Senior Accounts Officer – Great Jobs for Bright People

Senior Accounts Officer

EMBL – European Molecular Biology Laboratory

Heidelberg, Germany

Organisationdata: Finance
Job number: HD02054
Contract Type: Staff Member
Job Function: Senior Administrative Officer (gr. 6-8)
Closing date: 17 October 2021

About the team/job

We are Europe’s flagship research laboratory for the life sciences – an intergovernmental organisation performing scientific research in disciplines including molecular biology, physics, chemistry and computer science. We are an international, innovative and interdisciplinary laboratory with approx. 2 000 employees from many nations, operating across six sites, in Heidelberg (HQ), Barcelona, Hinxton near Cambridge, Hamburg, Grenoble and Rome.

We are looking for a Senior Accounts Officer to join us at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany. In this role you will be part of the Accounting Unit and will report to the Head of Accounting. You will have a broad range of responsibilities concerning EMBL’s general ledger accounting and financial reporting.

Your role

Responsibilities will include, but not be limited, to the following:

Financial Reporting

• Prepare annual financial statements in accordance with international standards and organization regulations and policies;
• Prepare monthly, quarterly and annual financial reports for the senior management;
• Coordinate and prepare responses to queries from internal and external auditors;
• Keep abreast with changes in international accounting standards and ensure respective application in the organization.

General Ledger

• Coordinate period close processes and maintain integrity of the general ledger and sub-ledgers;
• Monitor accounts balances, perform reconciliations and prepare year end adjustment journals;
• Maintain grants and funds accounting, including technology transfer and health insurance funds;
• Ensure general ledger integrity and follow up on any corrective actions required.

Accounts Payable and Receivable

• Coordinate accounts payable and receivable transactions and periodic reconciliations;
• Monitor suppliers and customers aging reports and coordinate measures for resolving open items;
• Administer customers’ bills and invoices aligning to the relevant tax legislation;
• Coordinate capital expenditures, prepare assets accounting and update assets registry.

Other treasury and administrative operations

• Ensure sound running of internal controls and verification of invoices and payments;
• Reporting and statistics for the accounting operations and other departments;
• Provide various administrative support to EMBL staff and EMBL facilities.

As Senior Accounts Officer you will be providing technical and practical advice on various relevant accounting related questions to the Head of Accounting, Accounting Team and other departments of the Laboratory. In this role you will be also required to support implementation of relevant projects, ad hoc assignments and responding to various requests from management and senior scientific staff.

The post holder will report directly to the Head of Accounting and will work closely with the Accounting, Purchasing and Scientific groups as well as external contacts like vendors, debtors and others. Importantly, you will need to establish close and productive relationships with finance and non-finance staff in order to achieve the main tasks above.

You have

As our ideal candidate, you should have at least 5 years of experience in financial accounting, and ideally you should possess a recognised professional qualification in accounting and/or a master in accounting, finance or related field. As our ideal candidate you will have to demonstrate proven experience in financial reporting, knowledge of IPSAS or IFRS and their application to a complex international organization and application of internal controls.

You should possess a hands-on attitude and apply highly analytical and structured way of working. Experience with modern ERP systems is a prerequisite, preferably with SAP, as well as good knowledge of MS Office, especially Excel and Word. In addition to fluency in written and spoken English, a good working knowledge of German is highly desirable.

You might also have

Previous experience of working in an international organisation or an organisation engaged in research would be an advantage.

Why join us

EMBL is an inclusive, equal opportunity employer offering attractive conditions and benefits appropriate to an international research organisation with a very collegial and family friendly working environment. The remuneration package comprises a competitive salary, a comprehensive pension scheme, medical, educational and other social benefits, as well as financial support for relocation and installation, including your family and the availability of an excellent child care facility on campus.

What else you need to know

EMBL Administration units are responsible for supporting all parts of EMBL and for undertaking and delivering long-term strategic administrative planning. With more than 200 staff, in all support areas, ranging from caretakers and gardeners to senior management staff, EMBL Administration provides administrative support to approx. 2 00 members of personnel from in excess of 80 nations. The team is dedicated to maintaining high quality services to staff at all EMBL sites.

Please note that appointments on fixed term contracts can be renewed up to 9 years in total, depending on circumstances at the time of the review.

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