Assistant Management Accountant - Interim - #2185026

Assistant Management Accountant

12-Month Maternity Cover · Part-time, 3 Days a Week · Hip Pop · Bonded Warehouse, Manchester

The opportunity

We're looking for an Assistant Management Accountant to cover a colleague's maternity leave for 12 months, 3 days a week. You'll handle bank reconciliations, purchase ledger, expenses and month-end journals, plus support the monthly balance sheet process. It's a focused year of experience that's hard to come by, with the senior finance team alongside you to help you get the most from it.

Who we are

Hip Pop is a multi-award-winning challenger soft drinks brand, born in Manchester in 2019. We make living soda, kombucha and CBD kombucha with real fruit, live cultures and plant fibre, low in calories and never made with sweeteners.

Seven years on we're in more than 12,000 distribution points across the UK, with national listings including Sainsbury's, M&S, Waitrose, Co-op, Morrisons, Booths and Bidfood. In 2026 we won the Expansion & Growth Award at the HSBC UK North West Small Business Growth Awards, went on to be named a national winner at the HSBC UK Small Business Growth Awards, and took two wins at the UK Soft Drinks Awards, on top of a run of Great Taste stars going back to 2021.

We're still growing fast, and the finance function is growing with it. At this stage, what you do shows up in the numbers quickly.

What you'll be doing

Hip Pop's finance numbers move fast, and this role sits right in the middle of them. It spans a few parts of our finance operation, and it's more than basic bookkeeping.

Day to day: you handle bank reconciliations, supplier invoices and expenses, run the credit card processes end to end, and keep cost centres and the P&L clean.

Month end: you help with the balance sheet process (mainly fixed assets, accruals and prepayments), investigate differences, process journals, and help deliver a ready-to-review pack, with the senior finance team on hand to talk things through.

P&L: you support the Management Accountant in keeping the P&L reliable and accurate, so the business makes decisions on numbers it can trust.

This role is about the numbers underneath: accurate, reconciled and ready for review.

You'll own:

•        A key part in the monthly balance sheet process, with support while you find your feet

•        The credit card processes, end to end: coding, VAT, card admin and chasing the business for receipts

•        The accuracy of Hip Pop's core finance data for a full year

You'll work closely with the senior finance team, who'll review your work, answer the awkward questions and give you a proper look at how a fast-growing drinks brand runs its numbers.

What we need

Here's what we're looking for. If you don't tick every box but you're keen and you learn quickly, still have a go:

•        AAT Level 4 qualified, or part-qualified ACCA/CIMA and actively studying

•        At least 2 years in a finance team (purchase ledger, bank reconciliations, month-end journals). Some exposure to balance sheet reconciliations is ideal, but if you haven't run a full set yet, we'll show you how

•        Strong in Excel (SUMIFS, lookups, pivot tables)

•        A detail-oriented person: you're accurate and thorough, you check your own work, follow things through to resolution, and ask early rather than guess; asking is encouraged here, not held against you

•        Happy to get stuck in, flexible in approach, and comfortable with quick turnarounds

•        Confident, hands-on experience in Xero, including how to handle things once a period is locked

•        Solid working knowledge of VAT, able to apply it to situations that aren't always textbook-straightforward

Nice to have: FMCG or food and drink, multi-channel sales platforms (Amazon, Shopify, TikTok Shop), or systems like Cin7, Pleo, Apron or Brightpay. Already working towards ACCA/CIMA beyond Applied Skills level is a bonus, not a requirement.

What's in it for you

Real responsibility, with real support behind it. You'll contribute to the monthly balance sheet and run the credit card processes end to end, with experienced people next to you while you learn how it all fits together.

A year of experience that's hard to come by: contributing to month end, working across a whole balance sheet, and a close-up view of how a multi-award-winning drinks brand runs its finances. If you're studying, it's the kind of year that makes the exams make sense.

Exposure to the wider business, too. You'll see how the numbers help drive Hip Pop forward, and support commercial initiatives as they come to life across the teams.

£21,500 pro rata (£37,500 full-time equivalent) for 21.5 hours a week, with a working pattern we can agree together.

A clearly scoped 12-month contract with a defined start and finish, ideal if you want high-impact experience in a fast-growing brand.

The details

•        Contract: 12 months, fixed-term (maternity cover)

•        Hours: 3 days a week, 21.5 hours a week in total; working pattern to be agreed

•        Salary: £21,500 (pro rata, 21.5 of 37.5 hours a week), £37,500 full-time equivalent

•        Location: Bonded Warehouse, Manchester

•        Start date: Early to mid January 2027

How to apply

If this sounds like you, email [email protected] with a short note on why you're interested and your CV. The process is a few written questions to start, then a conversation, then meeting the team in person.

Closing date: Friday 27 November 2026.

Interviews: from early December 2026.

Start date: early to mid January 2027.