We support peace and prosperity by building connections, understanding and trust between people in the UK and countries worldwide.

We work directly with individuals to help them gain the skills, confidence and connections to transform their lives and shape a better world in partnership with the UK. We support them to build networks and explore creative ideas, to learn English, to get a high-quality education and to gain internationally recognised qualifications.

Working with people in over 200 countries and territories, we are on the ground in more than 100 countries. In 2021–22 we reached 650 million people.

The Role

British Council Pay band: Grade 7 - starting at 18,975.00 with competitive benefits

Location: Tunisia

Department: Finance

Contract type: Fixed-term contract – 2 years (possibility to extend)

Closing Date: 1st September at 23:59 UK time zone/ Tunisia time-zone

Interviews will take place on: TBC

You must have the legal right to work in Tunisia at the time of application; there is no relocation or visa sponsorship support offered.

British Council supports working in new ways such as hybrid working, subject to full approval by line management and conditional upon our ability to provide the appropriate level of service. This may not be appropriate for all roles but can be explored at interview.

Role Purpose

As Financial Controller, you will provide financial accounting professional advice and provides specialist retained financial services in-country or globally for the British Council. You will support the financial accounting activities and work closely with the Managed Service Provider (MSP) to ensure the financial accounts are completed correctly and in a timely manner, and numbers are reported accurately.

You will deliver retained financial processes, ensuring consistent, accurate and robust financial accounting in line with accounting practices and corporate policies. You will also contribute to statutory reporting, tax review/filing, cashflow reporting, audit processes and you will provide finance support to sanctioned/embargoed countries.

You will improve communication across operational areas and with the MSP and will work closely with Group Controllership to support on-going continuous improvement and effective management of the MSP.

You must be comfortable challenging senior stakeholders to ensure consistent, accurate and robust financial results whilst complying with financial accounting processes and in line with accounting practices and corporate policies.

Role Context

This is a new role created as part of the transformation of Professional Services and the global finance team, moving transactional finance processes to an external MSP.

There are several positions, some working in the Process Controllership team within the Finance Centre of Excellence (CoE) and the others working in the in-country Controllership team (more details on this can be found in the role profile).

These positions are based in a variety of locations across British Council’s global operations and will therefore often be the lead Accountant for a business unit, geographical area, or Project. They will therefore need to understand all relevant local external accounting standards and statutory regulations, including tax-related requirements, foreign exchange policies for the unit/area/country/project they are responsible for.

The post holder will be a pro-active self-starter with the ability to think strategically while keeping an eye on the detail. They will be a skilful and flexible finance professional with good communications skills and understanding of commercial finance. The person will be in constant contact with business leads and members of the financial community across the network.

Senior Stakeholders That The Role Interacts With Regularly Include

• Senior Finance Leaders and their global teams
• Managed Service Provider
• Finance colleagues, Group, CoE, Operations and Finance Business Partners
• Strategic Business Unit partners and local delivery teams
• Global Process Owners
• Internal and External Financial Control and Compliance and Audit Leads
• Group Treasury and banking vendors
  
  

Main Accountabilities/Responsibilities

Leadership and Management

• Role model British Council values and EDI in day-to-day interactions with colleagues at all levels.
• Ensure high levels of professionalism are demonstrated by everyone and that client and customer needs are reflected in ways of working.
• Champion financial accounting, providing a good standard of financial insight and financial discipline.
• Promote learning from our experience across the unit and wider organisation.
  
  

Financial Management

• Work closely with the MSP to ensure the financial accounts are completed correctly and in a timely manner, and numbers are reported accurately.
• Deliver retained financial processes supporting P2P, O2C, R2R and CLM ensuring consistent, accurate and robust financial accounting in line with accounting practices and corporate policies.
• Provide retained in-country specific activities/processes, local, complex statutory/tax reporting, managing retained banking responsibilities, liaising with local authorities, supporting sanctioned countries and management of escalations raised by in-country teams and the MSP. Provide financial accounting support to sanctioned/embargoed countries.
• Contribute to statutory reporting, tax review/filing, cashflow reporting and audit processes.
• Responsible for all applicable taxes in Tunisia VAT, income tax, finance and accounting systems in order to help to implement changes required to make the British Council compliant with local legislation in the relevant areas and to ensure we file on file timely and compliant tax returns with the tax authorities.
• Responsible for ensuring the Tunisia statutory accounts are also audited and filed on a timely and compliant basis.
• Provide Cash flow information and manage payment runs and debt management processes, and by extension, influencing these processes across the global network. Develop Cash flow forecasting and management and liaise with the central Treasury team.
• Manage the provision of information to internal / external auditors. Implement and report on the progress of audit recommendations. Identify and challenge issues and bring resolution in relation to financial accounting matters.
  
  

Relationship and Stakeholder Management

• Provide stakeholder engagement and business partnering for retained financial processes, building strong working relationships with key stakeholders and the MSP to ensure that activities comply with professional accounting standards, technical accounting issues and other external reporting requirements in British Council.
  
  

This role includes but is not limited to the responsibilities listed above, the role profile provides more details.

Role Specific Skills

• Good Financial Reporting, Accounting, Closing and Compliance skills.
• Excellent IT skills and proficient in Excel.
• Effective communication and influencing skills, able to relay complex financial information in an easy-to-understand way.
• Highly organised and deadline oriented.
• Building relationships at all levels of the organisation.
• Flexibility, independence, and initiative to perform successfully in a rapidly changing environment.
  
  

Minimum/essential

Role specific knowledge and experience required:

• Experience and knowledge of financial control processes and Professional Accounting Standards (including relevant local requirements where applicable) for Commercial and/or Charitable organisations.
• Good influencing and negotiating experience.
• ERP experience.
  
  

Desirable

• Shared Services Operations.
• Experience of working in international and multi-cultural organisations.
• Leadership of change projects/initiatives. SAP experience.
  
  

Education/ Professional Qualification and Certification

• Higher Education or equivalent in job experience
• Qualified accountant with at least 3 years of post-qualification experience.
  
  

For the detailed Role Profile and any questions, please reach out to: [Click to show email]

A connected and trusted UK in a more connected and trusted world.

Equality , Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Statement

The British Council is committed to policies and practices of equality, diversity and inclusion across everything we do. We support all staff to make sure their behaviour is consistent with this commitment. We want to address under representation and encourage applicants from under-represented groups, in particular, but not exclusively, on grounds of ethnicity and disability. All disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria are guaranteed an interview and we have Disability Confident Employer Status. We welcome discussions about specific requirements or adjustments to enable participation and engagement in our work and activities.

The British Council is committed to safeguarding children, young people and adults who we work with.

We believe that all children and adults everywhere in the world deserve to live in safe environments and have the right to be protected from all forms of abuse, maltreatment and exploitation as set out in article 19, UNCRC (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child) 1989.

Appointment to positions where there is direct involvement with vulnerable groups will be dependent on thorough checks being completed; these will include qualification checks, reference checks, identity & criminal record checks in line with legal requirements and with the British Council’s Safeguarding policies for Adults and Children.

If you have any problems with your application please email [Click to show email]

Please note: Applications to this role can only be considered when made through the Apply section of our careers website. Our ‘ASK HR’ email is only to be used in case of a technical issue encountered when applying through the careers website. Emails with supporting statements and CV/Resumes sent to this email address will not be reviewed and will be deleted