Assistant Financial Operations Manager
Department for Transport
About the job
Job summary
We recognise the challenges that people with (multiple) protected characteristics may experience on the job market and in their career progression. We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer and ensuring equal opportunities. We are keen to make our workforce as diverse as possible, and we hope to attract applications from underrepresented groups, including Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people, people with a disability, and people with gender diverse identities.
Are you seeking an opportunity to broaden your financial knowledge and expertise?
Are you passionate about building great work relationships with a range of stakeholders?
Would you relish the chance to work with senior leaders and specialist advisers across the rail industry?
If so, we are looking for a finance professional to join our Rail Financial Control team, and we would love to hear from you.
Job description
Our team sits within the Rail Policy Operations and Change Directorate, part of the wider Public Transport and Local Group (PTLG). We are responsible for the overall co-ordination, monitoring, reporting and consolidation of the Programme budgets for conventional passenger rail.
As Assistant Financial Operations Manager, you will support the delivery of key financial processes that ensure the department pays suppliers and records financial transactions appropriately. You will engage with a range of stakeholders at all levels to ensure that financial processes run efficiently and that people can easily follow them. This will require you to develop a detailed understanding of the Department and its objectives, the Department’s suppliers including train operating companies ( TOCs) and the financial transactions between the parties. You will combine this knowledge with your expertise in financial processes to ensure operations are able to respond to different needs while maintaining a level of commonality through standard guidelines, frameworks, processes and tools.
You will work closely with the Senior Managers and with Finance Business Partners, to ensure the Department’s ledger is accurate and that clear, robust and accurate data is captured for decision making and strategic planning.
Responsibilities
These will include but not be limited to:
- Leading delivery of periodic business critical payments to TOCs and other suppliers ensuring that robust audit trails are in place, as well as business continuity plans
- Consolidating TOC management accounting data by overseeing the loading of periodic TOC financial forecasts and actuals onto DfT’s management information system, identifying and escalating any missing data and producing management information reports
- Leading delivery of the publication of TOC operational support and fees information on the Government website, including securing Ministerial agreement and working with press office colleagues to agree comms lines
See role profile for full details.
If you would like to find out more about what it's like to work at DfT Rail, please click here.
Person specification
About you
You will either be qualified, or part qualified with CCAB, CIMA or IFAC equivalent, with core finance and accounting skills. Part qualified candidates will be supported by the Department to complete their qualification when in role.
You will be highly motivated with excellent organisational skills and experience of effectively prioritising workloads to adapt to changing demands.
You will enjoy proactively taking the initiative to find solutions to problems and have a high attention to detail to deliver accurate numerical data and information.
You will have excellent stakeholder management skills to build trusted relationships at all levels within and outside of the Department. You will display confidence and the credibility to support, listen and challenge and present complex financial information to a wide audience.
Further information:
You will have the option to be based in our London office attracting the London salary, or in Leeds or Birmingham attracting the National salary. If based in Leeds or Birmingham, occasional travel to our London office will be required for key meetings and team events.
A minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace, although requirements to attend other locations for official business, or carry out detached duty in another DfT workplace, will also count towards this level of attendance. Occasional travel to other DfT offices will be required.
Whilst we welcome applications from those looking to work with us on a part time basis, there is a business requirement, for the successful candidate to be able to work at least 30 hours per week.
Benefits
Being part of our brilliant Civil Service means you will have access to a wide range of fantastic benefits. We offer generous annual leave, attractive pension options, flexible working, inclusive working environments and much more to support a healthy work/life balance.
Find out more about what it's like working at the Department for Transport.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.How to Apply
When considering applying please look at how your experience relates to the role. Please tailor your CV to match the role and its responsibilities and within your Personal Statement (max 750 words) please provide detailed evidence of your experience of the following:
- Experience of building effective working relationships with a range of stakeholders.
- Excellent communication skills and able to engage with colleagues at all levels.
- Experience of gathering, analysing and interpreting financial, commercial and technical information.
The sift is due to take place from 17 June 2024.
Interviews/assessments are likely to be held from 26 June 2024.
We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change. You will be provided with sufficient notice of the confirmed dates.
The selection process will be designed specifically for the role. As a result, your assessment will include:
- An interview
This interview could be conducted online via Teams or face to face at one of our offices (for personal circumstances/reasonable adjustments). Further details will be provided to you should you be selected for interview.
You’re encouraged to become familiar with the role profile, as you may be assessed against any of the criteria recorded within.
The Department for Transport alongside other Government Departments recruit using Success Profiles. This means for each role we consider what you will need to demonstrate in order to be successful. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity.
For further information on Success Profiles visit our Careers website.
Reasonable Adjustments
As a Disability Confident Leader employer, we are committed to ensuring that the recruitment process is fair, accessible and allows all candidates to perform at their best. If a person with a visible or non-visible disability is substantially disadvantaged, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.
Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need during the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at an interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.
If you need a reasonable adjustment so that you can complete your application, you should contact Government Recruitment Service via dftrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
Document Accessibility
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
This job advert contains links to the DfT Careers website. Our website provides useful guidance and information that can support you during the application process. If you cannot access the information on our website for any reason, please email DRGComms@dft.gov.uk for assistance.
Further Information
For more information about how we hire, and for useful tips on submitting your application for this role, visit the How We Hire page of our DfT Careers website. You can find detailed information about the recruitment process and what to expect when applying for a role.
Pre-employment Checking
Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.
A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. 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
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.