Group Leader Finance

ESS is at an exciting turning point. It is in transition from being a construction site, to becoming an operating facility. To help us realise our goal of being the most powerful neutron source in the world, we are now looking for a Group Leader Finance.

As Group Leader Finance, you will have overall responsibility for the accounting and annual closing and you will be the line manager for the Finance Group with five experienced accounting specialists.


• As Group Leader Finance, you will ensure that work is carried out according to internal and external requirements and efficiently. You manage the Group and all aspects of the operations in the Group to ensure compliance with regulations, policies, objectives, and You will manage and improve the financial tools.
• As a manager, you will empower your team, enabling the team to control and perform their work efficiently. You will work with the Group to further develop the ways of working, in coordination with internal and external stakeholders. You will familiarise yourself, at a high level, with the ongoing ESS construction project so you are able to connect the dots. With your team, you will plan and manage the transition into operations from a financial perspective.
• You will report to the Head of Division Finance and Business Control (F&BC). You will support them with recommendations and suggestions concerning accounting and digitisation at ESS. You will enable the Organisation to understand financial consequences of planned

Under your guidance, the Finance Group will:


• promote financial excellence and deliver compliant accounting services,
• own, maintain, and develop the financial tools and financial end-to-end processes,
• drive digitisation of financial end-to-end processes, and continuously improve ways of working to identify efficiencies,
• follow-up closely on findings by the internal and external auditors.

You will support the F&BC Division with data, analyses, reports, and presentations of financial and system issues. You will contribute data to monthly financial dashboards.

Further tasks include:


• Accounting for fixed assets including contributions in kind from the ESS Member States,
• Payment of salaries, taxes, reimbursements etc.,
• Regular reconciliation between statutory accounting and annual budget, including currency effects,
• Implementing further internal controls to adequately safeguard financial resources,
• Reaching out to the Organisation to further promote financial excellence.

This is an exciting and challenging role in a continuously changing organisation, where focus is on both operations and project, always with financial excellence in mind.

About you:


• As our successful candidate you have a university degree in accounting and ideally an accounting accreditation. You have solid experience with Swedish GAAP from a similar role and you have worked with different currencies.
• You have experience with implementing changes, you have developed financial end-to-end processes, and their digitisation. You enjoy improving business tools.
• You are confident in your knowledge in accounting and financial systems, and you have great communication skills.
• You should have experience as a line manager. You are a great team player and you have worked in international environments. Your leadership style empowers your team members. You know how to build and maintain positive relationships at the workplace.

Fluency in verbal and written English and good knowledge of Swedish is a prerequisite. You are also an avid user of Excel and Powerpoint. 

And of course, it goes without saying you love crunching the numbers!

What ESS can offer 

At ESS we offer people with talent and passion a unique opportunity to be involved in the development and building of a world leading facility for materials research. Besides attractive employment and relocation conditions, the flexibility to balance work life with private life and good opportunities to further enhance your skills; you will also enjoy being part of an organizational culture that promotes and supports internal career growth. We pride ourselves in having successful collaboration across different functions, and as the facility grows, we will keep nurturing the international and vibrant environment welcoming people from all across the world.

Duration & Location

The role is a permanent, full-time position located in Lund, Sweden.

The application deadline for this position is: 29 February, 2024, however; we will review applications continuously.

Application & Contact

Please provide your CV in English by clicking on “apply” and following the instructions.

For more information regarding the ESS recruitment process, please follow this link https://europeanspallationsource.se/ess-recruitment- process.

For further information regarding the position, please contact the Head of Business Control & Finance, Florian Weissbach, Florian.Weissbach@ess.eu.

For further information regarding the recruitment process, please contact HR Officer, Kathryn Quaak, kathryn.quaak@ess.eu.

For trade union information please contact Unionen / Conny Wendt at +46 72 179 24 63 or SACO / Swedish Association of Graduate Engineers/ Marc Kickulies at +46 72 179 25 32

We look forward to your application!