Role
Finance Director
Tell us about your organisation.
Ramboll is a leading engineering and consultancy company founded in Denmark in 1945. The company employs more than 15,000 experts globally with 1,400 being in the UK located in our 16 offices. Ramboll works across the following markets: Buildings, transport, planning & urban design, water, environment & health, energy and management consulting.
Tell us about your apprenticeship programme.
We have a rotational finance programme which has been running for two years with two apprentice intakes. Over a four- year period the apprentices gain experience of the three core areas of our finance function: project controlling, business controlling and finance & accounting.
Why do you use the CIMA programme?
The CIMA programme combines the finance and accounting focus with general business acumen that provides a fantastic range of knowledge to complement the experience our apprentices gain in our programme. This is even more relevant as a result of the recent changes to the CIMA syllabus in driving the digital agenda as we as a business move towards automation of lower level finance activities in order to focus on utilising the data we have to drive business performance.
What benefits does your organisation see in taking on apprentices?
As a business focused on improving diversity in the workplace, we see the value in bringing in different views and ideas. The apprentice scheme is a great way of bringing in new, highly motivated talent with new ideas and ways of seeing business challenges. Prior experience has also demonstrated that an apprentice programme is a fantastic way of building and retaining a pipeline of finance talent for the future needs of the business.
What kind of tasks and activities do your apprentices get involved in?
Given the rotational nature of our scheme, apprentices get involved in all areas of our finance function. They are given very real responsibilities and can make a difference to the business. Ad-hoc project opportunities are also made available such as supporting our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. At the end of the four-year scheme they will have a good depth of knowledge from their CIMA studies and a variety of experiences from different functions within Ramboll. This enhances their intrinsic value over and above external hires and positions them to be our finance leaders of the future.
Why would you recommend an apprenticeship to an employer?
The apprenticeship approach is a great way to bring in new, 'raw' talent and shape them to be the finance leaders or experts that you will need in your organisation for the future. You can build a pipeline of finance talent for your future business if you systematically incorporate this as part of your resource planning.
Of course, there is the incentive of utilising the Apprenticeship Levy that you are paying for anyway and the added benefit from the energy and new ideas you will most likely see from these young individuals.
Ready to start your CIMA Journey?
Find out more: cimaglobal.com/apprenticeships
