Head of UK Financial Reporting & Control

Job Description

About Aberdeen

Aberdeen plc is one of Europe’s largest investment companies, and we are built on a long-standing culture of caring about the future and making a positive impact. Together we invest for a better future. We do it to make a difference to the lives of our clients and customers, our employees, society, and our shareholders. Our business is structured around three distinct areas focused on our clients' changing needs: Aberdeen Investments, Aberdeen Adviser, and interactive investor.

About The Department

Finance provides the insight, stewardship and control that support decision-making across Aberdeen. The function ensures we meet our statutory and regulatory obligations while maintaining robust governance and financial integrity. Working collaboratively across the business, the team delivers reliable reporting, strong controls and continuous improvement initiatives that help enable our clients to be better investors. In this environment, colleagues are encouraged to challenge constructively, innovate and continuously develop their expertise.

About The Role

This is a senior leadership opportunity within Group Financial Control, reporting to the Head of UK & EMEA Financial Reporting and Control. Based in Edinburgh, you will lead the UK Financial Reporting and Control team and provide financial stewardship across Aberdeen’s key UK regulated and non-regulated entities. You will translate strategic priorities into clear, measurable outcomes, overseeing legal entity reporting, financial control, statutory accounts, regulatory reporting and audit activity. This role offers significant exposure to senior stakeholders, board directors and regulators, making it an excellent opportunity for an experienced finance leader looking to shape the future of financial reporting and control within a leading investment company. Through your leadership and expertise, you’ll help strengthen governance, drive continuous improvement and invest in your own future career growth.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a high-performing UK Financial Reporting and Control team, fostering an inclusive culture, strong accountability and continuous learning.
• Own the delivery of accurate, timely and insightful UK legal entity financial and board reporting, providing analysis and challenge across performance, capital, liquidity and risk.
• Maintain a robust legal entity control environment, ensuring effective balance sheet governance, financial integrity and strong reporting controls.
• Lead statutory and regulatory reporting, manage external audit relationships and oversee changes to accounting, regulatory and reporting requirements.
• Provide technical accounting leadership and strategic insight, translating complex financial matters into clear recommendations for senior stakeholders.
• Drive complex change programmes, automation initiatives and process improvements that enhance efficiency, control effectiveness and scalability.

About The Candidate

We're looking for a collaborative and inclusive finance leader who combines strong technical expertise with excellent commercial judgement and stakeholder management skills.

Essential

• Qualified accountant (CA, ACA, ACCA or equivalent) with strong knowledge of IFRS, UK statutory reporting and financial control.
• Significant experience in financial reporting, legal entity control or audit within investment management or a regulated financial services environment.
• Proven people leadership experience, with the ability to build capability, develop talent and translate strategy into delivery.
• Experience leading complex reporting cycles, audits, regulatory deliverables and change initiatives in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills, with the credibility to engage at board, executive and senior management level.
• Strong understanding of the UK regulated financial services environment, coupled with a robust control mindset and a track record of continuous improvement.

Desirable

• Experience overseeing outsourced or centralised finance service providers.
• Knowledge of financial systems and reporting tools, including ERP platforms such as Oracle, alongside strong Excel and presentation skills.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Committed employer. If you have a disability and would like to apply to one of our UK roles under the Disability Confident Scheme, please notify us by completing the relevant section in our candidate questionnaire. One of our team will reach out to support you through your application process.

Our Benefits

There's more to working life than coming home with a good salary. We have an environment where you can learn, get involved and be supported.

When you join us, your reward will be one of the best around. This includes 40 days’ annual leave, a 16% employer pension contribution, a discretionary performance-based bonus (where applicable), private healthcare and a range of flexible benefits – including gym discounts, season ticket loans and access to an employee discount portal. You can read more about our benefits here.

Our business

Enabling our clients to be better investors drives everything we do. Our business is structured around three distinct areas – our vectors of growth – focused on our clients’ changing needs. You can find out more about what we do here.

An inclusive way of working

Whatever way you like to work, if you have the talent and commitment to join our team, we’d like to hear from you.

At Aberdeen we’ve adopted a ‘blended working’ approach. This approach combines the benefits of face-to-face collaboration, coaching and connecting in our offices with the flexibility of working from home. It enables colleagues to find a balance that works for their roles, their teams, our clients and our business.

An inclusive culture, where diverse perspectives drive our actions, is at the core of who we are and what we do. If you need assistance with your application, or a reasonable adjustment to your interview arrangements – for example, because you are neurodivergent, or have a physical, sensory, cognitive, mental, visible or invisible disability – please let us know and we’ll be happy to help.

We’re committed to providing an inclusive workplace where all forms of difference are valued and which is free from any form of unfair or unlawful treatment. We define diversity in its broadest sense – this includes but is not limited to our diversity of educational and professional backgrounds, experience, cognitive and neurodiversity, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief and ethnicity and geographical provenance. We support a culture that values meritocracy, fairness and transparency and welcomes enquiries from everyone.

If you need assistance or an adjustment due to a disability please let us know as part of your application and we will assist.

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