Flexa
Unibuddy • London

Financial Controller

3–4 days/week at home

A little flex time

Job Description

London (Hybrid)

£80,000-£100,000

Permanent

Closing date: 31 August 2022

The Role

Unibuddy has experienced explosive growth since launching in 2017. We now work with 500 higher ed institutions in 35 countries worldwide. We’ve raised over $33M from top-tier investors, and we’re on course to achieve our ambitious goal of empowering 10 million students to make the right choices in their higher ed journey.

Here’s where you come in:

As Financial Controller, you will be the cornerstone of the finance department, responsible for managing the finance team and ensuring the Unibuddy ship runs smoothly. You will take the lead on our audits, tax strategy and treasury and you will lead the establishment and enforcement of financial controls throughout the business.

Through your team, you will ensure the financial reporting is completed on time and without error and will work with the Head of Commercial Finance to analyse budgetary variances for monthly reporting.

You’ll ensure working capital is managed effectively with a consistent eye on the cash runway requirements in light of fundraising milestones, and will manage capital allocation across the business accordingly.

Your day-to-day

Team management

  • Build and manage a world class finance team, able to execute with efficiency and speed, being ever mindful of the requirements of a scaling global organisation

Financial Control, Reporting and Treasury

  • Manage the team to ensure a timely month-end close process and produce a set of management accounts to the VP Finance and Executive leadership team.
  • Manage the team to ensure that all tax and statutory reporting requirements are adhered to.
  • Work with third party firms on R&D, corporation tax returns (UK and US) and audit of statutory accounts.
  • Assist the VP Finance with monthly and quarterly board and investor reporting.
  • Lead on all treasury requirements for Unibuddy, including implementation of appropriate controls and determining FX strategies to minimise exposure.

Financial operations

  • Oversee the Finance Operations team to ensure that AR and AP processes run on time and without error, ensuring working capital is managed effectively.
  • Oversee the running of Payroll & Commissions.

Financial Planning

  • Lead the Accounting and FinOps team to ensure effective working capital management, alongside financing strategy, to ensure the cash requirements of the business are covered.
  • Partner the Head of Commercial Finance to accurately forecast business expenses and cash flow quarterly and annually, providing monthly and quarterly insights on headcount and expenses.

Tools

  • Leverage software and other tools to help automate finance and other processes, including maximising the functionality of accounting packages like Xero (current) and future ERP system.
  • Work alongside the VP finance and Head of Commercial Finance to evaluate prospective ERP solutions and lead the implementation process.

This might be for you if…

  • You have 3-5+ years of PQE finance work experience.
  • You have a high level of proficiency in accounting systems such as Xero (essential), QuickBooks, Pento, Bill.com and/or Expensify.
  • You have advanced Excel skills.
  • You have experience with mutli-currency consolidations.

It would be a bonus is you could bring:

  • Experience in a scale-up/start-up SaaS, Technology, FinTech or a similar industry in a high growth environment.
  • Experience dealing in international accounting standards and cross entity, cross regional transactions (UK, US+).
  • Experience in implementing ERP system (and transition from FMS e.g. Xero to ERP)

Professional Qualifications:

  • An accounting qualification (ACCA, ACA, CIMA or global equivalent) with 3-5+ years post qualification experience is essential.

If you don't meet all the requirements but think you might still be right for the role, please apply anyway. We're always keen to speak to people who connect with our mission and values.

About our Team

The Finance & Legal team are collaborative and true business partners. We

work across departments to build best-practice processes and controls that will help streamline the business whilst also providing oversight for management.

We execute with efficiency and speed, being ever mindful of the requirements of a scaling global organisation.

Perks and Benefits

  • Salary of £90-100k plus stock options.
  • Highly flexible work culture. Hybrid working and flexible hours.
  • 25 days of annual leave plus 4 additional days for the Christmas and national holidays.
  • Family friendly policy. Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption leave.
  • Latest MacBook or PC. Monitor for your home is also provided.
  • Home working setup provided.
  • Private healthcare provided by Bupa.
  • Mental health support provided by Spill.
  • Life insurance.
  • Learning & development budget of £800 per year.

Students are at the heart of what we do. Our mission is to empower students to make the right decisions throughout their higher education journey. We provide higher ed institutions with the right tools to enable students to connect with each other, share experiences that create a sense of belonging, and feel confident in making one of the most crucial decisions of their life.

We rock! It’s our people that make us successful. We’re a great bunch with a fantastic culture. But don’t take our word for it - we’re proud to be named as one of the best mid-sized companies to work for in the US, we are named as one of the top 100 workplaces for benefits, we’re Flexified and listed as one of the top three most flexible companies to work for in the UK.

Ready to apply?

Great! Please send a CV and supporting statement which outlines why you would like to work with Unibuddy, and why you are well suited to this role. We encourage you to send us something that showcases your skills!

Not ready to apply or have some questions? Then please get in touch with the talent team at becomeabuddy@unibuddy.com

Unibuddy is an equal opportunity employer. We're actively looking to increase the diversity of our buddies across the company and we encourage people to apply from minority groups.

Please note that Unibuddy does not sponsor visas for this role.

Company benefits

29 days annual leave + bank holidays
Enhanced maternity leave – 18 weeks full pay
Enhanced paternity leave – 12 weeks full pay
Adoption leave – 18 weeks full pay (primary carer), 12 weeks full pay (secondary carer)
Work from anywhere scheme – apply to our "moving abroad" scheme and if eligible you can relocate permanently
Enhanced sick pay – Unlimited full pay leave
Work from home allowance
Dog friendly co-working space
Open to part time work for some roles
Mental health platform access
Compassionate leave
Time off in-lieu
Bank holiday swaps
Company shutdown periods – End of year shutdown between Christmas and New Year
Shared parental leave
Life insurance
Pension match/increase
Salary sacrifice
Matched pension contribution
Employee assistance programme
Health insurance

The FlexScore® is the result of a rigorous 2-step verification of a company’s flexibility

First we assess the flexibility options Unibuddy provides and then we anonymously survey a statistically significant proportion of their employees to make sure Unibuddy is as flexible as they say they are. Our assessment is based on the six key elements of flexibility: location, hours, autonomy, benefits, role modelling and work-life balance.

We ask the hard questions so you don’t have to.

Working at Unibuddy

Company employees

70

Gender diversity (male:female)

M:F:O 52:47:1

Office locations

London, New York, Bangalore, Toronto

Funding levels

£23,400,000

Hiring Countries

Canada
India
Taiwan
United Kingdom
United States

Awards & Achievements

Most flexible companies

Most flexible companies

Flexa100 2024
EdTech & Education

EdTech & Education

Industry awards 2023
Most flexible companies

Most flexible companies

Flexa100 2023
EdTech & Education

EdTech & Education

Industry awards 2022