About the job

Job summary

Are you looking for an exciting opportunity to join a busy team and play a key role in delivering the Scottish Government’s flagship activities to improve the performance and efficiency of our corporate shared services in the service of Scotland.

 

The Scottish Government Finance Directorate is expanding its current capacity and capabilities to ensure that it is set up for future success, and as part of this has an exciting opportunity for two Control & Assurance Advisor to join the team.

 

You will be joining an ever-evolving organisation that supports growth and change with a range of Learning & Development opportunities available to you.

 

The Finance Directorate supports Ministers and senior officials across the public sector make sound decisions about the allocation and management of resources. In doing so, we deliver a range of financial management, compliance, and strategic roles to ensure that the Scottish Government’s reputation for competent government, prudent fiscal management and value for money is maintained and enhanced, helping the organisation to manage and govern over £50 billion of public spending, and deliver a wide range of compliance and reporting requirements.

 

As part of this, we have identified the requirement for Controls and Assurance Advisors. These roles sit within the Risk, Control & Assurance Division which is being formed to lead a range of Assurance, Risk Management, Financial Policy and Process, and Grants Management functions in the Finance Directorate.

We welcome professionals enthusiastic about helping establish our new Finance control and assurance function and driving best practice as we implement a new Enterprise, Resource, and Planning (ERP) applications using Oracle Cloud.

These are new roles, and you may be a finance professional with a professional qualification but that is not a specific requirement. Similarly, your experience may be in an assurance or internal audit.

A knowledge and practical experience of the Finance Global Design principles and of core Finance processes, internal controls, or related assurance is desirable but not essential, alongside experience of using Oracle ERP systems.

The nature of the work is such that a key requirement of the role is a flexible and adaptable approach to managing tasks and programmes of work, with an ability to adapt quickly to change, in partnership with colleagues across the Team, Division, Directorate and wider Scottish Government community.

You will be joining an ever-evolving directorate that supports growth and change with a range of Learning & Development opportunities available to you.

Job description

The postholder will support the improvement of finance controls and processes in line with agreed standards as the new ERP is implemented to improve the effectiveness of controls and oversight of compliance and assurance.

In the initial phase the duties of this role include collaborating on the strategy and work plan for the team and supporting the work of:

• Evaluating the financial control and assurance framework in the context of the ERP design and best practice.
• Ensuring the documentation and mapping of controls.
• Collaborating on the design and implementation of new controls where gaps are identified.
• Collaborating with colleagues on the materials to support the ERP and to ensure understanding of the operation of controls.
• Developing systems and process to ensure control effectiveness is regularly tested and monitored.

• Building on the reporting capability of the ERP to expand the use of data analytics and reporting tools to develop the management information offering to business areas/stakeholders.
• Engaging effectively across the Finance function and implementing appropriate guidance and training.
• In a context of continuous improvement, working effectively within a multi-disciplinary team that brings together finance, data analysis, finance policy and audit expertise

Person specification

1. Your career must include knowledge and experience in practice of implementing, improving, or managing internal control and assurance functions.
2. Established communication skills, both written and verbal. A proven ability to explain policies and processes and the importance of internal control and assurance effectively to stakeholders and to influence and collaborate effectively with colleagues and internal and external stakeholders.
3. The ability to work on your own initiative, with strong planning and prioritisation skills to deliver high quality outcomes and outputs and to meet deadlines whilst managing competing pressures and to be able to adapt to changing situations.
4. Experience of supporting projects, contributing to the delivery of milestones, embracing continuous improvement, and developing new ways of working where appropriate.

Benefits

• 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 average employer contribution of 27%

Things you need to know

Selection process details

To be confirmed

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

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.