About the job
Job summary
As the Defence integrator, Strategic Command (UKStratCom) sits at the heart of Defence, giving us the winning edge in an ever-uncertain and competitive world. Every single operation relies on the connectivity and skills we offer the whole of the Armed Forces. The UKStratCom Finance Function supports multiple Service Directorates - the Headquarters; Defence Medical Services; Defence Intelligence; Defence Digital; Special Forces; National Cyber Force; Directorate of Overseas Bases; Defence Support; and Permanent Joint Headquarters. Following implementation of Finance Transformation (FinTx) in January 2025, the function is now made up of over 180 finance personnel across Finance Operations, Specialist Services, Finance Business Partnering Teams and Finance Military Operations.
The Finance Reporting and Accountancy team sit under Specialist Services and provide technical accounting guidance for the complex business areas under Strategic Command, to ensure accurate reflection of activity and an accurate financial accounts that feed into the wider MOD position. The post holder is the lead when working with the National Audit Office during the audit weeks, as well as the trusted advisor to the Senior Leadership Team, finance business partners and business areas on various accounting matters, working closely with MOD centre equivalents.
This position is advertised at 37 hours per week, with expected office attendance of 60%, with regular travel to Northwood.
Job description
Financial Reporting and Accounting are expected to manage the production of their financial reporting, ensuring required processes are in place to give assurance on the quality of the numbers. Providing a suitably robust input to be incorporated into the MOD financial accounts, whilst highlighting key issues, risks, and opportunities. Managing other external reporting outputs including responses to Parliamentary Questions and FOIs. They will offer accounting advice and work with finance colleagues and auditors to agree accounting treatments.
Providing insight to the Business, Finance Leadership Team, and wider Finance teams
* Managing the production, including appropriate review and escalation where necessary of the organisation’s financial accounts, for presentation to the Finance Director for review and approval, highlighting key issues through analysis.
* Reviewing, analysing, and interpreting financial data, providing insight for senior managers and decision makers.
* Inputting and drafting reports to Audit Committee and other key stakeholders on the key features of the financial accounts and status of key issues and risks.
Routine Requirements
* Managing the audit programme, undertaking engagement with Strategic Head Office and/or auditors providing updates on material or complex issues, monitoring progress of audits, outstanding audit issues and implementation of recommendations.
* Working with the Financial Governance and Control team to ensure suitable controls / checks are in place, such as compliance with accounting standards and financial policy, to maintain accuracy and identify/escalate issues.
* Providing accounting / tax advice, engaging with the Technical Accounting and Tax Centres of Excellence to agree accounting treatments as required.
* Supporting Strategic Head office in implementing new accounting standards, or changes made to existing rules, managing the collation of information to understand the organisational impact.
* Providing support and guidance to ensure material losses follow the appropriate approvals route.
* Ensuring the integrity of data collected for use in the Annual Report and Accounts (ARAc), Estimates and other statutory external reporting processes e.g. NAO reviews and managing:
* Monthly reconciliations, providing analysis and challenging transactions, translating into a non-technical format to advise the Budget Holder of their financial position, informing monthly reviews with their FBP.
* Engaging with the Business to obtain information to complete returns (e.g. transparency reporting or losses and special payments).
* Review of control accounts, to ensure that transactions are legitimate and providing support to Defence Business Services to aid reconciliation, as required.
Continuous improvement
* Dedicating time to sharing best practice and ideas for refining standardised processes and procedures feeding back key proposed changes to process owners, enabling consistency across the MOD finance function.
* Seeking feedback on the services provided, testing, and evaluating their effectiveness, whilst assessing the level of effort to deliver against the benefit received.
* Continuously strive to improve the service provision, promptly addressing issues and ensuring that processes or ways of working are adapted, and customers are informed where there is an impact.
* Managing issues highlighted during internal or external audit, engaging relevant stakeholders to enable corrective action. Promptly addressing any misinterpretation of guidance, sharing with team members to promote embedding the lesson(s) learnt.
* Managing the input and support to change programmes, where there is an impact to how your team will provide their services.
Managing your team
* Management of team members, empowering, motivating and coaching to enable effective delivery.
* Supporting individual’s personal development, careers and developing leadership skills within their team. Ensuring you and the team make time to develop themselves and their peers.
* Being open to challenge and new ideas, sharing of knowledge and experience, encouraging others through building a supportive team environment.
* Providing stretching targets ensuring the team are getting the basics right at the first attempt.
* Developing and embedding the use of standardised processes to deliver a consistent output to customers.
Making all major decisions affecting direction and execution of work within the area of responsibility, referring upwards where decisions relate to significant issues of policy, resource allocation or management of work area.
Person specification
Essential
* Qualified with an CCAB accountancy qualification.
* An excellent leader and manager, who will empower their team to deliver whilst providing support and guidance to develop them, you will lead colleagues across Finance and the Service Directorates through significant change to ways of working, process re-engineering, automation, training and tooling.
* Significant Experience in a Finance environment with Technical Expertise with an ability to understand and interpret complex business and financial requirements and accounting technical application
* A strong communicator, with the ability to discuss with various stakeholders, from finance and non-finance functions
Desirable
* An understanding of how MOD / Strategic Command Strategic operates given the breadth and diversity and its highly delegated model.
* Experience of Agile Delivery and Scrum.
* An excellent ability to balance a range of competing priorities drawing on good judgement, initiative and able to coordinate the team accordingly.
* A self-starter capable of working independently from high-level strategic direction.
* Strong written and oral briefing skills.
Qualifications
Qualified with an CCAB accountancy qualification.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
* Leadership
* Communicating and Influencing
* Delivering at Pace
* Making Effective Decisions
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £59,690, Ministry of Defence contributes £17,292 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
Some of the many benefits you will receive:
* Highly competitive pension scheme.
* Flexi-time scheme upon completion of six months service or the Line Manager has the ability to adopt flexible working sooner than the 6 month period.
* With Line Manager agreement move to an alternative Working Patterns (there are nine).
* 25 days paid annual leave rising (one day per year) to 30 days upon completion of five years’ service. If by chance you have previously completed service in the Public Sector in the past five years, you may be eligible to request 30 days leave immediately. (Evidence will be required).
* In addition to annual leave you will be entitled to eight Public Bank Holidays per year.
* Professional and Personal Development of skills with the opportunity to undergo an Apprenticeship in Human Resources.
* Opportunity to join more than one of our many networks (Race, LGBT+, Gender, Disability and Faith & Belief).
* Minimum of 18 Days Special Paid Leave in a rolling 12-month period for Public Duties commitments (such as a Magistrate).
* Special Paid Leave for community volunteering up to 12 days a year for Special Constables and six days a year for other volunteering.
* Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption leave.
* Other facilities are Sports & Social facilities and a Gym complex, as well as onsite Mess & Retail shops.
* 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%
Apply before: 11:55 pm on Monday 28th April 2025
For further information, and to apply, please visit our website via the “Apply” button below.
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