Jobs Profiles: Leonard fancied being a long distance lorry driver but it simply didn’t add up
Leonard Knox is Head of Finance and Income Generation at Armagh Observatory & Planetarium (AOP). We caught up with him to see what exactly his role entails and how he got into it..
What is your role in the company and what does a typical day entail?
I am Head of Finance. Typically I spend much of my time communicating with senior management and other staff about both regular and strategic financial aspects of the organisation. Most key decisions have a financial impact sooner or later, and I like to incorporate all the financial information that comes my way into budgets, and feed back to the team on feasibility. Since lockdown in March 2020, I have mostly been working from home. A couple of years previously, that would have been difficult, but technology and fast internet has made it much easier.
What was your route into the company?
I had been in a senior board position in the private sector. I was looking for something to ease me into retirement and got in touch with a few recruitment agencies. AOP wanted someone to help with accounts for a month. Then this opportunity for a part time job came up and I was successful. Working in the public sector has been a personal challenge for me, but I have enjoyed it and have a good bunch of colleagues. I have learned a whole range of new skills as I near the end of my career.
How long have you been involved in this type of work?
I qualified as a chartered accountant in 1980. I’ve worked in AOP since 2017.
Where did you work before this?
In private companies in the construction industry across the UK. I’ve been fortunate to work for good employers who gave me the opportunities I needed to progress, and I’ve worked right up to Financial Director.
What were your favourite subjects at school and why?
That’s easy – mathematics. I was always good at sums.
Did you go on to university or further education and what did you study?
I studied Economics at Queens University, which at the time was the best path into accountancy.
Did you always have this career in mind?
When I was at primary school, my mother suggested I should be an accountant because I liked maths. I never really looked at any other options. In hindsight, I might have enjoyed engineering, and there are similarities in the breadth of disciplines to accountancy, but I left physics behind at school after a bad experience with a physics teacher.
What do you enjoy about it?
I like the variety. From my training with a major accountancy practice where I was involved in the audits of a wide range of businesses, to developing new financial reporting systems and job costing models, right up to managing sizeable companies. I’ve worked with a lot of good people down the years and made many good friends.
What are the main skills required for it?
A good analytical brain, the ability to question everything, and good old common sense (with a mathematical twist).
What would your advice be to anyone thinking of it as a career?
Go for it. Its hard work in the early days, but it has its rewards. There are so many opportunities world-wide and many options to specialise.
If you could do any job in the world, what would it be?
In my twenties, I fancied being a long-distance lorry driver if accountancy didn’t work out. I even took my HGV test and held a licence for many years.
How do you relax when you’re not working?
I enjoy walking, with or without my dog. I’ve been to the top of the highest mountains in each country in the British Isles, and have hiked in the Alps. Day to day, I like computers and playing with excel spreadsheets, even though a lot of my working hours are spent on spreadsheets. And they say accountants are boring!
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