Head of French Gaap

Role responsibilities:
As part of Financial Accounting HBCE team, the French Reporting team is responsible for the financial reporting under French GAAP for HBCE, including European branches and subsidiaries. The role will manage regulator queries and new requirements implementation in coordination with Change team and will ensure local requirements are addressed in business and system change projects. The role will also be responsible for the publication of HBCE solo accounts in Annual report and Accounts. The role is located in France with team spread out in France, Poland and India.

Detail Responsibilities include:

- Financial reporting for France (including 5 subsidiaries) and its branches (9 Branches) in Continental Europe under French GAAP, carrying a balance sheet size of EUR 230bn. The frequency of this reporting under SURFI is monthly (23 reports) with enhanced requirements in quarterly (31 reports), half yearly (37 reports) and yearly (42 reports) reporting (per entity).
- Own the production of the reports in Annual disclosures providing requisite commentary in detail on each disclosure and will support the External and Internal Audits and provide relevant information on time.
- Building cordial relations with local regulator by promptly responding on queries and attending all meetings or workshops and sharing relevant information as needed.
- For other regulatory returns under French GAAP (mainly related to HBCE regulatory fee, like SRF and FGDR, etc.), coordinate with other teams (ALCM, Regulatory,etc.) for the collection and validation of inputs for the final submission on time.
- Running the production and review of all financial reporting of the continental Europe in local GAAP. The deliverables encompass: P&L, actual balance sheet, off-balance sheet, inter-company and various statistical reports
- Managing medium sized team including hiring, performance/talent management, succession planning and reward and recognition.
- Supporting Change team in the implementation of new French GAAP reporting requirements in planning, design and testing of supporting systems.
- Building Packs for the Review, challenge and Sign off meeting with Financial Controller, Head of Financial Accounting and Chief Financial Officer.
- Developing an in depth understanding of technical accounting and reporting requirements, covering P&L, On and Off-Balance Sheet.
- Completing detailed analysis over complex data sets and driving remediation activities.
- Understanding complex systems and data flows between systems.
- Supporting senior stakeholders in the review and sign-off of monthly/quarterly deliverables.
- Maintaining a strong control environment, and coordinating reviews by Assurance and auditors.
- Supporting Finance Change on ad hoc projects and their impact on financial reporting deliverables.

Requirements

Knowledge and experience

Experience
- Senior accountant with strong technical accounting and reporting skills (5 years’ expertise)
- Experience in running reporting processes in French GAAP
- Experience in French Gaap accounting and reporting
- Proven leadership ability and team working skills
- Experience in medium size reporting teams with multiple stakeholders
- Experience facing off to Senior Stakeholders from businesses, functions and Change teams
- Experience of a range of businesses and operational processes across the breadth of the financial services market
- Experience working in relevant environments, i.e. financial, regulatory reporting experience required
- Excellent analytical and problem solving skills and experience of translating data into meaningful analysis
- Experience with accounting and reporting design, testing and execution
- Ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines;
- Familiarity with IFRS reporting and accounting
- Familiarity with Consolidation systems and other intermediary financial systems is desirable
- Ability to identify and implement change and challenge the status quo
- Excellent communication skills and ability to manage multiple stakeholders,
- Mindset of continuous improvement and aiming for excellence;
- Ability to evolve in a challenging and changing environment;

**Qualifications**:

- Qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, etc.) or with Bachelor’s degree in Finance with strong technical accounting and reporting skills.
- Strong French GAAP knowledge
- Knowledge of all banking activities
- Strong skills in Word, PowerPoint and Excel.
- Skilled in handing and controlling operational data and complex data sets (MS Excel)
- Knowledge in SAS or other reporting extraction tools is an advantageous
- French Language is mandatory
- English language (written and spoken)