About the job

Job summary

4 year Fixed term contract

Up to £117,800 plus £1,750 location allowance and excellent benefits including Civil Service pension
Based at Hanslope Park, Milton Keynes, with the flexibility of hybrid working depending on business need

At FCDO Services, we protect the UK’s interests at home and overseas. We design and construct secure government buildings, courier diplomatic packages worldwide, safeguard government tech, and a whole lot more. Our work is as varied and vital as it gets, but we never lose sight of our people. Their skills, aspirations and growth mean as much as the global mission we're on. In our world, it all matters.

Job description

Lead your team in a unique programme of work

As our Chief Financial Officer you’ll be responsible for a team of around 80 professionals from within our business services function. Joining our board and executive team, you’ll make an important contribution to the leadership of FCDO Services while helping to develop our vision, strategy and plans for the future. We’ll also expect you to ensure our statutory accounts are completed on time and in accordance with the necessary requirements, and oversee all aspects of our financial management and control, business planning and performance.

You’ll have a wide range of additional responsibilities – these include building highly effective international finance, supply chain and internal transactional functions, business improvement and knowledge and information management, coupled with overseeing our corporate plan and defining objectives through in-year business plans. 
Delivering strategic finance projects and working to transform our finance and supply chain management, you’ll also act as a role model for our values and culture, promoting diversity, recognising excellence and encouraging learning, innovation and the implementation of new ideas.

Apply all your skills as your account for the nation’s interests

With a recognised accountancy qualification, you’ll have a track record of leading financial management at a strategic and operational level with an international organisation of similar scale and complexity to ours. You should have plenty of risk management experience and in addition to the ability to make a positive personal impact, you‘ll have good political acumen and the skills to build long-term relationships with our senior stakeholders.

An inspirational and transformational leader with the interpersonal and communication skills to empower and motivate your team, you’ll have proven success at implementing and embedding business improvement initiatives. Experience of developing and managing strategic sourcing strategy, supply chain, contracting and claims handling would be a bonus. 

Take the next step as you develop your career

When you work with us you’ll help keep people, information and assets safe around the world. It’s a role you can feel proud of, and we aim to make every part of your career just as rewarding. That’s why when you join us you’ll enjoy a competitive salary, generous holiday entitlement and a Civil Service pension. Along with this, you’ll also have access to training and other development opportunities to help grow your career with us. Our offices have an on-site gym, nursery, café and restaurant, and we offer interest-free loans on season tickets and bikes to help you get there. It's a great set of benefits made to support all you do, and all you need.

Everyone who works with FCDO Services must be security cleared before joining us, so if you’re successful in your application we’ll ask you to undergo our vetting process. You can find out more about vetting at www.fcdoservicescareers.co.uk/how-to-apply

The following documents provide supporting material for this role. Please note for some documents you may require Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you require an alternative format, please contact FCDOServices.Recruitment@fcdo.gov.uk.

FCDO Services are regulated by the Civil Service Commission.

Person specification

Essential: 
• A recognised accountancy qualification (CCAB) and substantial post-qualification 
experience leading strategic and operational finance within a complex organisation.
• A track record of successful and collaborative leadership, at Board and operational level 
with evidence of personal impact, political acumen, credibility and fostering long-term 
relationships with senior stakeholders, internal and external.
• Proven track record successfully leading the financial management and direction of a 
large and complex commercial and international organisation in a relevant industry, such 
as estates capital works, international logistics, security, engineering or technology, with 
comparable supply chain, cost and pricing challenges. 
• Experience of risk management framework and risk maturity model.
• Proven success in delivering organisational transformation and implementing and 
embedding business improvement initiatives.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £117,800, FCDO Services contributes £31,806 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

Shortlisting will be conducted against the Job Specific Skills, Knowledge & Experience outlined in the Role Profile.

Interviews will be conducted using a mixture of Behaviours and Job Specific questions, presentation or job specific exercise.

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 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.