Financial Accountant

What if your ability to transform complex financial data into clear, compelling reports could be the single source of truth that enables better, faster decisions across one of the UK's largest charities? As a Financial Accountant at Alzheimer's Society, you'll play a vital role in ensuring financial integrity and compliance as we work to end the devastation caused by dementia.

About the opportunity

As Financial Accountant within our Finance & Assurance directorate, you'll be part of a team that's transforming how we deliver financial partnership across the organisation. We're on an ambitious journey to become the Society's single point of financial truth. We aim to be trusted partners and credible experts who enable the organisation to make faster, better-informed decisions. This is a role where technical excellence meets meaningful impact. Where your accounting expertise directly enables us to focus on what matters most: transforming lives affected by dementia.

In this role, you'll focus on tax compliance with VAT as your primary area of expertise. You'll prepare and review accurate VAT returns, manage partial exemption calculations, and ensure we optimise our VAT position while maintaining full compliance. Beyond VAT, you'll oversee Gift Aid claims, Corporation Tax, and other statutory tax obligations. Acting as the technical expert who ensures we meet every requirement on time and in full. Your deep knowledge of tax regulations, combined with your ability to explain complex matters clearly, will help colleagues across the Society understand their tax obligations and make tax-efficient decisions. You'll also mentor and coach colleagues, developing their capabilities while ensuring high-quality delivery.

Working in partnership with colleagues across Finance and the wider Society, you'll ensure tax compliance enables rather than constrains our mission. You'll build relationships with HMRC and other regulatory bodies and proactively identify opportunities to strengthen our tax processes and optimise our position within the rules.

About you:

You're a qualified accountant with expertise in VAT compliance and broader knowledge of Gift Aid, Corporation Tax, and other statutory obligations. You understand that effective tax work optimises our position within regulations while helping colleagues make informed, tax-efficient decisions. You're comfortable managing complex VAT scenarios including partial exemption, and you bring experience developing teams where people grow their technical capabilities while delivering high-quality work.

You'll have:

• A CCAB qualification achieved through education, or demonstrable equivalent knowledge and experience that evidences your understanding of the role's requirements.
• Proven experience preparing VAT returns and managing partial exemption calculations, with confidence navigating complex VAT scenarios.
• Strong working knowledge of UK tax regulations including VAT, Gift Aid, Corporation Tax, and other relevant statutory obligations.
• Experience working with HMRC and managing tax enquiries, demonstrating credibility and professionalism in regulatory relationships.
• Line management experience, with a track record of developing high-performing teams where technical quality and professional development thrive.
• Demonstrated experience as a Financial Accountant in a large or complex organisation.
• The ability to work effectively across departments and at all levels of the organisation. Translating complex tax matters into practical guidance that helps colleagues make informed decisions.
• Experience with cloud-based ERP systems (we use Unit4).
• A commitment to continuous improvement, bringing best practice and proactive thinking to tax compliance delivery.

What you'll focus on:

• Overseeing VAT compliance - preparing and reviewing accurate VAT returns, managing partial exemption calculations, and ensuring we optimise our VAT position while maintaining full compliance.
• Overseeing Corporation Tax and Gift Aid compliance as well as other statutory tax obligations, proactively support the wider Society to optimise our tax position.
• Building and maintaining strong relationships with HMRC, managing enquiries or audits with professionalism.
• Providing clear tax guidance across the Society, helping colleagues understand tax implications and empowering them to make tax-efficient decisions within regulations.
• Working seamlessly with colleagues across the Finance team to provide integrated, end-to-end financial partnership across the Society.
• Driving continuous improvement in tax compliance quality and efficiency, while role-modelling our values and fostering a culture of learning and accountability.

Can you see yourself as the tax expert who ensures Alzheimer's Society optimises every opportunity within regulations while maintaining full compliance? Are you ready to join a team that makes tax something colleagues engage with confidently rather than avoid?

Important Dates

The deadline for applications is 23:59 on Sunday 2nd November.

Interviews will begin week commencing 10th November and will consist of two stages taking place virtually.

Dementia is the UK’s biggest killer. One in three people born in the UK today will develop dementia in their lifetime.

At Alzheimer’s Society, we’re the UK’s leading dementia charity and the only one to tackle all aspects of dementia by giving help and hope to people living with dementia today and in the future. We give vital support to people facing the most frightening times of their lives, while also funding ground-breaking research and campaigning to make dementia the priority it should be.

Together with our supporters, we’re working towards a world where dementia no longer devastates lives.

Our values make sure that our focus is clear for the challenges and opportunities ahead and remind us of what we all stand for.

Our commitment to Equity, Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging

We need to ensure the voices around our table better reflect and understand the communities we exist to serve. We strongly encourage individuals to apply who have a disability, impairment or health condition or individuals who identify as Black, Asian or from another minority ethnic background, as these groups are currently under-represented at Alzheimer's Society.  

We want everyone we work with, as a colleague, volunteer, supporter, or someone we support, to feel included and that they belong at Alzheimer's Society. 

Our Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy here along with our internal employee forum and Employee Lived Experience network groups help us promote inclusion and belonging, becoming an engaged and inclusive organisation for all our people. 

Our hiring process

During your recruitment process we want to make sure that you bring your whole self and can be at your best. We are working hard to ensure our recruitment process is as inclusive as possible, so please do inform us of your experience and anything you think we could do better by completing our candidate survey when you apply.  Please also contact Alzheimer’s Society Talent Acquisition Team via [email protected] for application support or any adjustments you might need.

To ensure fairness and consistency to select the best candidate for this role, all our applications are anonymised up until an interview has been confirmed. We recognise the benefits of AI, but if you're considering using it to submit your application, we encourage you to reflect on the value it truly adds. AI tools often lack the personal touch and authenticity that set candidates apart. We want to hear your unique perspective, experiences, and skills, so we encourage you to showcase them in your own voice.

We try to avoid closing roles early where possible, however if we receive a high volume of applications, we may close earlier than the advertised closing date. Should this occur, we will aim to provide you with at least 48 hours' notice.

We are committed to safer recruitment and ensuring the welfare of those we work with, due to the nature of some of our roles, we might need to carry out a DBS check at the relevant level.

Giving back to you

Our employees work hard every day to make a true difference in people's lives. We are proud to support them with a range of benefits, recognition and many options for working agilely, all contributing to a strong work life balance. We also have various learning programmes to support you in your development and help you grow to realise your potential and shape a career with Alzheimer's Society. 

You can also visit our Working for Us pages, which give you more information about what it’s like to be an employee at the Society.