Job responsibilities
Key responsibilities will include:
- Leading on matters related to financial operations and control
- Representing the Finance Director at meetings and events both within and external to UKHSA
- Developing and supporting the implementation of financial procedures, strategies, policies and solutions to help the organisation and its leaders operate a best practice delivery of its financial controls
- Devising, agreeing, and implementing measurable service level agreements between Directorates and the Financial operations and control department, which reflect the business needs of each Directorate; to include:
- Responding to customer surveys
- Internal Audit and other key performance indicators
- Providing expert financial service advice to Directors and other senior management staff and to ensure the provision of all traditional financial accounting and transactional processing; to include:
- Provision of guidance and interpretation of UKHSA financial policy, including the continuous improvement of such policies as aligned to best practice
- Provision of specialist financial advice including VAT reporting and returns
- Delivery of year-end audit and accounts, including managing the annual timetable with National Audit Office and Department of Health and Social Care
- All balance sheet reporting and reconciliation
- Cashflow and bank
- Fixed assets
- Government Procurement Cards
- Liaison with HMRC
- Losses and special payments register
- Lease cars
- Accounts Payable: processing and payment of invoices, (including query resolution) BACS runs / Foreign Payments, agreement of balances, payment of employee expenses
- Accounts Receivable: chasing of debts commercial and government, liaison with the business over debts, processing payments and matching to customer accounts; agreement of balances
- Ensuring that non-finance staff across the organisation have access to and receive adequate training on financial matters
- Responding to relevant audit reports as appropriate and as agreed
- Leading, motivating and managing all FOC staff; ensuring that all staff have a job description and annual objectives and that their performance is regularly appraised
- Acting as budget holder for the FOC Financial Operations and Control team within the Finance Directorate
- Taking responsibility for personal development for self and staff under direct line management, ensuring that all team members have a real voice in the development of the service to customers
STAGE 1 - Application & Sift:
For this vacancy we are assessing candidates usingSuccess Profilesand across the whole process we will assess yourExperience, Technical aptitude, and Behaviours.
As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide a Personal Statement / Statement of Suitability in no more than1500 wordsto demonstrate how you meet theessentialcriteria. This should outline your skills, experience, and achievements, providing evidence of your suitability for the role based on the essential criteria.
For the initial sift your CV and Statement and Suitability will be evaluated against yourexperience in relation to the following criteria:
Essential Criteria
- A qualified accountant (CCAB or CIMA) with significant post-qualification experience and evidence of continuing professional development.
- Thorough understanding of financial accounting principles and expert in annual accounting processes and audits.
- Proven track record at a senior level in Finance in a complex financial environment, including significant experience at senior management level.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills with proven impact in large organisations/across systems and ability to defend and explain exceptionally complicated financial issues to a variety of audiences.
- Excellent analytical skills to enable the maintenance of very complex spreadsheets and database models and ability to analyse complex facts and situations and develop a range of options.
- Well-developed problem-solving skills and ability to respond to sudden unexpected demands able to take decisions on difficult and contentious issues where there may be a number of courses of action.
- Strategic thinking ability to anticipate and resolve problems before they arise.
- Ability to plan and organise numerous activities concurrently both long and short-term, requiring formulating and adjusting plans to reflect changing circumstances.
- Able to achieve results in a matrix environment with some staff not directly answerable to the post-holder, and operating across a wide number of locations
- Previously responsible for a budget, involved in budget setting and working knowledge of financial processes
- Ability to work autonomously across the full range of activities
- An ability to maintain confidentiality and trust
- Adaptability, flexibility and ability to cope with uncertainty and change
- Commitment to continuing professional development
Please be advised youcan't uploadany documents to your application so please complete the application with all the information you want to include.
STAGE 2 Interview:
All candidates who are successful at the sift stage will progress to a single video interview and will be assessed on the followingbehaviours:
- Seeing the Big Picture
- Changing and Improving
- Communicating and influencing
- Leadership
- Managing a Quality Service
- Delivering at Pace
As part of the interview, candidates will be required to delivera 10-minute presentation, based on Technical and Experience, the topic of which will be confirmed prior to the interview.
Location
The UKHSA offers hybrid working this means that whilst the role will be based in one of our UKHSA offices, there will be opportunities for an element of working from home. The balance between home and workplace working is to be agreed with the line manager, determined primarily by business need and in line with policy.
The role can be based in any UKHSA location (Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham) although regular travel to London will be required.
Security Clearance
You will be required to undergo a minimum of Security Check clearance (SC). Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks will be done as part of any vetting.
Salary:
New entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band.
The internal roles rules apply to existing Civil Servants, i.e. level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive 10% increase.
Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.
For further details please refer to the Information Sheet- Starting Salaries & Benefits attachment
Option 3 External
Open to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including by definition internal applicants).
Unfortunately, late applications can not be accepted.
For further information, please refer to the attached Candidate Pack.
Other Information
Applicants are strongly advised to use the criteria in the Person Specification of the Job Description as sub-headings in their application to make it clear how they meet each of the selection criteria.
For further information or an informal discussion about the post, please contact: Donald Shepherd, Director Finance at donald.shepherd@ukhsa.gov.uk
