UK Research & Innovation
Salary: £37,841 per annum
Band: UKRI Band D
Contract Type: Fixed Term (12 months)
Hours: Full-time/ Part Time (minimum 0.8 FTE) (flexible working available)
Location: Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot, Oxon/Daresbury Laboratory, Warrington, Cheshire - Hybrid working available (Min 3 days per week in the office)
Closing Date: 21st July 2026
About the role
Join Us in Shaping the Future of UK Science & Innovation.
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) brings together some of the most exciting and impactful research and innovation activity in the UK. As one of UKRI’s nine councils, the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) is home to world class facilities and pioneering scientific programmes.
We are now looking for a Management Accountant to join our Finance Directorate and provide essential financial insight and support to one of our dynamic science or technology departments based at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.
This is an excellent opportunity to grow your finance career in a unique environment that supports groundbreaking research, multi million pound projects, and cutting edge innovation.
Your responsibilities:
As a key member of the Finance team, you will:
- Play a central role in preparing departmental budgets, forecasts, and month end reporting for both programme and capital expenditure.
- Support the preparation of FEC (Full Economic Costing) for projects and grants—helping to secure funding for major scientific initiatives.
- Build strong working relationships with colleagues, stakeholders, and project teams, becoming a trusted finance advisor.
- Provide clear and insightful management information to support effective decision making across the department.
- Ensure cost centre and project structures are set up and maintained to enable accurate, transparent financial management.
- Advise project managers on costing and pricing proposals, ensuring alignment with UKRI policies.
- Contribute to continuous improvement by suggesting enhancements to financial processes and procedures.
- Line manage and support the development of a Level 4 Finance Apprentice.
- Uphold the professional standards of your accounting body and UKRI’s policies.
You’ll have the opportunity to shape and develop the role as part of a supportive and collaborative team.
Personal Specification
The below criteria will be scored during Shortlisting (S), Interview (I) or both (S&I).
Essential
- AAT qualified or part qualified and actively working towards CIMA or ACCA (S).
- Experienced in budget management with the ability to meet deadlines and prioritise effectively (S&I).
- Confident working independently as well as part of a wider team (I).
- An effective communicator—both written and verbal—and able to work closely with colleagues across technical, operational, and scientific disciplines (S&I).
- Motivated by contributing to a mission driven organisation that delivers real world impact (I).
Benefits
We recognise and value our employees as individuals and aim to provide a favourable pay and rewards package. We are committed to supporting employees' development and promote a culture of continuous learning!
A list of benefits below:
- An outstanding defined benefit pension scheme.
- 30 days' annual leave in addition to 10.5 public and privilege days (full time equivalent).
- Employee discounts and offers on retail and leisure activities.
- Employee assistance programme, providing confidential help and advice.
- Flexible working options.
Plus many more benefits and wellbeing initiatives that enable our employees to have a great work life balance!
For further information on our benefits please see:
Benefits of working at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)
UKRI is an Equal Opportunity & Disability Confident Employer.
Please apply online, if you experience any issue applying, please contact [email protected]
Please note, if you will require sponsorship to work in the UK, as part of your sponsorship application, you and any dependants travelling with you, will be required to pay costs directly to The Home Office for the application before you start your role with us. UKRI is normally able to reimburse some, or all of these fees after you have become an employee and this can be discussed with the Hiring Manager. For more information, please visit https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa/how-much-it-costs or contact [email protected] .
