive, one sustainable packaging solution at a time. Become part of a world-leading organisation and do your best work with us!

Fair recruitment at DS Smith

To fulfil our purpose of redefining packaging for a changing world, we aim to build a diverse, motivated, and engaged workforce. Our goal is to create a culture of inclusion where everyone is treated fairly, differences are valued, and everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed.

Our people come from diverse backgrounds, bring different perspectives, ideas and experiences to generate unique solutions focused on present and future sustainability challenges. We welcome all candidates to apply, even those not meeting all criteria

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