Legal Accounts Team Leader
Up to £40,000 plus excellent benefits (Work level 6A)
Stratford-Upon-Avon or Bristol – hybrid working with 1 day a week in the office 
Full time, 37.5 hours

We’re looking for a Legal Accounts Team Leader to join our Co-op Legal Services (CLS) finance team.

In this newly created role, you’ll lead and develop our Finance Operations Team who are responsible for all transactions relating to our legal casework. Alongside line management responsibilities, we’ll also look to you to make sure that all daily tasks are completed in adherence with internal and external policies, as well as driving continuous improvement, making sure robust controls are in place and proactively working to address areas of concern in a highly regulated environment. This is a fantastic chance to develop your skills and with new projects on the horizon there’s never been a more exciting time to join us.

What you’ll do:

•    Lead, coach and develop the Financial Operations Team – managing team objectives, reviewing performance, carrying out regular 121s and identifying training needs
•    Make sure daily processes comply with the Solicitors Regulatory Authority rules, accounting standards and the Co-op Group policies, putting procedures and controls in place
•    Review and report on the performance of controls with a focus on continuous improvement 
•    Review and approve complex reconciliations and bank payments 
•    Work closely with IT and the wider CLS finance team on implementing our new case management and legal accounting system 
•    Lead on period end closure and work alongside Group finance to post period end journals 
•    Complete case related balance sheet reconciliations, highlighting areas of concern and proactively working to address those areas.
•    Support with external SRA auditor requests where required and make sure they’re delivered within agreed timeframes

This role will suit people who have:

•    An AAT, ACCA, or CIMA qualification, or you’re working towards this. If you’re not qualified but you have significant experience within a regulated environment, we’d also love to hear from you
•    Previous experience of leading and developing a team
•    Experience of dealing with a high volume of legal or management accounts
•    Strong organisation and prioritisation skills
•    Excellent relationship building and communication skills

Why Co-op?

Here you’ll do work that matters. We’re a commercial organisation with a purpose beyond profit, you’ll have an opportunity to help us build a stronger Co-op and stronger communities. You’ll also get a package that includes:
• an annual bonus scheme (dependent on personal and business performance)
• a pension with up to 10% employer contributions
• 28 days holiday plus bank holidays (rising to 32 in line with service)
• wellbeing benefits to support your physical financial and mental health
• coaching, training, and support such as study leave, to help you develop your skills and progress your career
• discounts on Co-op products and services

Building an inclusive work environment

We’re actively building diverse teams and we welcome applications from everyone. We want to build inclusive work environments, where our colleagues have equal opportunities to reach their full potential. We celebrate our differences and recognise the importance of our teams reflecting the communities they serve. 

If you have a disability, we can make reasonable adjustments to our recruitment process according to your needs. We're also part of the Disability Confident scheme, meaning we'll always offer an interview to disabled candidates who apply through the scheme if they meet the minimum criteria for a job.

We'll ask whether you’d like to be considered under the Disability Confident scheme when you apply. 

If we invite you to take part in the recruitment process for any of our jobs, we’ll ask you if you need any reasonable adjustments to enable you to participate.

You can find out more about our recruitment process at jobs.coop.co.uk/apply-process. 

You can find out more about the Disability Confident scheme and all our commitments to diversity and inclusion at colleagues.coop.co.uk/diversity-inclusion-and-wellbeing.

If you’re successful in your application, we’ll perform some background checks as part of our pre-employment screening process. These will include an SRA check, credit checks, and a DBS (disclosure and barring service) check. Please note Co-op does not offer visa sponsorship for this role.

As part of your application, you'll need to complete an online assessment. This assessment typically takes between 45-60 minutes. If you're a current Co-op colleague, this does not need to be completed.