Financial Accountant - Polish Speaking

Sunbird Solar Solutions is a pan-European Solar developer and Asset Manager of commercial and industrial solar PV plants across Poland, Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom. We deliver clean, green energy to businesses and property owners, generating both environmental benefit and financial return, and in doing so we contribute to addressing the climate crisis, energy security and the rising cost of energy.

As a group we aim to provide life changing and career defining opportunities for our people.

The Role

This is a hands-on, ownership role for a Polish-speaking qualified or part-qualified accountant who will take control of the accounting for some of Sunbird's EU entities.

You will own the day-to-day accounting, records and reporting for our Polish operating and asset-owning companies and a growing portfolio of other EU entities, working alongside our corporate service providers, who will continue to support us with key local filings and specialist local advice as needed.

You will work closely with the Group Financial Controller and Group Financial Accountant, and you will be the person who knows how these entities actually work. It is a genuinely broad remit across multiple countries, currencies and tax regimes, in a business growing fast enough that you will help design the processes as well as run them.

Key Responsibilities

Ownership of EU entity accounting

• Own the full accounting cycle for the Polish operating and asset-owning companies, from transaction capture through to trial balance and reporting.

• Take on the same ownership for additional EU entities across Spain, Portugal, France and Germany as the portfolio grows

• Maintain Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Cash and and fixed assets processes, from pre-construction to energisation and operation.

Polish statutory and tax compliance

• Manage Polish VAT and JPK_V7M submissions, and operate day to day within the KSeF national e-invoicing system

• Manage submission of corporate income tax, withholding tax and transfer pricing information requirements with our advisers

• Keep Polish payroll, ZUS and related filings on track with the relevant providers

Month-end close and reporting

• Deliver a timely, disciplined month-end close for your entities to the group timetable

• Prepare entity-level management accounts and supporting schedules

• Provide clear commentary on results, variances and balance sheet movements

• Support the group consolidation, the annual audit and lender or investor reporting requirements

Working with our corporate service providers

• Act as the primary day-to-day contact for our in-country accounting, tax and VAT service providers

• Give providers complete, well-prepared information so filings and sign-offs run smoothly and on time

• Build strong, collaborative working relationships with providers in each jurisdiction

Systems and continuous improvement

• Identify and implement improvements to processes, controls and system usage

• Build repeatable templates and workflows that scale as new entities are added

Required Qualifications

• Fluent written and spoken Polish and English

• Qualified or part-qualified accountant, or a Polish accounting qualification of equivalent standing, or qualified by demonstrable experience

• Working knowledge of Polish VAT, Polish corporate tax and Polish GAAP

• Strong reconciliation discipline and evident attention to detail

• Self-starter, comfortable working in the unstructured and fast-changing environment of a rapidly growing company

• Able to assess and recommend improvements to processes and software usage

• Based in, or willing to relocate to, London (Cork may be considered as an alternative), with the right to work in Ireland or the United Kingdom

• Willing to travel across Europe occasionally as the role requires

Nice-to-Have Qualifications

• Experience with Odoo, or with Xero

• Proven experience owning company accounting end to end, through trial balance to statutory accounts

• Additional European languages, particularly French, German or Spanish

• Intra-EU VAT and tax compliance experience, including reverse charge, EC Sales Lists and Intrastat

• Practical experience of KSeF and JPK reporting in Poland

• Experience bringing accounting in-house from an outsourced provider, or managing outsourced accounting providers

• Accounting experience in solar, renewables, construction, infrastructure or property

• Exposure to project accounting, capital projects or assets under construction

• Experience supporting an external audit or a lender reporting pack

Success Metrics

• Books for the Polish entities, and subsequently other EU entities, are owned and maintained in-house to a standard our service providers can rely on for filings rather than rebuild

• Month-end close delivered accurately and to the group timetable, every month

• Polish VAT, JPK, KSeF and statutory filings submitted complete and on time

• Reconciliations current, with differences identified early and cleared rather than carried

• Project actuals reconciled to approved budgets with variances visible to project leadership

• A smooth, collaborative relationship with our corporate service providers, who get what they need, when they need it, to complete key filings

• Suppliers dealt with professionally, with queries resolved and payment status clear

Growth Opportunity

This role is deliberately positioned to grow. As Sunbird's EU portfolio expands, the natural progression is toward EU Financial Controller, taking on a broader group of entities, greater ownership of the control environment and, over time, responsibility for other members of the finance team.

What We Offer

• Work in a high performing culture with other A team players

• Real ownership of a defined portfolio of entities from day one

• Exceptional individual growth and development opportunities, consistent with joining a rapidly growing company at an early stage

• Broad exposure across multiple EU countries, currencies and tax regimes

• Flexible working arrangements

• All tools and IT equipment required to perform the role

Sunbird is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes applicants from all backgrounds.