JOB DESCRIPTION

Strong financial controls. Collaborating cross-functionally. Resolving complex challenges.

Finance Manager (Management Accounting)

£57,500 – £62,500 (+ Benefits)

Grade: M2

Reports to: Head of Finance (COO & FP&A)

Contract: 12 month fixed-term contract

Hours: Full time 35 hours per week OR part time with a minimum of 28 hours per week

Location: Stratford, London. Office-based with high flexibility (1-2 days per week in the office)

Visa sponsorship: You must be eligible to work in the UK to apply for this vacancy. Cancer Research UK is not able to offer visa sponsorship.

Closing date: 09 December 2025 23:55

This vacancy may close earlier if a high volume of applications is received or once a suitable candidate is found, therefore we strongly recommend that you apply early to avoid disappointment. If you require more time to apply as part of a reasonable adjustment, please contact [email protected] as soon as possible.

Recruitment process: One to two competency-based interviews

Interview date: From the week commencing 08 December 2025. We will be shortlisting on a rolling basis so please do not delay in applying.

How do I apply? We operate an anonymised shortlisting process in our commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion. CVs are required for all applications; but we won’t be able to view them until we invite you for an interview. Instead, we ask you to fully complete the work history section of the online application form for us to be able to assess you quickly, fairly, and objectively.

At Cancer Research UK, we exist to beat cancer.

We are professionals with purpose, beating cancer every day. But we need to go much further and much faster. That’s why we’re looking for someone talented, someone who wants to develop their skills, someone like you.

Cancer Research UK’s Finance team’s credibility and professionalism in handling money fundraised by public generosity are essential to the smooth running of our organisation, ultimately helping the charity in reaching our goal of beating cancer. In 2024/25, the finance team managed an income of £735m and expenditure of £715m.

As Finance Manager (Management Accounting), you’ll play an impactful role in delivering in delivering accurate, timely management accounts and reporting for the Chief Operating Office (COO), Strategy, & Central Functions (Payroll & Fixed-Assets), which together account for over £70m in expenditure. You’ll lead and develop a team of Management Accountants, ensuring they operate at their full potential, while partnering with budget holders and operational teams to maintain accuracy, and uphold strong financial controls and accountability.

You’ll also have the opportunity to implement continuous improvements, standardisation, and best practices across the management accounting function—ultimately maximising resources, driving efficiency, and enabling the organisation to perform at its best so we can fund our life-saving research and achieve our mission to beat cancer.

If you’re a qualified Management Accountant or Finance Manager (ACCA, ICAEW, or equivalent) with experience overseeing management accounts, month-end activities, and financial reporting in large organisations, we’d love you to join our mission.

What will I be doing?

Team Management & Leadership (50%):

• Leading, managing, and developing an inclusive, high-performing team consisting of 3 direct reports from a range of levels and backgrounds.
  • Including: x2 Management Accountants (qualified) and x1 Assistant Management Accountant (part-qualified)
• Fostering a positive culture that recognises success, drives performance, and retains talent.
• Setting clear objectives and KPIs (key performance indicators), monitoring performance, and addressing underperformance through structured performance management.
• Providing coaching and feedback to support team development and accountability.
• Considering development opportunities and internal moves across Finance (including succession planning).
• Ensuring effective collaboration and accountability for operational finance tasks delegated across the team, providing guidance and reviewing outcomes to maintain high standards.

Financial Reporting:

• Owning and delivering timely, high-quality, and accurate management accounts and other business-critical reports for the Chief Operating Office (COO), Central Functions (including payroll and fixed asset register), and Strategy teams.
• Collaborating with other members of your finance team and budget holders to understand major variances against plan and prior years.
• Ensuring budget holders understand and take responsibility for their financial performance and variances.
• Reviewing management information to identify efficiencies and continuous improvements, ensuring reporting focuses on the organisation’s top priorities.
• Training and supporting budget holders so they can confidently interpret financial data (including self-service accounts and transaction lists) and demonstrate strong budget control.

Accounting and Year-End:

• Collaborating closely with your finance team and budget holders to identify and process transactions that ensure accounts are complete and accurate.
• Taking ownership of a range of accounting adjustments (including stock, fixed assets, and investments).
• Driving improvements and efficiencies in Cancer Research UK’s management accounting processes.
• Acting as a key finance contact for your designated areas, ensuring robust financial controls are in place and proactively challenging and advising stakeholders where needed.
• Supporting the year-end audit and production of the annual report and accounts, ensuring accuracy and responding to audit queries and notes to the accounts.

Financial Planning and Analysis:

• Potentially contributing to the financial planning process on an ad hoc basis by developing budgeting and forecasting tools and templates, and ensuring budget holders are trained and accountable for their plans (where required).
• Championing a culture of cost awareness and control, acting as a role model for understanding cost drivers and promoting financial accountability.

What skills will I need?

• Qualified Management Accountant or Finance Manager (ACCA/ ICAEW or equivalent) with experience delivering accurate management accounts, month-end activities, and financial reporting in large, complex organisations.
• Supported in delivering the year-end audit and producing annual accounts, with experience in handling auditor queries.
• A successful track record of reviewing, developing, and implementing robust financial controls within a management accounting environment.
• Proven ability to lead and manage a Management Accounting team, demonstrated through one of the following:
  • External applicants: Experience in managing, developing, and supporting 2-3+ direct reports with a successful track record leading, empowering, motivating, and coaching others and driving high performance.
  • Internal applicants: Experience in matrix management or mentoring and coaching junior team members, with an ability and interest in developing people management skills.
• Has successfully built credible and collaborative cross-functional internal stakeholder relationships with strong interpersonal, communication, influencing, and negotiating skills (including senior leadership and auditors).
• A proactive problem-solver with a continuous improvement mindset for identifying and implementing continuous improvements, encouraging innovation, promoting best practices, and challenging conventional organisational approaches and thinking.
• Strong prioritisation and organisation skills with the ability to work independently with minimal supervision, manage multiple priorities, and meet deadlines while maintaining strong attention to detail and accuracy.
• Strong technical knowledge of double-entry bookkeeping, debits/ credits, and fixed-asset management.
• Either immediately available or on one month’s notice or less.

Our organisation values are designed to guide all that we do.

Bold: Act with ambition, courage and determination

Credible: Act with rigour and professionalism

Human: Act to have a positive impact on people

Together: Act inclusively and collaboratively

We’re looking for people who can believe in and embody these organisation values and can use them to drive forward progress against our mission to beat cancer.

If you’re interested in applying and excited about working with us but are unsure if you have the right skills and experience we’d still love to hear from you.

What will I gain?

We create a working environment that supports your wellbeing and provide a generous benefits package, a wide range of career and personal development opportunities and high-quality tools. Our policies and processes enable you to improve your work-life balance, take positive steps in your career and achieve your personal wellbeing goals.

You can explore our benefits by visiting our careers web page.

Additional Information

Owing to the nature of this position, any offer of employment for this role will be subject to a satisfactory basic DBS check.

For more information about working with us please visit our website or contact us at [email protected].

For more updates on our work and careers, follow us on: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.

Our vision is to create a charity where everyone feels like they belong, benefits from and participates in, the work we do. We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and cultures, in particular those from ethnic minority backgrounds who are currently under-represented.

We want to see every candidate performing at their best throughout the job application process, interview process and whilst at work. We therefore ask you to inform us of any concerns you have or any adjustments you might need to enable this to happen. Please contact [email protected] or 020 3469 8400 as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, we are unable to recruit anyone below the age of 18, so that we can protect young people from health & safety and safeguarding risks.