Marks Sattin is delighted to be supporting Compass Group Plc who are looking to hire a new Head of Group Reporting, responsible for delivering best-in-class external reporting in-line with a highly successful FTSE 25 company.

The Role

The successful candidate will become the Group's technical expert: a high-profile role liaising with senior management across both the Group functions and the 50 countries in which Compass operates, managing key external audit relationships and working closely with Tax, Treasury, Legal and the Pension Trustee of a £2.5 billion defined benefit plan. The Head of Group Reporting will lead a team of 8 people and will be responsible for developing the bench strength of the team. This person must demonstrate a deep understanding of the impacts of accounting standards and corporate structures on the operations of the Group, providing guidance and thought leadership to ensure business performance is optimised whilst maintaining best in class reporting.

Responsibilities

• Centre of Excellence for all Accounting matters and delivering high quality external reporting (Annual Report, Interim Statement and quarterly trading updates)
• Writing the Audit Committee Papers
• Important peer to peer relationships with Tax, Treasury, CoSec, IR, FP&A
• Managing the external audit relationship including coordination of the Group audit and head office companies
• Representing the company in discussions with the Pensions Trustee, at the 100 Group thought leadership groups on external reporting and pensions and industry events
• Liaising with external advisors for pensions, remuneration, treasury and taxation as required
• Leading change projects for new accounting standards across the geographies
• Close collaboration with the Group FP&A team and Consolidation team to ensure all reporting requirements are met and are easily communicated to the country teams
• Managing the head office accounting team who are responsible for; Intercompany transactions, Group functions accounting, Head office entities & Insurance Captive

Core skills and knowledge

Candidates must be able to demonstrate their ability to thrive in a complex multinational reporting environment. A self-starter who is highly personable and able to bring energy to the Group Finance team and build strong relationships across the Group and with external advisors.

• ACA with considerable post qualified experience in Group/ Corporate Reporting
• Comfortable in dealing with senior stakeholders, e.g. Group CFO, Chairman of the Audit committee
• Solid track record of managing high performing teams
• HFM experience would be advantageous

All applications whether direct or via a 3rd party will be sent to Marks Sattin to assess suitability.

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