Finance Graduate Scheme

Job Introduction

This is a hybrid role, working from home and with regular days into the office to collaborate with colleagues. You will need to be able to commute to Folkestone to undertake this role. 

At Saga, we believe in exceptional experiences every day whilst being a driver for positive change in our markets and communities.  

We’re excited to be welcoming applications for our Finance Graduate Scheme on an initial 12 - month fixed term contract, with a view to this being the start of a permanent and fulfilling finance career here at Saga. Initially, you’ll be specialising in one of our core Finance teams, but you will have the opportunity to experience all aspects of finance – from external finance reporting, financial record keeping, planning, analysis and more! 

You will need a 2:1 degree or above (realised or predicted) in any numerate or business discipline, with an interest in a career in Finance including studying to become a qualified accountant. You will be working across wide business areas and will need excellent communication, presentation, and numeric skills with an attention to detail and strong commercial awareness. Our values are Precision Pace, Collaboration, Empathy and Curiosity – and you’ll need these by the bucket-load to thrive at Saga! 

You will have access to the following: 

• Access to an apprenticeship scheme offering study towards an accountancy qualification such as ACCA or CIMA including 20% of time available to study.  

• Stepped salary with exam progression. An expected fully qualified salary of £35k+ with opportunity to be remunerated well beyond this as your experience develops. 

• Training in different areas to develop well-rounded accountants - systems/technical accounting knowledge and budgeting/forecasting commercial awareness. 

• Specific graduate events and support network with guest speakers, career progression advice, training opportunities, and access to a mentoring scheme. 

• Support from our c.100 strong Finance colleague community, many of whom have trained at Saga and reaping the benefits in their own careers. 

Role Responsibility

These are just some of the activities you’re likely to be involved in during your first year with Saga: 

• Month-end close including all aspects of general ledger accounting and reporting.  

• Active role in forecasting and budgeting process, heavily dependent upon building relationships with business stakeholders. 

• Monthly balance sheet account reconciliations, coordinating with colleagues.  

• External reporting including year-end/ interim audits and regulatory returns. 

• Development of the month-end close process, striving for process efficiencies.  

• Responsibility for the maintenance of accounting records and associated processes.  

The Ideal Candidate

• At least a 2:1 degree (realised or predicted). 

• Strong academics, both GCSEs and A-Levels or equivalents. 

• Keen IT skills, particularly with Microsoft Excel. We’ll provide training on our accountancy applications – but Excel is an accountant’s best friend!  

• A desire to study towards ACCA, CIMA or ACA professional qualifications. 

• Excellent communication and people skills with a range of colleague levels.  

• Analytically strong with the ability to challenge and interrogate, facilitating the ability to find anomalies or inconsistencies and pursue these through to a resolution.  

• Ability to multi-task, be exceptionally well organised; strong level of accuracy; meet established deadlines and work under pressure with a proactive ethos.  

• Curious, and autonomous desire to understand the “why” behind processes to perform them better and find opportunities.  

Our values are:

• Precision Pace - Always owning and making things happen.

• Empathy – Always aware of others.

• Curiosity – Always asking why.

• Collaboration – Always one team, the Saga team!

Package Description

The standard benefits when you join Saga include: 

• Remote working available where possible

• 25 days annual leave plus bank holidays with the choice to buy a further 5 days annual leave per year 

• Free private medical insurance after 1 years' service 

• Workplace Pension 

• AXA Be Supported 

• A range of reductions and offers from leading retailers, travel groups and entertainment companies

About the Company

Having spent our first 30 years focused on travel, Saga launched Saga Magazine and developed home and motor insurance and financial services in the 1980s. Private medical and pet insurance followed in the 1990s, along with the launch of our own cruise ship operation. The strength of the Saga brand provides the Group with the ability to develop in-house or partner with suppliers to offer our customers and members highly differentiated, competitively priced products which meet their evolving needs.

Saga exists to help our customers and members lead the life they want to lead. To succeed in this, we know that the most important thing to do is to listen to our customers and members. At the heart of our business model is our drive to know more about our customers’ wants and needs so we are best placed to serve them.

Applying this approach over the past 70 years has enabled us to become the UK's specialist provider of products and services to people aged over 50 in the UK. The Saga brand has become one of the most recognised and trusted brands amongst UK consumers in this demographic and is recognised for its high quality products and exceptional standards of service. These include cruises and holidays, insurance, personal finance and the Saga Magazine.

When you join Saga you will see that we are committed to treating all employees fairly and to offering equal opportunities in all aspects of employment and advancement.

We value diversity not just because it is the right thing to do, but because diverse teams perform better. Creating a culture in which everyone feels welcome and offering equal opportunities in all aspects of employment and advancement is incredibly important to us. Fair consideration is given to applications from all applicants, including those with disabilities and those over who are over 50 as we are champions of age inclusivity.

We are an official Disability Confident Committed employer and ensure that our recruitment process is inclusive and accessible and we will make reasonable adjustments as required.

We are a member of the 30% Club and partner with Women Ahead which offers us a fantastic opportunity to take part in a leading, global, cross-company, leadership mentoring scheme to champion female talent.

We are a signatory of the Armed Services Covenant and have received a Silver Award from the Employer Recognition Scheme. 

To all recruitment agencies: Saga does not accept agency CVs unless specifically engaged on the role by the HR Recruitment Team. Please do not forward CVs to our recruiters, employees or any other company location. Saga is not responsible for any fees related to unsolicited CVs.

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Saga Group