Finance Operations Associate

Location: Remote (with quarterly team meetups in London)

Team: HQ / Finance

Type: Full-time (Monday-Friday, 9 am - 5.30 pm)

Summary:

Minerva Virtual Academy (MVA) is the UK’s fastest-growing online school, delivering transformative education to students aged 11–18 across the UK and globally. As we continue our ambitious expansion, MVA is on a mission to reimagine schooling for thousands of children underserved by traditional systems. Recognised by OFSTED and trusted by families and education stakeholders, MVA is leading the way in innovation and accessibility in online learning.

As part of our expanding Finance team, we are seeking a proactive and detail-oriented Finance Operations Associate to support our Finance Manager. This is an exciting opportunity to join a dynamic, purpose-driven organisation at a pivotal time of growth. You’ll play a key role in supporting day-to-day financial operations, ensuring accuracy in transaction processing, reconciliations, and workflow improvements.

MVA offers a dynamic, rewarding, and exciting work environment unlike other schools or educational environments. The role presents a remarkable opportunity for the right candidate to be part of a remote team passionate about leading change in the education sector.

Key Responsibilities:

• Financial Record Management: Maintain accurate and up-to-date financial records in Xero and internal systems, ensuring data integrity across all platforms.

• Transaction Processing: Oversee daily accounts payable and receivable activities and monitoring outstanding balances.

• Account Reconciliations: Assist in performing detailed reconciliations for bank accounts, credit cards, and key balance sheet accounts, resolving discrepancies proactively ahead of year end.

• Operational Support: Support the wider team by managing internal queries and assisting with varied financial procedures to support peak workloads.

• Month-End Assistance: Contribute to the month-end close process including preparing journals, calculating deferred revenue and ensuring the completeness of financial data.

• Process Optimisation: Identify and implement improvements to financial workflows and automation to enhance efficiency and scalability.

• Audit Support: Gather and prepare documentation for year-end audit processes, ensuring adherence to compliance and safeguarding policies.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Liaise with various departments to provide financial insight and support cross-functional projects as required.

Qualifications & Skills:

• Part-qualified accountant (AAT, ACCA, CIMA)

• Solid understanding of bookkeeping principles, accounts payable, and accounts receivable. Experience with deferred revenue management is desirable

• Strong proficiency with Xero and advanced Google Sheets (pivot tables, formulas, lookups, etc.).

• Experience working in a fast-paced SME or growing organisation, ideally within the education or tech sectors.

• Excellent attention to detail and ability to maintain accuracy under pressure.

• Versatile mindset with the ability to switch between diverse financial tasks and support varied workstreams.

• Excellent communication skills, capable of collaborating effectively within a remote team.

• Ability to prioritise workload and meet deadlines in a changing environment.What We Offer

• Fully remote working with occasional in-person team sessions in London (four times per year).

• A supportive, inclusive, and collaborative work culture within a purpose-driven organisation.

• Opportunities for professional development within a fast-scaling company.

• Employee well-being initiatives and access to our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP).

Candidate requirements

• This role offers the freedom to work from wherever you live! We meet up in person four times a year in London, which is a great way to connect with colleagues face-to-face. Travel and accommodation for these meetups are self-funded.

• As this is a remote role, you will be required to have a suitable home-working set-up which should include a good internet connection. This is the responsibility of all employees.

• All remote employees are required to agree to our policies, including agreeing to cyber security software.

• MVA is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment. Applicants will be required to undergo child protection screening appropriate to the post, including checks with past employers and the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS). As part of our Safer Recruitment Policy, online searches will also be carried out as part of due diligence checks ahead of any interviews.

What you need to prepare for your application:

Please submit your CV and cover letter as part of your online application.

A CV only tells us so much, so we'd love to hear more about you in your cover letter, to help us understand what drives you and why you'd be the perfect fit for our team.

Specifically, we'd love to hear about:

• Your 'Why': What draws you to this role, and why does MVA feel like the right fit for your next career step?

• Your Background: What relevant experience and skills do you bring to this position? We love hearing about the experiences that have shaped how you work!

• Your Impact: What will you contribute to our HQ team as we continue to grow?

Don't be afraid to let your personality shine through; we value authenticity, initiative, and a genuine enthusiasm for online education!

Notices

• We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. Therefore, if you are interested, please submit your application as early as possible.

More about MVA

MVA is an affordable, accessible online independent secondary school that delivers world-class education with a true sense of community. It is the perfect school for modern times - combining smart technology and engaging online resources with one-to-one support, active group learning, and exciting multi-disciplinary projects.

We offer students the flexibility to learn from the comfort of their home, and anywhere in the world, while ensuring they develop the social skills required to live fulfilling lives and succeed in the workplaces of the future. We champion self-sufficiency, collaboration, problem-solving, creative and critical thinking, leadership, and mindfulness.

Our motto - Together We Thrive - is translated into the day-to-day experience of students & staff at the school through our Ways of Being, devised by students for the whole community. We endeavour always to be:

• Ambitious

• Aware

• Considerate

• Kind

• Mindful

• Reflective

• Responsible

MVA values the diversity of our workforce and welcomes applications from all sectors of the community.

If you require any reasonable adjustments during the application or recruitment process, please get in touch, as we want to make sure everyone has a fair chance to show us what they can bring to MVA.

If you have any questions about this opportunity, please contact us at recruitment@minervavirtual.com.