Head of Group Reporting - 6 Month FTC

Skills this role screens for

The company

About us

At Trainline, our purpose is to empower greener travel choices, connecting people and places. https://www.thetrainline.com/terms/sustainability-faqs Trainline enables millions of travellers to find and book the best value tickets across carriers, fares, and journey options through our highly rated mobile app, website, and B2B partner channels.

Great journeys start with Trainline 🚄

We’re Europe’s leading independent rail platform, helping millions of travellers find and book the best-value rail and coach journeys across our app, website and partner channels.

Our job is to make the green travel choice the best choice. By building a better train travel experience, we help more people choose rail - creating a positive impact for customers, our business and the planet.

We’re a team of more than 1,000 Trainliners from over 50 nationalities, working across London, Paris, Barcelona, Milan, Edinburgh and Madrid. Now is a brilliant time to join us and help shape the future of travel.

Introducing the Trainline Group Reporting Team 👋

As a fast moving FTSE 250 business, we're looking for an experienced and technically excellent Head of Group Reporting to join us for a 6 month contract. This is a senior role at the heart of our external reporting and financial control framework, calling for deep IFRS expertise and the confidence to navigate complex and judgemental accounting areas. It's a role that goes beyond a typical Group Reporting position, suited to someone who thrives in a varied, fast paced environment, is always ready to get involved, and loves learning new things. Our business changes daily, so we need someone who stays close to the operational side of things and can help us respond quickly and effectively.

Technical rigour is non-negotiable here. You'll be the go-to person for complex and judgemental accounting questions, expected to research positions thoroughly, form a clear view, and defend it with auditors and advisors, while translating that thinking into clear, accessible communication for senior non-financial stakeholders. You'll also bring commercial awareness, particularly around cashflow, liquidity and capital, along with the analytical instinct to spot when the numbers don't add up.

In this role as the Head of Group Reporting, you will...🚄

• Take ownership of producing the Group's IFRS annual and half yearly listed financial statements and annual report.
• Lead the year end and half year external audit and review processes end to end, keeping key stakeholders informed and preparing and presenting Audit Committee papers.
• Oversee the production and filing of subsidiary statutory accounts across our UK and international entities.
• Own the Group's cashflow forecasting process, providing insight and analysis on liquidity, capital allocation and capital structure to support CFO and Board decision making, working closely with treasury on execution.
• Act as the Group's primary technical accounting authority, researching and forming well reasoned positions on complex and judgemental areas, implementing new standards, and presenting conclusions to senior management, the Audit Committee, auditors and advisors.
• Take the lead on one off projects, partnering with teams across the business, while contributing to monthly reporting, annual budgeting, and ownership of specific balance sheet, cashflow and working capital areas.
• Build and support strong external relationships, including with auditors, loan providers and banking partners, and work closely with legal and CoSec to ensure reporting requirements are met on time.
• Lead Finance's contribution to the Group's material controls framework under Provision 29, maintain and develop the Group's accounting policies including for acquisitions and legal structure changes, and guide reporting systems and process change to protect the integrity of our control environment.

Who they want

We'd love to hear from you if you have

• You're a qualified accou