Porton Down, near Salisbury or Portsdown West, Fareham. Job Summary As Chief Finance Officer (CFO), you will lead a first-class, Strategic Financial Management team to enable the delivery of Dstl’s strategic vision, having a constant and relentless focus on Value for Money. You will be accountable for leading a clear financial strategy supported by optimal resource allocations and investment choices, ensuring Dstl stays within its annual budget and has aggregated reporting of financial and operational performance, delivering a ‘single version of the truth’, and providing in depth analysis of trends and relevant insights to inform decision making. The CFO will work with the CEO and Executive to ensure Dstl is configured to deliver its strategy and that it becomes “One Dstl”, an organisation in which all of its parts work together to achieve its goals, deliver the strategy, and Dstl itself becomes more than just the sum of its parts. You’ll be the accountable person for the business planning and fiscal events (including Spending Review) in Dstl and be accountable and responsible for the overall corporate guardianship of the budgets and protection of the accounting officer. You’ll drive continuous, sustainable improvements in Dstl’s financial management, controls and reporting. As well as the finance element of the role, the CFO also has accountability and oversight for the delivery of Business Planning and Secretariat, Performance Reporting and MI as well as Quality Risk and Assurance. Job Description Executive Leadership Have responsibility for the financial strategy of Dstl, leading the annual business planning/budget setting process, to enable a balanced budget to be produced that aligns to the organisation’s strategic goals. Lead medium and annual financial plans and budget allocations with strong links to organisational strategy and annual business plan (in line with Departmental outcome delivery plan) Be accountable for the provision of corporate level management accounting information, including Board level reporting. Have accountability for the provision of the Main and Supplementary Estimates as well as providing strategic financial advice to the Board. Own the relationship with the Departmental Finance team to understand and consider the cross Departmental position, risk and potential Other Government Department implications. Be accountable for Corporate quality, risk management & assurance activities, ensuring their compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements, supporting ISO9001 certification. Provide Executive and Board with performance data, analysis & insight to provide picture of current performance & advise on forward performance to inform options. Provide coordination and integration of Dstl’s plans to deliver its strategy & outputs, to ensure Dstl has effective corporate governance, along with leading on Parliamentary & secretariat matters within Dstl. Safety and Security There is a significant focus within Dstl at present to improve its safety culture and safe working practices. This is being delivered through a change programme managed from within Dstl’s Transformation Portfolio. As the CFO and member of the Dstl Executive Team you play a key role in promoting these practices at all levels – leading by example. Must appreciate and be responsible for the health and safety of self and others; both understand and meet defined accountabilities as written in Dstl policy, Must demonstrate the expected Health & Safety behaviours as defined by the Civil Service and Dstl and lead by example, Must ensure understanding and maintenance of appropriate training, experience and knowledge (i.e.: competent / suitability qualified and experienced person) for self and direct reports, Will develop a working environment that is supportive of and champions the Dstl approach to health, wellbeing, safety and environmental (HSEP) management, Will be aware of the downstream impact of your actions and the actions of your direct reports on those outside of their immediate control. Executive Leadership Have responsibility for the financial strategy of Dstl, leading the annual business planning/budget setting process, to enable a balanced budget to be produced that aligns to the organisation’s strategic goals. Lead medium and annual financial plans and budget allocations with strong links to organisational strategy and annual business plan (in line with Departmental outcome delivery plan) Be accountable for the provision of corporate level management accounting information, including Board level reporting. Have accountability for the provision of the Main and Supplementary Estimates as well as providing strategic financial advice to the Board. Own the relationship with the Departmental Finance team to understand and consider the cross Departmental position, risk and potential Other Government Department implications. Be accountable for Corporate quality, risk management & assurance activities, ensuring their compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements, supporting ISO9001 certification. Provide Executive and Board with performance data, analysis & insight to provide picture of current performance & advise on forward performance to inform options. Provide coordination and integration of Dstl’s plans to deliver its strategy & outputs, to ensure Dstl has effective corporate governance, along with leading on Parliamentary & secretariat matters within Dstl. Safety and Security There is a significant focus within Dstl at present to improve its safety culture and safe working practices. This is being delivered through a change programme managed from within Dstl’s Transformation Portfolio. As the CFO and member of the Dstl Executive Team you play a key role in promoting these practices at all levels – leading by example. Must appreciate and be responsible for the health and safety of self and others; both understand and meet defined accountabilities as written in Dstl policy, Must demonstrate the expected Health & Safety behaviours as defined by the Civil Service and Dstl and lead by example, Must ensure understanding and maintenance of appropriate training, experience and knowledge (i.e.: competent / suitability qualified and experienced person) for self and direct reports, Will develop a working environment that is supportive of and champions the Dstl approach to health, wellbeing, safety and environmental (HSEP) management, Will be aware of the downstream impact of your actions and the actions of your direct reports on those outside of their immediate control. Person specification The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate their experience and skills against the following essential criteria: Excellent leaderships skills with an ability to motivate, inspire and develop a diverse finance team whilst balancing working at pace to manage a full workload with conflicting short- and long-term priorities. You will also need to provide evidence to how you have been able to create an inclusive working culture where open communication and psychological safety are prioritised to encourage constructive feedback and continuous improvement. Evidence of strategic thinking, excellent analytical skills and the ability to translate current challenges in order to create and contribute to a culture of innovation, risk management and long-term improvement. Using evidence-based strategies to evaluate the full range of options, understand the impacts, get the right solution and influence at the most senior levels. Extensive Board level experience of financial planning as well as an ability to deliver at pace with conflicting priorities and a backdrop of uncertainty and continual change. You will need to be comfortable making difficult decisions without having the full picture, using sound judgement, evidence and knowledge to reduce ambiguity. Demonstrable experience of building and maintaining a strong and diverse network of collaborative relationships with a range of key senior colleagues, especially at Board Level. You will also need to provide examples in your ability to confidently, clearly and credibly influence strategic planning at pace, making an impact at senior levels through your excellent interpersonal and communication skills. Must hold the relevant Professional Qualification - Qualified with ICAEW, ICAS, CIMA, ACCA, CIPFA or equivalent and experience in a relevant strategic financial role. Alongside your salary of £76,000, Ministry of Defence contributes £22,017 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides. Learning and development tailored to your role An environment with flexible working options A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97% Selection process details To apply for this post, you will need to complete the online application process by no later than 23:55 Sunday 19th January 2025 and will involve providing the two documents outlined below via the Civil Service Jobs portal: A CV (no more than 2 pages) setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years. A Personal Statement (no more than 2 pages) explaining how your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, against the essential criteria. Both documents are weighted equally in their scoring, so it's important to consider this when uploading your application. Failure to submit both documents will mean the panel only have limited information on which to assess your application against the criteria in the person specification. For further information about the role and full application process, please refer to the candidate pack attached below. If you wish to receive any material in a different format for accessibility, then please contact People-CivHR-SCSCandidateSupportmod.gov.uk. The Vacancy Holder will also be offering an online Q&A session on Wednesday 8th January between 15:30 - 16:15 to provide an overview of the role and welcome any questions you may have. Candidates can access the meeting by clicking here. Please note this is not part of the formal assessment process. Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise. As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above. Security Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is developed vetting (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is developed vetting (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks. Nationality requirements Open to UK nationals only. Working for the Civil Service The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy. The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy. Diversity and Inclusion The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window). This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative. Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records. Contact point for applicants Job Contact Name : SCS Recruitment Team Email : People-CivHR-SCSCandidateSupportmod.gov.uk Recruitment team Email : People-CivHR-SCSCandidateSupportmod.gov.uk