Expense Accountant - Group Protection - 12 Month FTC

Legal & General supports the savings, protection and retirement needs of around 14 million people, through our portfolio of retail and workplace businesses.

Our Retail division helps people enjoy a more colourful retirement, both directly and through their employers, including Lifetime Mortgages, Retirement Interest Only Mortgages and financial advice on our range of lending products.

We are the UK’s number one individual life insurer, and also provide Group Protection products for employers – all helping people to plan for the unexpected. We support home buying through our Mortgage Club – the UK’s largest – and our award-winning Surveying Services team. And our fintech team finds and supports socially useful start-ups and scale-ups working in the workplace, home, insurance and wealth areas.

Joining us means helping create brighter financial futures for all our customers. 

We’re recruiting for an Expense Accountant to join our Retail Division on a 12 Month Fixed Term Contract. In this role you will support on the delivery of Group Protection financial targets by providing proactive financial and management accounting services to the Group Protection business and by delivering sound and effective operational finance management.

This is a hybrid working opportunity which will allow you to split your working week between your home and either our Hove or London Offices.  

What you'll be doing:

• Producing monthly & quarterly reports and management information packs for senior management meetings to aid with decision-making and in order to achieve business financial targets. You may also be asked to produce Ad-hoc analysis / slides in support of demonstrating how we are tracking to the overall Group Protection financial targets.
• Managing monthly reconciliation and analysis of Insurance MER data and projected direct expenses and FTE positions, highlighting trends and risks against Full Year Forecast and Budget.
• Ensuring robust processes are in place to track and report benefits set out and provide support in the production and benefit tracking of the Group Protection Investment Portfolio when required.
• Monitoring and reporting monthly spend in relation to Insurance, including processing relevant accruals to Group Protection and Group funding cost centres. Ensuring that spend is tracking to expectation and is in line with business case / overall Insurance targets.
• Supporting the quarterly forecast, by providing accurate and timely management information.
• Maintaining and monitoring robust accounting standards, policies and financial controls across the team to ensure compliance with the Group Standards, statutory requirements and the control framework. Ensuring all processes and financial transactions are compliant with internal and external audit requirements.
• Assisting managers and Executive members to help them understand financial perspectives, enabling the business to adopt a proactive and innovative role in achieving the financial expense targets.
• Ensuring that the appropriate Finance MI, process and systems are in place to provide support to Insurance Business Units so that customers are treated fairly in line with Legal & General’s Customer Experience and TCF policies.

Who we're looking for:

• Part Qualified Accountant
• Good knowledge of the Financial Services industry and the performance metrics used within the industry.
• Good knowledge of the UK regulatory Legal framework with specific reference to UK Life Insurance Industry.
• Understanding of L&G's key financial and operational targets and metrics including; profit (VA), market share and APE sales targets.
• Understanding of L&G’s core Life, Pensions and UT/ISA product set, including awareness of product features, characterisations, purpose and profit/expense dynamics.
• Understanding of cost allocation approaches and profit measurements (Value Added Management), annual/quarterly planning and forecasting cycle, financial approval procedures/processes and monthly expenditure reporting and analysis processes, and alternative cross-charging methodologies and behavioural implications.
• Advanced knowledge in the use of spreadsheets, databases and analysis tools.
• Ability to develop and maintain strong relationships with individuals at all levels across an organisation.
• Ability to influence others and operate in a complex matrix structure.
• Ability to create and deliver clear and concise written or verbal reports.

Whatever your role, we reward performance and behaviour with a package that looks after all the things that are important to you. Here are some of the benefits we offer: 

• The opportunity to participate in our annual, performance-related bonus plan and valuable share schemes  
• Generous pension contribution  
• Life assurance   
• At least 25 days holiday, plus public holidays, 26 days after 2 years’ service. There’s also the option to buy and sell holiday 
• Competitive family leave 
• Participate in our electric car scheme, which offers employees the option to hire a brand-new electric car through tax efficient salary sacrifice 
• There are the many discounts we offer – both for our own products and at a range of high street stores and online   
• In 2023, some of our workspaces were redesigned. Our offices are great spaces to connect and collaborate and have your wellbeing at the heart

Legal & General is a leading financial services group and major global investor, named Britain’s Most Admired Company in 2023, for the second year running. Rated top in our sector and top for inspirational leadership, we have a strong heritage and an exciting future.

We aim to build a better society for the long term by investing our customers’ money in things that make life better for everyone.

If you join us, you’ll be part of a welcoming culture, with opportunities to collaborate with people of diverse backgrounds, views and experiences. Guided by leaders with integrity who care about your future and wellbeing. Empowered through initiatives which support people to develop their careers and excel.

We strive to be open, mindful and inclusive, so are always willing to discussing flexible working arrangements and reasonable accommodations for candidates with specific needs.

If you’re open to find out more, we'd love to hear from you.