Manager -Business Services and Outsourcing - Guildford

Ideas | People | Trust

We’re BDO. An accountancy and business advisory firm, providing the advice and solutions businesses need to navigate today’s changing world.

We’ll broaden your horizons

The Business Services and Outsourcing team are essential to meeting our clients' evolving requirements. As well as delivering long-term, sustainable value to businesses by providing a range of solutions such as accounting, payroll and compliance services, they also play a key role in tying together many of our services across BDO both domestically and internationally. By building deep and meaningful relationships with a range of clients from ambitious entrepreneurial SMEs to large multi-national groups, our BS&O team don’t just advise on their specific business challenges, they open doors for other teams to provide our firm’s wider service offering. To succeed in this agile environment, you’ll need to demonstrate excellent problem-solving skills and initiative. In return, you’ll have the opportunity for progression, and the chance to develop in one of the industry’s most exciting and varied roles.

A Manager’s primary responsibility is to manage the team on a day to day basis and to build and sustain external and internal client relationships. You have responsibility for the management of a portfolio of clients including fee negotiations, control of billings and cash collections within the firm’s criteria.

In managing an assignment you will determine resource requirements, monitor team progress against budget and timeframes, review work of more junior members of the team and resolve issues prior to Director or Partner review.

As a manager you will play a key role in developing relationships with existing clients and proactively seeking out new opportunities for BSO as well as engaging with other departments to ensure a cross stream approach to business development activities.

We’ll help you succeed

Principal Accountabilities and Attributes:

Technical

• Manage client assignments, which includes determining the resource requirements, monitoring progress against budget and established timeframe, review of work completed by junior team members and resolving all project issues prior to Partner and Director review.
• Manage the overall team on a day-to-day basis.
• Manage a portfolio of clients including client take on procedures, agreeing scope, fee negotiations, control of billings and cash collections within the firm’s criteria.
• Acts as a major point of contact within the firm for the client together with the partner. This includes responding quickly to, as well as anticipating, client requests/needs, keeping clients informed of progress in relation to all aspects of the service provided and maintaining regular contact with clients.
• Ensure that the firm’s risk management and quality control procedures are adhered to
• Recruit, retain, develop and motivate our employees (includes participating in recruitment, ensuring job appraisal documentation is completed within deadlines and ensuring appropriate objectives and development plans are in place for appraisees).
• Work as part of management team on issues such as resource planning, staff retention, merit rate meetings, improving our tools and processes and efficiency gains
• Keep up to date with all technical developments in order to ensure continued excellent delivery of services to the client.
• May develop a specialism and actively work to identify new business opportunities in that market

Commercial

• Build sustainable relationships with clients, and take point responsibility for delivering answers to clients in most cases.
• Puts quality first in every client interaction by ensuring accuracy, timeliness and honesty
• Encourages team members to put their ideas forward to improve the BDO experience for clients
• Acts within agreed fees, scope, deliverables and timescales and support the team to deliver on promises
• Solicits feedback from clients and acts promptly to amend or improve client service
• Escalates potential overruns and does not put off difficult conversations
• Identify and recognise new project and business opportunities for BSO, and inform the partner and client as appropriate. Acts as an ambassador of the firm, participates in marketing events, keeps abreast of the wide range of services the firm offers and suggests innovative products and services.
• Contributes to bidding for new work and supports senior people as needed
• Builds relationships with existing clients and seeks out new opportunities
• Takes the time to reflect on and learn from experience
• Understands wider BDO service offering and can spot opportunities outside the stream
• Personally invests the time and energy in building BD and management skills
• Encourages others to build networks and get into the market
• Introduces professional contacts to others as appropriate

Personal

• Demonstrates a “can do” attitude for assignments and is enthusiastic to learn new skills
• Takes personal responsibility for delivery of projects and tasks
• Is an effective people manager and delivers results through others
• Coaches team members to deliver results
• Knows when to delegate and when to take personal responsibility
• Undertakes effective performance reviews discussions with team members
• Seeks regular feedback on own performance and acts on findings
• Sets realistic but stretching performance targets for self and others
• Understands their impact on other people
• Knows own strengths and limitations
• Undertakes difficult conversations when necessary
• Acknowledges and praises people for their effort and achievements
• Offers solutions rather than presenting problems

When you join us, we’ll make your growth our priority. If you can demonstrate the following skills, we can help you go far. We’re looking for someone with:

• ACCA/ACA Qualified or equivalent
• Proficient at Microsoft Office especially Excel.
• Excellent knowledge of accounting packages eg. Xero, Sage Quickbooks etc
• Excellent knowledge of UK GAAP and FRS 102, experience of Caseware and consolidations preferred.
• Experience of managing client assignments
• Experience of identifying and developing new business leads

We’re in it together

At BDO, we believe that when our people feel valued and rewarded, their potential is unlimited. We offer highly competitive starting salaries and review renumeration packages regularly to ensure that our pay always positively reflects performance. As well offering support with tuition and professional qualifications, we also provide the following benefits, as standard:

• 28 days’ holiday;
• access to a personal pension scheme, with matched employer contributions;
• life assurance cover;
• and income protection insurance.

That’s not all. We understand that everyone is different so, we offer a range of voluntary benefits to suit every lifestyle. Our flexible benefits platform, Flexcel, means our people can choose from a range of tax efficient options to design a benefit package that best suits them. Through Flexcel, they can:

• buy up to ten days’ extra holiday;
• add on private medical, personal accident, dental insurance or travel insurance;
• enrol in our Bike to Work scheme;
• receive an interest free season ticket loan or interest free graduate loan;
• take an online health assessment and utilise our employee assistance programme.

We’re looking forward to the future

At BDO, we’re big enough to make the difference and collaborative enough to never lose sight of where we’re going. We know that it’s our people that make our success possible. Across our 17 UK locations, more than 6,000 of them work together to provide tax, audit, assurance and a range of advisory services that help our clients achieve their ambitious goals. Together, they’re fuelling Britain’s economic engine. Behind every complex client challenge and every untapped innovation, they’re there: ensuring we continue to find the right combination of global reach, integrity and expertise. That’s why we’re always looking for ways to invest in our people. That means providing them with an environment where they can grow, learn, laugh and feel respected, at all times.

Are you ready to join them?

For further information, and to apply, please visit our website via the “Apply” button below.