Description:
We're looking for a Senior Accountant to join our Global Market Controllership team, based at our Chester office and if you're a finance professional who's built serious expertise over a decade or more and you're ready to step into a role with real scope, real influence, and real impact, this is worth your full attention.
So, what makes this role different?
Let's be honest, a lot of Senior Accountant roles promise "variety" and "exposure" and deliver spreadsheets and sign-offs.
This one is different. Here, you're not just supporting the business - you're a critical part of how BMS operates across the UK and Nordics markets. Your work ensures that the financial foundations of a world-leading biopharmaceutical company are solid, compliant and built for growth.
When you get the close right, when the audit runs smoothly, when a process improvement you championed saves the team hours every quarter - that's you. Visible, valued and making a difference.
What You'll Be Doing And Why It Matters
Owning the Numbers That Matter
- You'll oversee month-end, quarter-end and year-end financial closes - reviewing P&L and balance sheet analysis across UK and Nordic markets, working alongside our Legal Entity COE, Statutory COE and Hyderabad Capability Centre.
- This isn't just ticking boxes. When the financials are accurate and complete, leaders at every level of the organisation make better decisions - decisions that ultimately affect how BMS delivers life-changing medicines to patients. That starts with you getting this right.
Being the Person Auditors Trust
- You'll be the key liaison for both internal and external audits, as well as tax audits - managing relationships with auditors, tax authorities, and advisors with confidence and professionalism.
- There's a real career benefit here too: audit exposure at this level, across multiple markets and regulatory environments, is the kind of experience that genuinely sets you apart - and you'll build it here.
Navigating Tax and Transfer Pricing with Confidence
- You'll collaborate with the Tax COE and Corporate Transfer Pricing team to stay aligned on critical tax and TP positions and oversee Legal Entity profitability budgeting and quarterly profitability adjustment processes.
- If you've always wanted to broaden your technical expertise beyond core accounting into the more complex, commercially nuanced world of transfer pricing and international tax - this role gives you a front-row seat.
Shaping How Finance Works
- This role isn't just about maintaining what exists — it's about making it better. You'll identify and drive process improvement opportunities within Finance, and lead ad-hoc projects initiated by the Country and Regional Controllers.
- Your ideas will be heard here. When you spot a smarter way of doing things, you'll have the platform and the relationships to make it happen and you'll see the results.
Building Partnerships That Actually Work
- You'll work across a genuinely broad network - the Controllers Team, Corporate Treasury, Legal Entity and Statutory COEs, Capability Centres, and cross-functional partners throughout the organisation.
- This is the kind of cross-functional exposure that builds the commercial acumen, the stakeholder management skills and the organisational credibility that accelerates careers. By the time you've settled into this role, you'll have relationships across BMS that most finance professionals spend years trying to build.
Staying at the Leading Edge of Technical Accounting
- As part of BMS's Local Technical Accounting Network (TAN), you'll stay connected to the latest US GAAP and finance SOP developments - collaborating with Corporate TAN to ensure the business is always ahead of the curve.
In a world where accounting standards continue to evolve, this keeps your technical knowledge sharp and your professional value high.
What You'll Bring
Your experience and qualifications:
- Bachelor's degree required; Master's degree preferred
- Professional qualification - CIMA, ACCA, CA or CPA
- 10+ years of experience overall, with at least 5 years in Finance in a global or multinational environment
- Pharmaceutical or life sciences industry experience preferred
- Strong knowledge of USGAAP, local GAAP, financial reporting standards and regulatory compliance
- Proficiency in SAP or equivalent ERP; familiarity with Blackline and Workiva a plus
- Proficiency in Microsoft Suite; knowledge of CoPilot and Power Automate desirable