About this role
<p style="margin-bottom:12.0px"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">At Honda we embrace inclusion in our various policies, so whilst our contracts state that the hours are as required to fulfil the role with a minimum of 35 hours per week, we offer flexibility for when you work. The regular office hours are 08:00 – 16:00 Monday to Thursday with a half hour lunch break & 08:00 – 13:00 on a Friday. However, we offer flexibility of when you work with our daily flex-time start of between 07:00 and 11:00 providing that there is no business requirement.</span></span><br><span style="font-size:14.0pt"> </span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:12.0px"><span style="font-size:14.0pt">Whilst there is no contractual right to work from home, the flexibility we offer is that you can request to work from home 2 days per week, again providing there is no business requirement to attend the office.</span></p> <p style="margin-bottom:12.0px"> </p> <p style="margin-bottom:12.0px"> </p><p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="text-decoration:underline"><strong>Role:</strong></span> </span><br><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">This role sits within the Honda Motor Europe (HME) Finance European Financial Planning & Control (FP&C) team. The team is responsible for the preparation and analysis of monthly results, financial control within European branches, top-level coordination of all budgeting and forecasting (short and long term), plus general commercial finance decision support to the European business. The team will contribute to implementing and monitoring standardised finance activities across all branches in areas such as financial control, accounts preparation, budgeting, analytics and reporting.</span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">The role is ideal for a qualified accountant looking to add value whilst driving key process improvements in a fast-paced European finance team. </span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="text-decoration:underline;font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>Main Responsibilities:</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>Accounting Close & Analysis</strong></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Contribute to ensuring HME-UK entity maintains accurate books and records using current standard accounting practice. The role will be responsible for several of the below activities. Specifics could change from time to time due to rotation of tasks, but the overall purpose of the role will remain the same. </span></p> <ul style="text-align:justify"> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Manage month end timetables and ensure clear communication of all deadlines.</span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Review results (including Revenue, COS, Inventory and SG&A) to ensure they are reported accurately and all necessary quality checks are in place.</span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Ensure all provisions are reported accurately and are aligned with latest accounting guidance.</span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Ensure all sub ledgers are reported accurately and closed in a timely manner.</span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Provide necessary approvals for manual entries created by other team members.</span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Provide necessary reviews/and or approvals for a selection of balance sheet substantiation activities, ensuring a high level of understanding for all balances.</span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Ensure all improvement and follow up activities are completed in a timely manner.</span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Complete pre-close P&L reviews with local SMG, if required.</span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Provide valuable and timely performance analysis, insight and reporting to senior stakeholders. Understand division results within branch (e.g. costs, margins, profit by customer) and recommend improvement opportunities. This includes Balance Sheet.</span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Ensure key business performance risks, issues and opportunities are highlighted, interpreting financial results to enable the business to make key decisions and achieve targets.</span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Responsibility for SOx control compliance that relate to analysis and reporting. </span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Understand root causes of issues and propose recommendations to improve performance and control. </span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Support preparation of monthly Profit Change Analysis to divisions, as required.</span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Support business reviews with HME divisions, as required</span><br><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Support line manager with any tasks as requested by them.</span></li> </ul> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>Collaboration with Shared Service Centre (SSC)</strong></span></p> <ul style="text-align:justify"> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Work with relevant Shared service centre teams to ensure accurate and timely input of all relevant month end close activities.</span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Work alongside SSC on task optimisation (most efficient way to perform tasks and establishing which team are best to perform the task).</span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Monitor KPIs to ensure service is within agreed levels. Work closely with Shared Service teams to address concerns and drive improvements to processes.</span></li> </ul> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>Process Support and Improvement</strong></span></p> <ul style="text-align:justify"> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Drive ongoing issue resolution and process improvement within the month end close processes.</span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Provide key expertise to European finance improvement initiatives as required.</span></li> </ul> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>Data Quality </strong></span></p> <ul style="text-align:justify"> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Drive improvements in data quality to enhance reporting and improve month end processes. </span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Act as the SME to ensure the data quality impact of any system changes is understood and addressed.