Finance Systems Accountant

Finance Systems Accountant

Cambridge, UK | Full-time | FTC - 12 months | Hybrid

Salary: £65,000 to £75,000 DOE

The salary range for this role is broad, as we are able to consider varying levels of experience. Any offer made will carefully take into account level of experience (including relevant industry experience), transferable relevant skills and previous relevant achievements.

About us

Riverlane’s mission is to master quantum error correction (QEC) and unlock a new age of human progress. From advances in material and climate science, to complex chemistry simulation for new drug design, quantum computers will help humanity solve some of its most important challenges. But without QEC, the industry’s defining technical challenge, such breakthroughs can never be achieved. Riverlane is the world leader in QEC technology. QEC is a complex problem that requires a range of skills, talent and passion.

Having raised more than $125M in funding to date to accelerate our cutting-edge R&D in quantum error correction (QEC), Riverlane partners with many of the world’s leading quantum hardware providers and government agencies to make fault-tolerant quantum computing a reality. We’re making remarkable progress and growing fast.

About the role

As we scale and strengthen our financial control environment, we are transforming our finance and business systems — including a NetSuite implementation delivered to PCAOB and SOX 404(a) standards, alongside the wider platform landscape (including CRM, stock administration, AP, treasury, FP&A and BI) and their integrations.

Reporting to the Group Financial Controller, the Finance Systems Accountant is the finance-side expert who makes this happen. This is a hands-on, delivery-focused role for a qualified accountant who will spend all of their time on our finance business systems. Your job is to do the analysis and legwork that facilitates good decisions from key stakeholders, and then to execute those decisions into the platforms. A key part of the role is enabling successful implementations through high-quality data set-up, including data migration, and strong stakeholder management throughout.

What you will do

Gather and document business-platform requirements from across the organisation, so decisions are well-informed

Develop business-platform architecture options and evaluate the technology stack against Riverlane’s objectives, presenting clear recommendations for stakeholders to decide

Build implementation plans and a sequenced systems roadmap for stakeholder agreement, balancing priorities, bandwidth and the external audit timetable

Run the process to identify and evaluate third-party implementation partners, and make recommendations — the appointment decision sits with stakeholders

Lead the internal finance work on implementations — requirements, chart-of-accounts and data-model design, master data, data migration, configuration input, testing and acceptance — coordinating the chosen implementation partners

Set up and migrate high-quality data — a key enabler of every implementation. Own the finance-side data workstream: defining data requirements and standards, cleansing and validating source data, mapping and reconciling it, and planning and running data migration and post-migration checks, so each system goes live on complete, accurate, well-structured data.

Deliver the NetSuite implementation to PCAOB and SOX 404(a) standards, ensuring the platforms produce auditable, well-controlled outputs; work closely with our internal-controls specialist, who designs the controls, to execute those designs into the systems

Own systems change management — documenting process and configuration changes, securing the appropriate approvals, and maintaining a clear audit trail (a requirement of our external auditors)

Support the wider platform landscape — CRM, stock administration, AP, treasury, FP&A and BI — and the integrations into NetSuite, helping keep change across systems coordinated

Document business processes and systems as they are built, feeding audit-readiness and the finance team’s process documentation

Manage stakeholders across finance, IT and the wider business — keeping the CFO, Group Financial Controller, Head of IT and function owners informed and aligned, and acting as the connective tissue between them and the implementation partners

Plan the handover of each system into business-as-usual, working with the ERP Administrator and Head of IT

What we need

Qualified accountant (ACA, ACMA/CIMA or ACCA)

Proven, hands-on experience implementing and configuring finance systems, ideally NetSuite (OneWorld / multi-entity, multi-currency)

Experience across several finance-system implementations, including requirements, testing and go-live

Strong data-migration and data-quality experience — cleansing, mapping, reconciliation and validation — with the rigour to land implementations on accurate, well-structured data

Strong understanding of core finance processes (GL, AP, AR, fixed assets, intercompany, month-end close, revenue recognition) — you speak finance, not just systems

Experience designing chart-of-accounts / data models and setting up master data in a multi-entity environment

Awareness of building systems for control and auditability — access, change management, segregation of duties and data integrity (IT general controls)

Excellent stakeholder management and communication — able to influence and align senior decision-makers without owning the decision

Organised, delivery-focused and comfortable prioritising and working to tight deadlines

Highly motivated and hardworking, with the energy and enthusiasm to achieve ambitious targets

Even better if you have…

Experience implementing finance systems to PCAOB / SOX 404(a) or comparable public-company control standards

Experience in a company operating to US public-company reporting and control standards

Experience with the wider platform stack — CRM (e.g. Salesforce), AP automation, treasury, FP&A and BI tools — and integrating them with an ERP

Inventory / stock and hardware-tracking module experience

Experience in deep tech, R&D-focused or high-growth start-up environments

International finance experience across multiple jurisdictions

Data and reporting skills (SQL, Power BI, SuiteAnalytics or similar)

What can you expect from us

A comprehensive benefits package that includes an annual bonus plan, private medical insurance, life insurance, and a contributory pension scheme

Equity, so that our team can share in the long-term success of Riverlane

28 days annual leave, plus bank holidays and enhanced family leave

A diverse work environment that brings together experts in many fields (including software and hardware development, quantum information theory, physics and maths) and over 20 different nationalities

A learning environment that encourages individual, team and company growth and development, including a regular programme of learning events and training and conference budgets

Everyone is welcome at Riverlane. We are an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from eligible and suitably qualified candidates regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender reassignment, religion or belief, sexual orientation, marital or civil partnership status, or pregnancy and maternity/paternity.

Women and other underrepresented groups may be less likely to apply for a role unless they meet all or nearly all of the requirements. If this applies to you, we still encourage you to apply - you may be a great fit, even if you don’t meet every single qualification. We’d love to hear from you.

If you need any adjustments made to the application or selection process so you can do your best, please let us know. We will be happy to help.