Finance Assistant

Job Description Summary Job Description Job Description Finance Assistant - Edinburgh People are living longer than ever before, and we’re excited by the opportunities this brings. As a purpose-led business, we’re focused on supporting our customers as they navigate through new stages of their lives and all the moments that matter. We’re here for everyone who wants to make the most of their time on the planet and leave it a little better than they found it – however grand or humble their ambitions. Working at Aegon, you’ll play an important part in helping achieve this. We have three behaviours that are central to how we operate as a team and a business: we step up, we tune in and we’re a force for good. The Team We have an exciting opportunity for a Finance Assistant to join our General Ledger Control team. Reporting to the General Ledger Team Manager, the Finance Assistant will play a vital role in ensuring the operation of financial accounting controls within Aegon. The Role This role undertakes the day-to-day activity of the operations department delivering a quality service to standard for its stakeholders. This includes, processing a range of journals, performing reconciliations, preparing trustee cash books, financial analysis, intercompany accounting, banking, checking of ledger transactions & balances, to ensure that the financial accounting controls are operating as planned. Partner key stakeholders to reduce financial risks & exposures in relation to key processes. Identify accounting and process anomalies, investigate and resolve. Key responsibilities

• Perform daily bank, control & funding reconciliations
• Accounts Receivable & Accounts Payable processing & reconciliation
• Receipts monies in & settle payments out, processing, reviewing & authorisation of ledger journals
• Prepare and process manual journals, accruals & prepayments
• Provide regular reporting as required to internal and external Finance teams
• Produce cash books for Trust based clients
• Assist with audit queries
• Prepare reporting data for HMRC
• Ledger balances and transactional analysis to identify anomalies, issues and trends. Highlight, report and resolve in timely manner
• Ensure all controls are operating and evidence retained to mitigate exposures and that all processes adhere to SOX principles. Highlight areas of weakness
• Contribute to change initiatives in Finance by suggesting areas of improvement. Take ownership to drive this forward in the team to improve process and controls

Skills

• Accuracy in performing tasks
• Good oral & written communication, which is clear and suited to audience
• Self-motivator, remains enthusiastic despite setbacks
• Team player who can demonstrate good collaboration across teams and functions
• Demonstrates good time management skills, requiring little direct supervision, and is well planned & organised
• Adaptable to changing priorities

Knowledge

• Knowledge of general ledger accounting
• Knowledge of banking & payment practices
• Good PC skills, includes Excel, Word & PowerPoint

Experience

• Experience of working in large finance team, preferably within Financial Services
• Experience of bank and control account reconciliations
• Experience of bookkeeping and general ledger processes

Qualifications Desirable

• Degree
• Accounting qualification or working towards ACCA/CIMA

How we look after you Outside of a competitive salary, working with us comes with a range of benefits that you can access from day one, including:

• Non-contributary pension between 8-12% dependent on age
• Life assurance cover
• Private medical cover and health assessments
• Access to Peppy – a digital health app for employees of all genders with a range of support covering areas such as general health, menopause, fertility, baby etc
• Critical Illness cover
• A suite of enhanced parental leave policies to support you in the moments that matter
• Holiday trading
• Private GP appointments with Doctor at Hand
• Cycle2Work scheme
• 2 paid days per year for charitable volunteering
• Employee wellbeing is key to our culture. We offer a range of online classes to support this, including yoga and meditation

We champion a collaborative, supportive working environment where you’ll have the opportunity to develop yourself and your career in a way that works for you. Our reward programmes encourage peer-to-peer recognition, and we offer a discretionary annual bonus dependent on company and individual performance. How we look after the community and the environment Aegon supports local causes that align with our purpose and ambitions. Our goal is to serve and strengthen the communities where we do business and create a better quality of life for everyone. Our employees are encouraged to support charities they feel passionate about and are offered volunteering days. Responsible investment is a key element of Aegon’s company-wide approach to sustainability. Aegon is committed to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) investing, we have over 30 years' experience managing responsible investments and offer over 200 responsible investment options across our platforms. Flexible working We’re transitioning to our new normal, and we’re welcoming everyone back to working in new, collaborative, and exciting ways. We’ve adopted a hybrid environment of remote and office working, so it’s important that you live within a commutable distance to our offices. We know that people have busy lives and commitments outside of work, so we offer flexible work arrangements where possible to support our employees. We’re an equal opportunities employer We welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of their age, disability, race, religion/belief, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity. As an international and multicultural business, we celebrate a range of festive days to support the rich diversity of our employees. Our Chief Marketing Officer leads our own LGBTQ+ community group, and we proudly sponsor Pride events across the UK. We also work with key partners like Black Professionals Scotland to support our commitment to equal opportunities in the workplace. Find out more about how our people matter. Who we’re made up of We’re a company of ambitious, collaborative, problem-solvers who get things done. We strive to make sure everyone that works for us feel seen, heard, and valued – so we’re looking for like-minded people to join us. What you need to know We’ll need you to confirm you have the right to work in the UK. If we offer you the job and you accept, there are some checks we need to complete before you can start with us. This will include a credit and criminal record check, as well as providing satisfactory references. Equal Opportunity Employer: We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from all suitably qualified persons regardless of their age, disability, race, religion/belief, gender, sexual orientation or gender identity.