{"id":3309879,"url":"https://alion.io/job/ds-smith-lead-accountant","title":"Lead Accountant","company":{"id":1795137,"name":"DS Smith","domain":"dssmith.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/dssmith-com","size_band":"5000+","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Workday","truth_index":{"grade":"B","score":79,"open_postings":30,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0.833,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":42,"computed_at":"2026-10-29T05:49:05Z"}},"role":"Finance","role_family":"Finance","seniority":"lead","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Caerphilly, United Kingdom"],"countries":["GB"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":52000,"max_usd":128000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":22},"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-26T00:00:00Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-26","last_verified_at":"2026-10-29T17:52:47Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":3,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":3},"description":"About the Role\nWe 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.\nThe 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.\nAs 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.\nThis 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.\nKey Responsibilities\nFinancial Accounting & Reporting\nManage the production of timely and accurate month-end activities, including reporting, analysis and key performance metrics.\nOwn and maintain a robust financial control environment, ensuring compliance with internal control frameworks, SOX requirements and Group policies.\nEnsure compliance with Group Accounting Policies and relevant accounting standards.\nSupport internal and external audits, ensuring audit requests are delivered accurately and agreed actions are completed within required timelines.\nDrive governance and compliance activities across designated entities, ensuring risks are identified, mitigated and escalated appropriately.\nSupport year-end activities and liaise with internal and external auditors.\nWork closely with Group and Divisional Finance teams to meet reporting and compliance requirements.\nTake 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.\nOversee 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\nPartner with P2P and C&C teams to ensure efficient and effective end-to-end financial processes.\nLeadership & Team Management\nManage, 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.\nCoordinate and lead the month-end close process across designated entities, ensuring activities are completed accurately and within agreed reporting deadlines.\nLead, coach and develop a small accounting team, fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration and continuous improvement.\nSupport employee development through regular feedback, training and mentoring.\nManage team priorities and workloads to ensure deadlines and service levels are consistently achieved.\nAct as a role model for DS Smith values and ways of working.\nManage 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\nPartner with site finance teams and operational stakeholders to provide financial insight, challenge and support business decision-making.\nAct as the primary accounting contact for designated entities, building strong relationships with key stakeholders across the business.\nContinuous Improvement\nWork collaboratively with colleagues to continuously improve accounting processes, controls and reporting.\nLead or participate in user groups to implement standardised processes and best practices.\nSupport Business Services initiatives, including cross-departmental projects, transformation programmes and work transfer activities.\nIdentify opportunities for automation, efficiency and process optimisation.\nSupport finance transformation initiatives, including ERP enhancements, process standardisation, automation projects and system implementations.\nAct as a key stakeholder in testing and deployment activities, ensuring processes and controls are maintained throughout change programmes.\nAbout You\nWe'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.\nEssential Experience & Skills\nExperienced accountant with up-to-date knowledge and application of accounting standards.\nACCA, ACA or CIMA qualified. Part-qualified candidates with significant relevant experience and demonstrable leadership capability will also be considered.\nProven experience delivering accounting, reporting and month-end close activities.\nPrevious experience leading, mentoring or managing a team, with the ability to motivate and develop others.\nExperience using ERP systems, including SAP, QAD or similar platforms.\nStrong analytical, problem-solving and organisational skills.\nExcellent stakeholder management and communication abilities.\nA proactive approach to process improvement and service excellence.\nDesirable Experience\nExperience working within a manufacturing environment.\nPrevious experience in a shared services or business services function.\nExperience supporting finance transformation, standardisation or continuous improvement initiatives.\nBenefits\nWe know it’s important to feel valued and rewarded, so at DS Smith you’ll get:\nA competitive salary\nDiscretionary bonus based on team performance\n25 days holiday plus bank holidays\nPension scheme, life assurance and income protection\nDigital GP Service & Employee Assistance Programme\nCycle to work scheme\nRetail discounts\nLocation: Caerphilly - hybrid working (3 days office / 2 days home).\nAbout us\nWe 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!\nFair recruitment at DS Smith\nTo 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.\nOur 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\n#LI-CE #DSCAE","description_format":"text","description_chars":7479,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Hybrid work"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United Kingdom","iso":"GB","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Packaging & Labeling","Packaging Design"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-27T02:55:51Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":60,"band":"ok","label":"Likely open","p_open":1,"p_active":0.602,"p_room":1,"age_days":3,"expected_fill_days":42,"reasons":["conf:3","stale_co","win:early","comp:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-10-29T05:49:05Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/ds-smith-lead-accountant","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/ds-smith-lead-accountant.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-29T21:21:29Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":31665,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-30T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":1795137},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=1795137"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Fds-smith-lead-accountant"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Fds-smith-lead-accountant"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Fds-smith-lead-accountant"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/ds-smith-lead-accountant\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Fds-smith-lead-accountant"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":3309879}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"dssmith.com","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":3309879},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. Docs: https://alion.io/developers"}}