2025 Finance Placement Watford

Description

We are thrilled to share that we are looking for eight high-calibre bachelor’s or master’s students to join our Finance department on a 12-month placement at our EMEA Headquarters, Watford.  

From day one, our placement students are fully integrated into Team Hilton. Our placements offer vast exposure and opportunities, such as networking with senior executives, involvement in regional conferences and, for some, international travel.  

Based in our EMEA headquarters, Watford, you will be part of a cohort of 40 Interns and take part in regular connect meetings, short assignments and feedback sessions designed to support your development. You will benefit from a subsidised restaurant, a games area and a free in-house gym.   

The Opportunities

We have eight placements available across seven different areas of the Finance team. If successful you will be offered a 12-month placement in one of the below teams. Here’s an overview about what each team does: 

Finance Operations Placement:

The EMEA Finance Operations team based in Watford is responsible for budgeting & forecasting for 600 hotels across Europe, Middle East & Africa, management reporting for the Executive team, and ensuring hotels are compliant with Hilton accounting policies and in line with US Sarbanes Oxley requirements, supporting finance for new hotel openings, providing commercial finance support to the business and managing the forecasts and budgets for corporate cost centres.    

As an intern, you would support the team with regular reporting activities as well as ad hoc requests, presentations, newsletters, communications, etc. You should have a keen interest in the hospitality industry, particularly in understanding financial performance improvement and driving business process efficiency, strong communication skills, attention to detail, adaptability and a strong work ethic are very important as well as a desire to be a high-level Microsoft Excel user. 

Order-To-Cash (OTC) Placement:  

The UK Corporate OTC team is responsible for accounting for Hilton’s international fee revenue and receivables from all our international Managed and Franchised hotels, from the development of a hotel, during its operating term, through to termination or expiry of the contract.     

As an intern, you will support the team with first reviews of all legal documents for financial implications, recording of journal transactions, preparation of standard monthly and ad hoc reporting and monthly analysis of movements across fee revenue and receivables accounts. As a team, there are multiple deadlines to be met and you will be required to effectively prioritise and organise multiple tasks that enable the team to meet those deadlines. This role provides the opportunity to be part of an accounting function at a publicly traded global corporation and experience the volume and complexities it brings.  

Record to Report (RTR) Corporate Accounting Placement:

The Record to Report (RTR) Corporate Accounting team located in Watford is responsible for the accounting activity which significantly impacts the corporate balance sheet and P&L, by combining accounting, analytical and presentation skills to effectively contribute the close process.    

As an intern, you will support the team with the monthly close process by performing variance analysis, ad-hoc reporting requests as well as support the coordination with third party service providers. Intercompany accounting and reporting on the corporate cost of the company is also within the remit of this role. You will be required to simultaneously manage multiple tasks and deliver to tight deadlines working together with the team. 

Finance Global Brands & Commercial Services (GBCS) Placement: 

The GBCS Finance team supports Hilton’s Brand and Commercial engine - driving brand loyalty, top-line revenue and market share. This is a Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A) arm of finance that is primarily responsible for the budgeting and forecasting of corporate expenditure across Brands, Sales, Marketing, Revenue Management and Technology functions.    

The team works with a wide range of stakeholders across multiple regions with varying reporting needs, so there are excellent opportunities to develop both analytical and business-partnering skills. You will support with all aspects of our monthly deliverables and will have a unique opportunity to learn about our commercial operations, whilst getting to know the teams driving these initiatives.    

Consolidations & Reporting Placement:  

The Consolidation team is primarily responsible for consolidation, intercompany and review processes relating to the monthly reporting of results. We help ensure information is complete, accurate and in compliance with USGAAP, SOX and Group Audit requirements. Our focus is primarily on the international estate (including Europe, MEA, Asia Pacific, and Latin America); however, we are also responsible for several Global processes, which provide the department with a full overview of Group activities in certain areas.  

As an intern, you will work with a range of stakeholders and different reporting requirements across multiple countries, therefore there is plenty of scope to develop technical accounting skills and knowledge. The role will support the team in the preparation and review of monthly analytical schedules, account roll forwards, lead schedules, account reconciliations, variance analysis and monthly Balance Sheet and P&L journals. 

Internal Audit Placement:   

Our Internal Audit team serves as a critical business partner to the Finance Department and multiple functional departments throughout the Company. We protect and improve the organization by providing risk-based objective assurance, insights, and advice to add value through our work.      

