At AstraZeneca, we put patients first and strive to meet their unmet needs worldwide. Working here means being entrepreneurial, thinking big and working together to make the impossible a reality. If you are swift to action, confident to lead, willing to collaborate, and curious about what science can do, then you are our kind of person.

Where you start with us doesn't determine the course of your career. So many of our people develop themselves beyond their wildest imaginations, both in terms of their roles and the countries they've worked in.

AstraZeneca’s apprenticeship scheme offers you an opportunity to learn within a multi-national company gaining useable skills whilst collaborating alongside industry specialists and professionals.

AstraZeneca will provide you with a broad-based exposure to global operational finance to support your professional and academic development. This will likely involve exposure to one or more areas of finance e.g. purchase to pay (“P2P”), order to cash (“O2C”), record to report (“R2R”). It may also include hands on involvement in one or more specific projects e.g. larger system implementations, process change or targeted continuous improvement initiatives.

You'll also be given exposure to strategic elements of finance during your apprenticeship. Working with a team of talented finance professionals in a fast-paced and dynamic function. You'll also collaborate with our IT teams and finance colleagues in other parts of AstraZeneca e.g. in our shared service sites, embedded in markets as well as commercial colleagues in our many sites across the world.

• O2C includes a credit risk assessment of current and new customers, processing of inbound sales orders, generating and distributing invoices, debt collection and management of AstraZeneca bank accounts to accurately allocate and apply the cash receipts and payments
• P2P includes supplier and content enablement and third party risk management assessments which allows the company to set up good content in our purchasing systems, invoice processing to support paying our suppliers on time, work shadowing across the Finance Helpdesk and Travel and Expense processing area and developing an understanding of change process governance for the tower

Training and Development

AstraZeneca will support you through your apprenticeship, where you will also study for a Diploma in Professional Accounting and/or Diploma in Management Accounting with First Intuition. The apprenticeship combines working, earning a full-time salary, with fully funded part-time learning (equating to 20% off the job each week). This will give you the opportunity to gain a CIMA Qualification, depending on your qualifications and level of experience. 

If you feel you fulfil our brief of being driven, determined and hard-working, we’d love to hear from you!

We are looking for people who:

• Have a keen interest in business and want to develop a deep and broad understanding of finance and the critical role it plays in supporting business performance and outcomes

• Show an interest in change and how to identify areas for improvement in the current working practices of the role and can communicate and implement these changes

• Are technologically savvy and are curious about the insights data can uncover

• Possess both excellent organisational skills and attention to detail

• Have excellent verbal and written communication and interpersonal skills

• Use their own judgement and ask for help when necessary

• Are adaptable, flexible, proactive and demonstrate a passion for learning

• Can act independently but also work and contribute effectively as part of a team

• Show ambition and who take responsibility for their own development

Entry Requirements:

• 5 GCSEs (or equivalent) grades 9 to 4 including Maths and English
• Have achieved or are predicted to achieve a minimum of 3 A Levels at grade C or above (minimum 96 UCAS points)
• For candidates with little prior experience/qualifications, the programme involves both a Level 3 (Advanced) and Level 4 (Professional) course of study (AAT) for a total of 32 months. Those with some prior experience/ qualifications would enrol as part of a Level 3/4 Hybrid for 24 months.

This is a fixed-term contract opportunity based at one of our Cambridge offices offering £15,000 starting base salary + 11% benefits fund + bonus.

Closing date of advert: 19th March 2021

Successful candidates will be asked to attend a virtual Assessment day on Friday 7th May 2021.

Should you require any reasonable adjustments or accommodations, please let us know on your application.