About the job

Job summary

If you’re interested in making a difference to people’s lives, the Treasury can offer you an exciting opportunity to influence decision making that affects the whole of the UK. Working at the heart of government, we collaborate across government to promote responsible public spending and drive strong and sustainable economic growth.  

Our work ranges from protecting customers through the regulation of the financial sector, helping to reduce carbon emissions and creating a greener economy, to promoting British trade around the world and supporting people across the country on jobs, growth and more.  

HM Treasury is proud of a diverse and inclusive work environment, committed to fairness and the promotion of equality of opportunity for all. We know that having a range of experiences, ways of working and thinking makes us stronger and better at developing policy that reflects the needs of every community. We embrace different views and experiences and value the new perspective that people from a variety of circumstances bring to the work we do. We welcome applications from candidates who have not previously worked for the Civil Service, mid- and late-career changers with transferrable skills, people from all backgrounds and circumstances regardless of disability, gender, age ethnicity, LGBT+ identity and socio-economic status.  

We are part of the Darlington Economic Campus, a pioneering new cross-government hub which brings people together to play an active role in the most important issues of the day whilst working closer to the communities we serve. The campus provides the opportunity for people from all over the UK to help shape the future of the country, and our flexible working practices ensure you can collaborate effectively with our partners. It’s central government, made more accessible to you! 

Job description

Fiscal Group

Fiscal Group works on a wide-ranging set of issues at the heart of the Treasury’s objectives and of fiscal events such as Budgets. We are responsible for ensuring the sustainability of the government’s finances, overseeing its macroeconomic policy framework, and stable and efficient financing of government liabilities. Work includes advising the Chancellor on the appropriate levels of borrowing and debt (as well as broader commitments like guarantees & insurance), providing analysis of the government’s finances, overseeing financing raised for the government by the Debt Management Office and National Savings & Investments. We work with teams across the Treasury to support decisions on the full range of policy. We also have a particularly wide and deep range of relationships beyond the Treasury including the Office for Budget Responsibility, Bank of England, and the Office for National Statistics. 

Delivering these objectives requires a range of skills and backgrounds, and we are proud of our diversity

Fiscal Statistics and Policy is a team of analysts and policy professionals, that plays a key role at the centre of the Treasury’s policymaking! We closely monitor the public finances, jointly producing the monthly Public Sector Finances statistical release with the Office for National Statistics. The team produces risk, forecasting and scenario analysis on the fiscal position, identifying issues and providing analysis on the independent Office for Budget Responsibility’s (OBR) forecasts as necessary.

We provide advice to the Chancellor on the fiscal framework, we also work very closely with other Treasury central teams on the fiscal policy judgement at each fiscal event. FSP is also the departmental sponsor of the relationship with the OBR acting both as its primary customer and relationship manager and fulfilling governance roles including managing appointments to the OBR’s Budget Responsibility Committee. We are a friendly team who are proud of our diversity.

About the Job 

This role is part of the statistics side of the team, it is analytically focussed and a fundamental starting point for management information around the government’s cash position, and thus the fiscal position. You will be working with a smorgasbord of statisticians, economists, accountants, and policy advisors – you’ll have the opportunity to learn a lot from each of these vocations, whatever your apprenticeship.

This role involves a lot of data and working with City Financials application (more below) and turning this rich dataset into management information, and published government statistics. You will receive whatever training and development you need to succeed.

Key Accountabilities for this role include:

• Maintain key spreadsheets and trackers, providing advice and analysis on cash requirement data. This will involve working closely with the team who manage the accounting database and integrating and quality assuring financial and accounting data from different sources.
• Monitor, communicate and present tax receipts and the government’s cash requirement throughout each month, particularly around peak tax periods.
• Reconcile, clean and aggregate from multiple datasets to provide a holistic view of government’s cash needs, both from a tax & spend point-of-view but also how government finances the gap between them.
• Provide outputs based on the above to the Office for National Statistics for inclusion in the monthly Public Sector Finances bulletin.
• Produce ad-hoc data analysis and presentations in response to internal and external queries and as required to improve your data quality and production processes.
• Take responsibility for your learning and development under the apprenticeship.

