Fund Accountant (Institutional Funds – Commercial Property)

Company Description
At Octopus we're transforming the industries we operate in and improving the lives of millions of people. We've built market-leading positions in a number of specialist sectors, including smaller company financing, renewable energy, healthcare and property finance. We employ in excess of 750 people and manage more than £8 billion on behalf of over 50,000 investors. Our products don't just help real people solve real life problems, they also make a positive impact on the world around us.

The Octopus Group incorporates Octopus Energy, Octopus Real Estate, Octopus Investments, Octopus Ventures, Octopus Wealth and Octopus Renewables. Our aim is to have an impact in everything we do, and to make a vital contribution to the UK economy by helping people, companies and institutions generate wealth. And we're always on the look-out for smart, talented people who share our values.

Job Description
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Fund Accountant to join the Octopus Funds Finance team, within the Octopus Real Estate division, dedicated to institutional funds in the commercial property lending sector.

The Fund Accountant will report directly to the ORE Financial Controller, and be responsible for producing financial information for the ORE commercial property funds to a consistently high standard, owning the delivery of this to the Fund Managers and to Investors. The Fund Accountant will have a comprehensive understanding of all aspects of the funds, their investment portfolios, regulatory requirements, and accounting requirements, so that they are able to produce high quality information.

The right candidate will have strong technical skills and proven experience of delivering timely and accurate workflows and reporting. They will have had exposure to real estate and fund structures, be familiar with working in a financial services environment, and have financial reporting and control experience. They will be working with a wide range of stakeholders, and will need to demonstrate the skills to manage these relationships professionally, influencing others and gaining the confidence of senior stakeholders.

Key responsibilities

• Maintain a thorough understanding of the fund entities and a working knowledge of current issues impacting them and apply this knowledge to reports and narrative produced.
• Liaise with the funds' administrators to produce statutory and management financial information to a consistently high standard and on a timely basis to meet strict deadlines.
• Communicate effectively with internal and external stakeholders.
• Own the relationship with the funds' administrators, ensuring all fund regulatory and reporting requirements are complied with.
• Liaise with the funds' auditors and tax advisors as required to ensure audits are accurately and effectively delivered and that all tax regulations are complied with.
• Apply processes and controls relevant to the funds, in line with the wider financial control environment of the Octopus group, and assume direct responsibility for verifying the accuracy of the financial records.
• Support the transition of reporting to PowerBI.
• Identify potential efficiencies in the ORE accounting and reporting process and work with the Financial Controller to implement these where appropriate.
• Support the Financial Controller and Fund Managers on transactions and strategic projects as required, including fundraising, raising new debt, optimisation of fund structures and set up / close down of funds.

Qualifications

• Qualified accountant (ACA / CIMA / ACCA or equivalent) with experience of fund accounting.
• Strong Real Estate sector credentials.
• Proven track record of delivering results.
• Exceptional attention to detail and able to deliver accuracy in a high pressure environment.
• Confidence to present, influence others and lead.
• Professionalism whilst working with both internal and external teams.
• Flexible and willing to adapt to changing team requirements.
• Focus on both the big picture and detail when required.
• Good organisational skills with an ability to multi-task.

Additional Information
Our Values and DNA

At Octopus we don't just focus on what we do but also how we do it. Everyone shares our values of being straightforward, helpful and bold. And while these are the principles that guide us as an organisation, our DNA goes even further, by revealing our inner strengths:

We are loyal: we fully buy-in to the company's vision and believe in everything that Octopus stands for.

We are respectful: we live and breathe the Octopus values of being helpful, straightforward and bold.

We are resilient: we have an inner strength that means we never give in.

We are intellectually curious: we seek to understand how the world works and were always learning, adapting and improving.

We understand who our customers are: and because we know them really well, we always give them our very best.

What we offer Octopus has built an exciting and inclusive high-performance culture where employees feel empowered. This means we welcome discussions around flexible working hours. We also understand the value of diversity, and we have a team dedicated to promoting gender, ethnic, socio-economic, LGBT and disability equality, to make sure we back up our words with actions. All Octopus employees are given the opportunity to develop new skills, aim higher and accelerate their careers.