As an intern, you will contribute to project reviews of financial, operational, compliance risks controls from planning, execution and to final report issuance. You will be part of a team primarily responsible for risk-based hotel audits across Hilton’s Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) operations and Global Corporate SOX compliance program. The role also provides opportunities to assist with implementing data analytics capabilities, performing IT Controls testing, involvement in Global Sales audits, review of Centralized Accounting Offices, as well as a variety of global corporate projects. You may be required to travel internationally within the EMEA region.  

Statutory Reporting Placement:  

The UK Statutory Reporting and Accounting team is responsible for all aspects of statutory accounting across the international estate, including preparation of all UK statutory accounts for audit, and compliance overview of all other statutory requirements.  Hilton has over 80 companies registered in the UK that between them report the results of UK leased hotels and all the international managed and franchised hotels. The team are responsible for producing backing schedules for all the individual UK legal entities, preparing the statutory accounts documents and facilitating the audits of the entities in order that the September filing deadline at Companies House can be met.   

As an intern, you will support the team in the preparation and audit of statutory accounts in accordance with FRS 101.  This may comprise preparing workings to support the statutory accounts, preparing and making changes to the documents and checking that the documents do agree to the underlying records for that entity.  This role provides the unusual opportunity to see the whole profit and loss account and balance sheet of a small group of hotels rather than one section of the balance sheet on a global basis.  As a team there are multiple deadlines to be met and you will be required to organise multiple tasks that enable the team to meet those deadlines.  

Why choose us?

Embarking on our year in industry programme is a transformative journey, encompassing a structured framework of learning and development activities. Here's what you can look forward to:   

• Learning and Development: Interns have access to Hilton University to enhance their skills and contribute meaningfully to ongoing projects.  
• Networking: Our interns can connect with professionals across the business, paving the way for valuable relationships.  
• Feedback and Growth: Regular evaluations and feedback sessions will ensure our interns receive guidance and an opportunity to continually improve.   
• Cross-Exposure: Opportunity to gain insight into another function.  
• Hilton Perks: Including our Go Hilton TM Travel Program, which provides you with access to heavily reduced hotel room rates for you, your family & friends.  
• Salary & Benefits: £24,000 Gross PA & private healthcare. 

What are we looking for?

• First and foremost, Hilton is a hospitality company, and we are looking for individuals with a strong sense of alignment to our culture and values. 
• Must be a current Bachelor’s or Master’s student with a required 12-month year in industry placement as part of your degree. 
• Must be studying a degree with a year in industry within the following disciplines Accounting, Finance, Business, Economics, or other equivalent. 
• Must be able to start on the 7th July 2025, to work full-time for a 12-month duration.   
• Must be eligible to work in the UK. If you are a non-UK national, without EU Settled or Pre-Settled Status then you will need to be studying at a UK university to be eligible to undertake a placement here.   
• Must be fluent in English (speaking, reading and writing). 
• You should be able to demonstrate a genuine interest in Finance. 
• Able to demonstrate a high level of numerical and analytical capability.  

What is it like working for Hilton? 

Hilton is one of the world's largest and fastest-growing hospitality companies, with 24 distinct brands and over 8,000 locations. 

We have recently been ranked by our employees as #1 World's Best Workplace awarded by Great Place to Work & Fortune.   

We value and celebrate our team members diversities and individualism and foster a culture of belonging across our organisation. Joining Hilton will give you the opportunity to contribute to our rich culture and give back to the community. Our Team Member Resource Groups in UK focus on Abilities, Generations, Pride, Women’s and Ethnic representation. You can find details on our Culture page.  

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We will ensure that qualified individuals with protected disabilities are provided reasonable accommodation to participate in the job application or interview process, to perform essential job functions of the role. Please contact us to request accommodation.   

CORPORATE PLACEMENTS (hilton.com) 

Selection Process

Please apply now, applications close on Sunday 3rd November 2024. We receive a volume of applications, therefore please bear with us whilst we process your application as we want to ensure that each applicant is given the consideration that they deserve.   

If successful in your application, you may be invited to complete a digital one-way video interview, an online assessment, and an assessment centre on Thursday the 28th of November 2024.  This process will allow us to learn more about you and whether this placement might be a great fit! So please do look out for our email updates and we encourage you to complete each next step as soon as possible. The EMEA Graduate Recruitment Team will then contact you and inform you of your outcome.  

Good luck, we are looking forward to meeting you!