Finance Officer – Grants & Budgetary Control (2 positions available)

We are Europe’s flagship research laboratory for the life sciences – an intergovernmental organisation performing scientific research in disciplines including molecular biology, physics, chemistry and computer science. We are an international, innovative and interdisciplinary laboratory with approx. 1 900 employees from many nations, operating across six sites, in Heidelberg (HQ), Barcelona, Hinxton near Cambridge, Hamburg, Grenoble and Rome.

Based in Heidelberg, Germany, EMBL's Budget Office is responsible for the financial administration of 330 research grants, including assistance in budget preparation, monitoring and controlling expenditure against awarded budget and timely preparation and submission of financial reports to grant giving bodies.

Your role

Reporting to the Budget Office Deputy Head, you will be joining a team of 9, working closely with the Grants Services team and our Scientific groups, in addition to external funding agencies and auditors.

In this exciting new role, you will have a broad range of responsibilities focussing on financial grant reporting and the management of internal and external budgets. Your responsibilities will include, but not be limited, to the following:

• Acting as the primary post-award contact for Principal Investigators, project managers and funding bodies
• Preparing and submitting financial reports for grants in line with compliance requirements from various funders
• Performing quality checks to ensure completeness, accuracy and conformance of expenditure with the Funding agency’s rules
• Supporting budget holders in efficient management of their budgets by providing accurate and timely financial data
• Providing proactive support and financial advice related to grants and internal budgetary issues to assist stakeholders in decision making
• Interpreting contractual documentation and analysing and applying the funders’ financial rules and regulations
• Contributing to the preparation of the Laboratory’s annual budget
• Supporting and administering internal and external audits
• Participating in development of our SAP-based financial and management accounting system and other financial controlling based projects

In this varied position you will also have the chance to support the implementation of improvement projects and ad hoc assignments.

You have

• A university degree in accountancy and finance, or equivalent experience 
• Previous management accounting experience with a flair for budgetary control 
• A knowledge of financial reporting principles 
• Experience using ERP systems; SAP would be highly advantageous
• Fluency in both English and German is required 

As our ideal candidate, you will be a skilled project financial controller with a University degree in Finance and solid experience in accounting/controlling. You should possess sound knowledge of budgetary control, basic accounting concepts and financial reporting principles. You are a team player but also able to work independently. We are looking for a candidate with good communication and interpersonal skills as well as solid knowledge of the usual office software packages, especially Excel. Experience with modern ERP systems is a prerequisite, preferably with SAP while knowledge of SAP Business Objects is highly desirable. Fluency in English and a good working knowledge of German is required.

You might also have

• Professional accounting qualifications 
• Grants administration experience within an international organisation or an organisation engaged in research would be an advantage
• Knowledge of French and Spanish is also advantageous
• SAP Business Objects experience

Why join us

EMBL is curiosity-driven, community-oriented and international. As an inclusive, equal opportunity employer, we believe that diversity enables us to collaborate more effectively and be innovative in our approaches. We are, therefore, committed to creating an inclusive and flexible culture - one where everyone can realise their full potential and make a positive contribution to our organisation.

We encourage applications from individuals who can complement our existing team – we believe that success is built on having teams whose backgrounds and personal experiences reflect the diversity of the populations that our science serves. We actively encourage applications from all genders and cultures, ethnic groups and all demographics to help us avoid perpetuating biases and oversights at this transformational point in our people strategy.

EMBL offers attractive conditions and benefits appropriate to an international research organisation with a very collegial and family-friendly working environment. Competitive salary and social security benefits, financial support for relocation, a relaxed culture, flexible work arrangements, professional development, an on-site nursery, canteen and other staff facilities make EMBL a great place to work.

What else you need to know

EMBL Administration units are responsible for supporting all parts of EMBL and for undertaking and delivering long-term strategic administrative planning. With more than 200 staff, in all support areas, ranging from caretakers and gardeners to senior management staff, EMBL Administration provides administrative support to approx. 1 800 members of personnel from in excess of 80 nations. The team is dedicated to maintaining high quality services to staff at all EMBL sites.

Please note that appointments on fixed term contracts can be renewed up to 9 years in total, depending on circumstances at the time of the review.

Don’t meet every single requirement? We are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive and authentic workplace, so if you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways.

There are 2 positions available.

Apply now

For questions or issues with the application process, please contact [email protected]