Music is Universal
 
It’s the passionate and dedicated team at Universal Music who help make us the world’s leading music company. From A&R to finance, legal to digital, sales to marketing, Universal Music is the place to grow and develop your career within a truly commercial and innovative business that leads in everything it does.

Everyone is welcome to apply for our roles, and we are determined to ensure that no applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment because of gender, race, disability, sexual orientation, religion, belief, age, marital status, background, pregnancy, or caring responsibilities. We also recognise the importance of diversity of thought within our teams and are fully committed to embracing the talents of people with autism, dyslexia, ADHD, and other forms of neurocognitive variation.

We will always seek to make appropriate adjustments to recruitment, workplaces, and work processes to be fully inclusive to people with different needs and working styles. If you need us to make any reasonable adjustments for you from application onwards, including alternatives to the online form or to disclose a neurocognitive condition, please email UniversalMusicCareers@umusic.com.

The A Side: A Day in The Life

For 93 years Abbey Road have welcomed the artists who have shaped music and popular culture. From the greats - The Beatles, Fela Kuti, Pink Floyd, Kate Bush, Yehudi Menuhin, Massive Attack, Amy Winehouse, Oasis, Nick Cave, Stevie Wonder and Shirley Bassey, to the legends of today - Lady Gaga, Little Simz, The Smile, Florence, Dave, Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Frank Ocean, Ezra Collective, Sam Smith, Morgan Wallen and Stormzy.

We are looking for a 12 Month Maternity Cover to join the team to provide financial and administrative support to the Finance Director and business support to the Studio Managers at Abbey Road Studios.

This role is based at our Abbey Road Studios with the team operating a hybrid working policy where 3 to 4 days per week in the office will be expected. We are ideally looking for a candidate who will be available to start at the beginning of May 2025.

The B Side: Skills and Experience

Be Financial (Financial Authorisation)

• Authorisation and approval of budgets, purchase orders and expenses in the purchasing system.
• Dealing with supplier and client queries regarding payments and finance requests.
• Controlling level of unpaid invoices by liaising with Accounts Payable and departmental staff regarding any queries.
• Providing financial coding to the central finance teams.
• Main point of contact on internal recharges between Abbey Road and Universal (head office)
• To upkeep and maintain the general ledger.
• Arrange urgent manual cheques and immediate transfers as required.
• Banking of cash and reconciliations on a weekly basis
• Clearing the disbursement and other ledger accounts monthly including fixed assets
• Main point of contact between IT and the business regarding setting up new starters, granting systems access to staff.
• Responsible for the post and general queries with other finance team members.
• To ensure all work completed accurately and on time.

Be Operational (Management Reporting and Analysis)

• Participate, as part of the finance department, in preparation of the following; Monthly management accounts, Month end journal preparation, Month end balance sheet reconciliations, Monthly internal management reports and head office reporting, Quarterly internal management reporting for the UK Board.
• Update and maintain internal reporting system including updating actual, forecasts & budgets.
• Assistance with KPI Reporting for the Retail Store
• Preparation of quarterly royalty statements to head office
• Assistance with annual auditors’ queries
• Ad hoc analysis and reports as requested by the Finance Director.

Be Administrative (Reporting systems)

• Providing internal support and training for supplier invoicing system
• Point of contact for finance reporting on the internal bookings system
• Main point of contact for ongoing development and support of financial reporting systems held internally and within head office

Person Specification

• A Business/Finance graduate or part qualified Accountant with a proven track record of finance work experience.
• Enthusiastic, with an interest in working in music/media.
• Numerate with a good attention to detail – used to working with financial data.
• Experience of journal preparation and balance sheet reconciliation
• Strong IT skills: Essential – Excel (pivot tables, complex formulas and VBA), preferred – Hyperion, HFM and MS Access
• An interest in developing Excel skills to an advanced level is essential.
• Team player, good at building professional relationships. A good communicator across all levels of the business.
• Able to manage and prioritise own workload in an often-pressurised environment.

Bonus Tracks: Your Benefits

• Group Personal Pension Scheme (between 3% and 9%)
• Private Medical Insurance
• 25 paid days of annual leave
• Interest Free Season Ticket Loan available
• Holiday Purchase scheme
• Dental and Travel Insurance options
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Salary Sacrifice Cars
• Subsidised Gym Membership

Just So You Know…

The company presents this job description as a guide to the major areas and duties for which the jobholder is accountable. However, the business operates in an environment that demands change and the jobholder's specific responsibilities and activities will vary and develop. Therefore, the job description should be seen as indicative and not as a permanent, definitive, and exhaustive statement.

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