Shell Finance is mostly managed by the Reporting and Analysis department (R&A). Over 650 professionals are employed in Cracow alone. All Shell's companies focused in EMEA regions are served by the R&A department. The company is responsible for general financial accounting, planning, financial reporting and management, group reporting and financial consolidations and for preparing reports in compliance with local legislation. Due to such a wide range of services, the R&A department offers a fantastic opportunity for development - personnel can obtain polyvalence by changing tasks or becoming new organisation teams.

R&A handles the most challenging and extensive activities, including financial control, planning, analysis, and consolidation. It may be said that Shell's financial heart has now become the Center in Krakow, which has extensive financial, financial and operational knowledge of the EMEA region. The Cracow Centre

The Division is constantly looking for experienced professionals and those who have just begun their financial careers because of its rapid development. R&A presently recruits the following positions:

• Finance Analyst/Senior Finance Analyst, Accountant/Senior Accountant
• Reporting & Accounting Manager, Financial Controller
• Group Reporting Advisor/Senior Group Reporting Advisor
• Business Analyst/Senior Business Analyst

We have talked with Anna Kęsek, Financial Accounting and Reporting Lead – Europe, and Agnieszka Noworyta, R&A Manager, about work and possible development opportunities in the R&A department.

R&A roles

1. What is the difference between the R&A jobs and what do they share?

All these roles share a similar denominator — expertise of topic matter.

All work responsibilities, including management, use financial knowledge in their daily work, regardless of position in the organization. Such organizational structure and requirements enable any person to develop individually, whether the expert or management path is chosen. It is achievable because both experts and managers are involved in reporting procedures - from drafting, analysis and final approval management report to management boards and corporate leaders. All these positions differ in certain elements, despite their identical basis:

• Roles in group reporting teams will be more attractive to professionals with good knowledge of international accounting standards, ACCA/CIMA certifications. These roles are often taken by people with audit experience.
• Jobs in planning and appraisal will be better suited to employees who feel comfortable working on large datasets and can cooperate with a bigger number of people involved in the budgeting process.
• For those interested in accounting in a broader sense, R&A processing teams will be a better choice - these teams take care of general ledger accounting, balance sheet reconciliation, fixed assets accounting and financial statement submissions.

Employees who would like to take leadership roles are of course required to have experience in team management.

Aptitude for working in the R&A department

2. What skills are necessary to work in the R&A department?

The required entry-level competencies are fundamental finance and accounting understanding and the ability to draw conclusions from data analysis.

Since we work in an international environment, it is necessary to have teamwork skills and the ability to work in a virtual setting, with partners from other regions and cultures. Because of this, English and good communication skills are required. The nature of our work requires us to meet deadlines and have the ability to learn continuously, which is of utmost importance in finance.

Most of our employees have a relevant university degree in finance, accounting or economics. When it comes to highly specialized positions, ACCA, CIMA or audit certifications, as well as our Polish ones such as chief accountant (główny księgowy) or chartered accountant (biegły księgowy), are an additional asset. For employees who wish to enhance their skills in finance, Shell provides supplementary funding to help cover the costs of international study courses and qualifications such as ACCA, CIMA or a chartered accountant qualification.

Career development in R&A

3. What development opportunities can you offer to your employees in R&A?

Shell offers a number of development opportunities in the financial area, both to individual team members, including specialists, and managers with additional leadership skills. Each employee creates an individual development plan on the basis of their skills, experience and aspirations.

The individual development plan is supported and approved by the employee’s supervisor and lists the key competencies which the employee needs to enhance, the ways of acquiring them and an estimated time when the person can achieve the desired level of skills allowing them for taking up a new position in the company or taking on new responsibilities.

Vertical and horizontal development in R&A

4. What kind of career prospects can you expect in the R&A department?

Our organisational structure allows for lateral moves into different positions or teams and offers specialisation in specific areas. Employees with leadership skills and ambitions have a clear management career path ahead of them.

For example, the role of the financial analyst can involve taking care of the fixed assets register, balance sheet and results in analysis as well as preparation of group reports for the less complex Shell companies. The more comprehensive companies are usually handled by senior analysts, since they require more experience in reporting as well as cooperation with a number of people, including central finance departments.

In the same way, the role of business analyst differs from the senior business analyst in task complexity and the position of the task recipient in the organisation hierarchy.

Senior Team Managers or Financial Controllers can be promoted to the role of Accounting Managers and those who prefer to broaden their knowledge of reporting standards - may be transferred to the group reporting department.

Shell Business Operations as a good workplace

5. What makes Shell Business Operations a good place to work?

Shell is a good place to work because of its variety of job positions and processes, resulting in a wide range of development opportunities and career paths, but most importantly - because of its friendly workplace environment.

In 2017 and 2018 Shell Polska was awarded the “Great Place to Work” certification. The company was recognised for building trust with its employees, offering self-fulfilment possibilities and satisfaction with job duties. We can officially say that we are an employer of choice for candidates who highly value a corporate culture based on respect, trust, diversity appreciation and tolerance.