Contents Location About the job Benefits Things you need to know Apply and further information Location Croydon, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Sheffield About the job Job summary As the Head of Accounting Operations, you will report to the Operational Finance Director and will provide strong leadership for financial management and control for the Home Office, with a relentless focus on maximising the efficiency of the Departments delivery. The successful post-holder will: lead on financial reporting, management accounting and setting the strategy for managing in-year financial pressures. ensure that there is appropriate control over the Departments money. Winddown the UK Responsible Authority for the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund and ensure knowledge is captured ensure that the Home Office aligns with the Government Finance Function model including defining, and moving, to a new service offer for the teams the role is responsible for; maintain and develop a respected and collaborative professional team which commands credibility at all levels and promotes a culture of value for money across the organisation; ensure that the Department adheres to the principles of Managing Public Money and that the Accounting Officers position is considered in all relevant decisions. Job description Key responsibilities: Financial reporting Produce accurate and timely annual report and accounts to meet all HMT and NAO requirements. Manage the relationship with NAO auditors, Home Office Audit and Risk Assurance Committee etc. Lead and improve on the cash forecasting processes. Lead on non-current assets and balance sheet management. Deliver improvements set out in the NAO management letter. Management Accounting Provide consistent, robust, timely and relevant financial monitoring, forecasts, and value-added analysis to support better management of resources and more effective decision-making. Support work to align headcount caps with pay and ensure join up with HR workforce planning teams on budgeting and reporting. Corporate Information and Treasury Reporting Lead on the main and supplementary estimates with HMT, seeking approval for spend with HMT where required and ensuring adequate information is shared with HMT including updates to OSCAR. Set the strategy for in-year financial management and provide advice to ExCo, Ministers etc as required. Maintain and develop analysis and reporting. Lead on the finance contribution to the Permanent Secretary Stocktakes Manage in-year budget loads, reconciliations etc. Coordinate all PQ and FOI responses for finance. UK Responsible Authority for Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF ) As this EU funding has now ceased, manage the wind down of the team and ensure good knowledge capture. Transformation Support Elevate, the finance change programme, to achieve further enhancements in service delivery. This includes developing a new service offer, changes to recharges and improvements to cash forecasting. Leadership The post holder will be an important member of the finance leadership of the Home Office, promoting Civil Service reform and contributing to the Home Office and wider Civil Service efficiency agendas. The post holder will need to exercise leadership across a broad range of corporate responsibilities that connect to Finance within the department and there is the opportunity to modify/adapt some of these responsibilities to suit the specific career interests and strengths of the post holder. Person specification Essential Criteria The successful candidate will need to demonstrate their knowledge, experience, capability and behavioural approach to a high standard against the following key criteria: Leadership - Substantial experience of leading, motivating and developing a diverse team of finance professionals and of developing a spirit of teamwork across functional and organisational boundaries to deliver an effective and efficient service, with specific experience of driving and improving performance. Strategic influence - Experience of influencing management at a senior level with strong analytical skills and the ability to communicate complex positions clearly and compellingly. Financial control Experience of financial control in a large organisation CCAB, CIMA or equivalent qualified accountant with a substantial track record of success in a senior finance leadership role in a fast-moving finance area in a highly complex, customer focused organisation. This should include a highly effective track record of interpreting financial information to help shape and influence organisational strategy. Desirable experience A broad corporate outlook and enthusiasm for transformation coupled with a proven track record in driving forward efficiency savings across a large organisation, in line with key strategic objectives. Experience of working with a wide range of stakeholders within a highly complex and politically sensitive environment both internally and externally in different ways and different styles. Ability to operate effectively in an environment of complexity and ambiguity. Benefits Alongside your salary of £76,000, Home Office 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% Things you need to know Selection process details The Recruitment Process Online Application Please follow the Job Advert instructions on the Civil Service Jobs website to apply online, no later than 23:55hrs on Wednesday 29th January 2025. Provide some basic personal information ; A CV - setting out your career history, highlighting specific responsibilities and achievements that are relevant for this role, including details where budgets and numbers of people managed, relevant achievements in recent posts, together with reasons for any gaps within the last two years; A Statement of Suitability (limited to 1250 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience, provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the essential criteria in the person specification. Diversity Monitoring - as part of the online application process, you will be asked a number of diversity-related questions. If you do not wish to provide a declaration on any of the characteristics, you will have the option to select 'prefer not to say'. See the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy: 2022 to 2025 (HTML) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) for more information. It is essential that in your written application you give evidence, using examples, of proven experience. These responses will be developed and discussed with candidates invited for interview. Failure to submit both a CV and Supporting Statement will mean the panel only have limited information on which to assess your application against the criteria in the person specification. 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 security check (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 This job is broadly open to the following groups: UK nationals nationals of the Republic of Ireland nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window) nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020 Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window) 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. 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). Apply and further information 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 : Andrea Taylor Email : andrea.taylor4homeoffice.gov.uk Recruitment team Email : HORCSCSRecruitmenthomeoffice.gov.uk Further information Complaints should be sent in writing to: Civil Service Commission, Room G8, 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ. Share this page Print Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn GMail