Business studies to financial services accounting and finance.
My university degree offered a large breadth of knowledge covering many topics. After graduating I felt I needed to specialise and gain a good exposure to large businesses and what makes them tick. I therefore started at an audit and assurance professional services business to build on the foundations gained in the academic world.
From here I found I enjoyed working in financial services, the businesses had complex challenges and a significant impact on the UK economy. This in turn motivated me to understand more and get involved.
I then moved from audit and assurance into the world of Life and Pensions at the Phoenix group. I began working in operational finance, this provided me with a good range of tasks and challenges that kept me engaged. Working with outsourcers, multiple niche finance functions (Tax, Actuarial, Systems and Reporting) and a large team I had excellent opportunities to develop and pursue my professional goals.
From here I developed my people management skills, learned to deliver high quality work, support continual business improvement and helped progress the business from a FTSE 250 to FTSE 100 business.
I lead, manage and build to control and report IFRS/Sii accounting.
Managing a team of accountants, I am responsible for the controls and reporting on a number of large pension and life insurance funds.
This involves oversight and governance work for operational finance, working with a risk framework to gain assurance over the validity and accuracy of reported numbers. This might involve oversight meetings, review and challenge on controls preparation and deep diving key risks areas to understand the mechanics and risks of the business in more detail.
I review and challenge on a number of financial controls operating within the team also for downstream reporting. This might involve the review and post of manual journals, second review on analytical review commentaries and sense/expectation reviews of fund reporting into various teams such as: Tax, Actuarial, Financial Reporting and Projects.
Managing a larger team I have responsibilities for line management, training, recruiting and generally keeping a positive morale within the team. This means keeping up to date with new reporting standards, process and policy changes.
As a long standing member of the team I am often involved in project spec work to support the development of improvements, harmonisation and value add activities. This includes attending project committee meetings, engaging to support time frame production and business readiness requirements.
I also act as a central contact for the quarterly reporting timetable within my team. This involves regular liaison with wider teams on reporting progress and issues, support with changes to timetables and share best practice with the wider teams.
Wide engagement across departments and team development.
As a relatively central function within the wider finance team at Phoenix. I am often closely interacting with team members from across the business with very specific knowledge and skill sets. This helps to develop my knowledge of the business and gives me an appreciation for how the work my team contributes to the business adds value. I also get the chance to work on a broad range of activity which averts boredom through saturation.
I really enjoy being a line manager and supporting the team to develop as professionals really motivates me to do my best. This might include regular one to one sessions, workshops, training or just a general discussions. I love to see people with a desire to grow flourish and it always fills me with pride to see a member of staff be recognised for their good work.
Be proactive and communicate openly and honestly.
The key advice I have given to all applicants and new starters is that Phoenix is a company where your opportunities are significant and plentiful. The key to capitalising on this is to be proactive, take the time to understand and reflect on your goals and achievements and communicate openly and honestly with the team around you about how you want to progress/operate within the business.
The business can be fast paced and although all the resources and help are made available, it is incredibly important to make yourself accountable and seek the information you need for yourself. People are always willing to support you here but have respect for those who have taken the time to consider their requirements carefully and actively seek support before it becomes a critical requirement.
Support a cross national team with a significant organisational change
At the start of 2021 my role changed and I was made responsible for a new team that would be comprised of staff from two locations following the purchase of standard life into the Phoenix group. Coming from the Phoenix side of the transaction was a challenging experience as a huge amount of harmonisation was required to bring the teams together. This involved the embedding of new controls, networking with new teams, understanding the operations and reporting of the new entities, switching reporting ledgers and hierarchies and most importantly, supporting both my old and new teams through the transition. This significant change had a huge impact on the stress levels of the teams and helping them to traverse this new landscape by being as supportive, understanding and as informed as possible felt like a huge achievement.