City Financials is a treasury management system (TMS). The HMT TMS system is critical HMT system that is used for:

• the efficient and effective forecasting of government cash flow,
• running the governments high level accounts at the Bank of England
• accounting for government debt and reserves
• producing the accounts for the Consolidated Fund, the National Loans Fund, and the Contingencies Fund

The successful applicant will undertake a Level 4 Professional Accounting / Taxation apprenticeship as part of this role, and therefore you will need to be eligible for this to be considered for the post. Full details for the apprenticeship standard can be found in the link.

As part of this, you will be required to evidence the below existing qualifications:

• Minimum of 5 GCSE’s at Grade C/4 or above (or equivalent qualification)
• Equivalent of Level 2 Maths and English (GCSE Grade C/4 or above) 4

If you already hold an equivalent or higher professional accounting qualification, you will not be eligible for the apprenticeship, therefore not eligible for the post. For more details about eligibility for the funding, please review the apprenticeship funding rules.

Candidate Drop-In Session 
 
We will be running a candidate drop-in session for this role to give you greater insight about the role as well as the chance to learn more about HM Treasury and the recruitment process. If you would like to join us, then use the appropriate link below to join the call at the right time. 

Thursday 28th March 11am – 12pm

Click to join meeting

If you would like to speak to the hiring manager informally prior to the closing date for applications to find out more about the job, please contact Martin Phillips -Martin.Phillips@hmtreasury.gov.uk

Person specification

We are looking for the below skills, experience and behaviours and we will ask you to demonstrate these in your application form. Please review the Candidate FAQ document that is attached to the advert for guidance on how to complete your application form.  

• Ability to deliver outputs accurately (managing a quality service)
• Ability to manage your own time to deliver to deadlines consistently (delivering at pace)
• Capable of working effectively with a diverse team and stakeholders (working together).

The lead criterion is managing a quality service - If we receive large volumes of applications, we will conduct an initial sift on the lead criterion only.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £25,280, HM Treasury contributes £6,825 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths and Experience.

Recruitment Timeline 

• Closing date: Sunday 7th April 2024
• Shortlisting: w/c 8th April 2024
• Interviews:  w/c 15th / 22th April 2024

This timeline is indicative and may be subject to change. We will inform you if there is a substantial change to the recruitment timeline. 

If your contact details change at any time during the selection process, please ensure you update your Civil Service Jobs Profile. 

Please note that only applications submitted through Civil Service Jobs will be accepted.

Location-Based Reserve Lists 

You will be placed on a reserve list if your application is successful, but we cannot offer you a post immediately. Where more than one location has been advertised, candidates will be approached for roles in merit order according to the first preferred location stated on your application form. 

Please note that a place on the reserve list does not guarantee an offer. We would still encourage you to apply for other HM Treasury opportunities that you are interested in. If you are offered a role in your first preferred location and you decline the offer or you are unable to take up the post within a reasonable timeframe, you will be removed from the reserve list, other than in exceptional circumstances. 

Eligibility Statement  

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role in the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government. Checks will be performed as part of pre-employment checks in line with this. Please refer to the Candidate FAQ document attached to the advert for more information. 

Individuals appointed to the Treasury Group will be subject to National Security Vetting. To allow for meaningful checks to be carried out applicants will normally need to have lived in the UK for at least 3 out of the past 5 years. A lack of UK residency in itself is not always a bar to security clearance but the Department will need to consider eligibility on a case by case basis using all information that can be obtained following a successful application. 

Everyone working with government assets must complete Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks.  

For many roles, security clearance is also required. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements of the role before they can be appointed. The level of security clearance required for this role is Counter Terrorist Check (CTC)

Please read the Vetting Charter for information on what to expect during the vetting process and what will be expected from you.  

Many areas of your life may be explored during your vetting journey, and it is important that every individual, regardless of their background and experiences, should feel comfortable going through this personal process, whilst having confidence that it is fair, proportionate, and inclusive.  

These short videos address common concerns and preconceptions which applicants may have about national security vetting.  

If you have questions relating to security clearances, please contact HMTSecurityVetting@hmtreasury.gov.uk

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist 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.