</span></li> </ul> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>Governance and Compliance</strong></span></p> <ul style="text-align:justify"> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Ensure adherence to current Governance and Compliance frameworks, ensuring all relevant processes are up to date, compliant and documented. </span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Work closely with Group Finance to understand and address impact of future changes. </span></li> </ul> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>Budgeting and Forecasting </strong></span></p> <ul style="text-align:justify"> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Assist central FP&A team, who will coordinate budget events for the region from a Finance perspective, supporting them locally as required. </span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Potentially support business teams in preparation of their budgets, as directed by line manager, e.g. guidance on accounting treatments and items below.</span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Ensure cost allocation methods are accurate and in line with central guidance. </span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Review budgets for quality (phasing, granularity etc.). Challenge assumptions where appropriate.</span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Identify root causes of previous budget variances to improve forecasting accuracy.</span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Support central section of FP&A team to enhance financial understanding and exert greater budget control, e.g. by the wider roll-out of activity-based budgeting, risks and opportunities trackers etc.</span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Support Department Manager with reporting, as required.</span></li> </ul> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>Relationship Management</strong></span></p> <ul style="text-align:justify"> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Work closely with internal and external stakeholders as a recognised Finance process expert.</span></li> </ul> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>Management of the FP&C Specialist</strong></span></p> <ul style="text-align:justify"> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Motivate, develop and manage the FP&C Specialist for UK </span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Work in conjunction with the other FP&C Managers and Head of FP&C to share best practice ideas and ensure a standardised approach where possible</span></li> </ul> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>Other</strong></span></p> <ul style="text-align:justify"> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">To work on any ad hoc Projects as requested by Finance management.</span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">To support other Finance teams as required, specifically where team members are based elsewhere and require local presence to support UK branch. </span></li> </ul> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="text-decoration:underline"><strong>Qualifications, skills and experience:</strong></span> </span><br><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>Required</strong></span></p> <ul style="text-align:justify"> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">A technically able qualified accountant with experience of a financial control environment.</span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">IFRS accounting knowledge essential.</span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Experience of managing activities provided by a finance shared service provider.</span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Experience of working in a multi-cultural environment with the ability to adapt to and communicate in differing cultures to achieve standardised business solutions.</span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Excellent communication & networking skills. Quickly able to establish credibility with stakeholders.</span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Self-driven and motivated to succeed with the ability to prioritise workload to tight deadlines.</span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Audit, SOx, risk management and compliance experience.</span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Ability to demonstrate methodical and systematic workload management.</span></li> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Ability to work with multiple stakeholders, recognising different needs.</span></li> </ul> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>Desirable</strong></span></p> <ul style="text-align:justify"> <li style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif">Experience with the following system would be advantageous: Trintech Cadency, Hyperion, SAP S4Hana, BOFC.</span></li> </ul> <p style="text-align:justify"> </p><p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Honda is committed to the principle of equal opportunity in the workplace for all employees, temporary workers, contractors, applicants and visitors. Honda also encourages respect for the individual differences and talents of others while making full use of one's own abilities, based on Honda's philosophy of respect for the individual.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">At Honda, we value and celebrate diversity and are committed to being a fair, non-discriminatory company that promotes and welcomes the uniqueness and differences of people around the world. We recognise that a diverse workforce allows for different ideas and perspectives, and we encourage everyone to share them. We strive to foster a culture of belonging that is consistent with Honda's core values and lived out in the way we work and respect each other. For us at Honda, diversifying our workforce means increasing its overall strength by providing people with equal opportunities - regardless of personal characteristics or previous careers.</span></span></p> <p style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:14.0pt"><span style="font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">This commitment flows directly from the Honda philosophy and the belief that we are all working towards a common goal. Honda recruits, hires, trains and promotes the most qualified/experienced individuals at all levels without regard to race, origin, religion or belief, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability or any other protected characteristic.</span></span></p>