Management Accountant

At Thames Water, we make a daily difference to the lives of 16 million customers by supplying 2.6 billion litres of water through 32,000km of pipes - keeping taps flowing and toilets flushing. We deliver life’s essential service so our customers, communities and the environment can thrive.

We are looking for a driven and detail-oriented Management Accountant to join our Waste Finance team. In this role, you’ll take ownership of core financial processes and play a key role in delivering accurate, insightful financial information to support decision-making across the business.

What you’ll be doing as a Management Accountant

You will work across dynamic and complex portfolios, identifying process improvements, strengthening controls, and contributing to high-quality outputs for audit and regulatory reporting.

Key responsibilities include:

• Leading the posting of Waste accrual journals and providing assurance and insightful commentary for the Home Counties region.
• Supporting period-end close activities, including recording, reconciliation, and analysis in line with agreed timetables.
• Performing reconciliations across key control data such as accruals, provisions, prepayments, inventory, and general ledger balances.
• Preparing and reviewing journal entries, with a focus on automation and efficiency improvements.
• Providing insight into financial results and key cost drivers to FP&A and Business Partnering teams.
• Collaborating across finance teams to document, standardise, and improve processes
• Supporting the preparation of audited financial statements and responding to external audit requests.
• Preparing accounting papers and control documentation for internal and external audits
• Contributing to regulatory accounting returns, including cost allocation across price controls and upstream services.
• Ensuring compliance with accounting standards and internal control frameworks.
• Identifying and resolving control weaknesses and process inefficiencies.
• Supporting ad hoc financial analysis, business cases, and performance investigations.

You will also play a key role in the Chemicals end-to-end process, including budgeting, forecasting, and variance analysis.

Base location: Hybrid - Clearwater Court, Reading, with occasional travel to other sites as required.

Working pattern: 36 Hours, Monday to Friday

What you should bring to the role

Essential:

• Qualified accountant (ACCA, ACA, CIMA) or qualified by experience.
• Strong understanding of accounting principles and standards.
• Excellent financial analysis and data manipulation skills.
• Advanced Excel skills.
• Ability to manage priorities and meet deadlines.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to explain financial information to non-finance stakeholders.
• Experience working with auditors or within an audit environment.
• Strong business partnering capability.

Desirable:

• Experience with SAP and/or HFM.
• Experience in utilities or construction sectors.
• Regulatory reporting or audit experience.

What’s in it for you?

• Competitive salary between £65,000 to £70,000 per annum, depending on experience.
• Annual Leave - 26 days holiday per year, increasing to 30 with the length of service (plus bank holidays)
• Performance-related pay plan directly linked to company performance measures and targets.
• Generous Pension Scheme through AON.
• Access to lots of benefits to help you take care of you and your family’s health and wellbeing, and your finances - from annual health MOTs and access to physiotherapy and counselling, to Cycle to Work schemes, shopping vouchers and life assurance.

Find out more about our benefits and perks

Who are we?

We’re the UK’s largest water and wastewater company, with more than 16 million customers relying on us every day to supply water for their taps and toilets. We want to build a better future for all, helping our customers, communities, people, and the planet to thrive. It’s a big job and we’ve got a long way to go, so we need help from passionate and skilled people, committed to making a difference and getting us to where we want to be in the years and decades to come.

Learn more about our purpose and values

Working at Thames Water

Thames Water is a unique, rewarding, and diverse place to work, where every day you can make a difference, yet no day is the same. As part of our family, you’ll enjoy meaningful career opportunities, flexible working arrangements and excellent benefits.

If you’re looking for a sustainable and successful career where you can make a daily difference to millions of people’s lives while helping to protect the world of water for future generations, we’ll be here to support you every step of the way. Together, we can build a better future for our customers, our region, and our planet.

Real purpose, real support, real opportunities. Come and join the Thames Water family. Why choose us? Learn more.

We’re committed to being a great, diverse, and inclusive place to work. We welcome applications from everyone and want to ensure you feel supported throughout the recruitment process. If you need any adjustments, whether that’s extra time, accessible formats, or anything else just let us know, we’re here to help and support.

When a crisis happens, we all rally around to support our customers. As part of Team Thames, you’ll have the opportunity to sign up to support our customers on the frontline as an ambassador. Full training will be given for what is undoubtedly an incredibly rewarding experience. It’s also a great opportunity to learn more about our business and meet colleagues.

Disclaimer: Due to the high volume of applications we receive, we may close the advert earlier than the advertised date, so we encourage you to apply as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.