About the job

Job summary

This post is within the Public Safety Group of the Home Office (HO) and is part of the Corporate and Delivery finance function. The HO invests in technology and data programmes to transform policing and law enforcement. This investment is co-ordinated across HO, the law enforcement sector and across government more widely.

This significant portfolio aims to improve the national technology capabilities available to policing, supporting the modernisation of core national systems, enhancing the way forces communicate with each other and law enforcement partners to share data, intelligence, information, and evidence. The portfolio consists of:

• Emergency Services Mobile Communications Programme (ESMCP) providing critical voice and data capability over a commercial network;
• Home Office Biometrics (HOB) - a single platform for fingerprint, facial recognition and DNA;
• Law Enforcement Data Service (LEDS) providing access across policing to national police information as well as sharing intelligence across services;
• National Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) Service (NAS) will unite all local ANPR systems into a single national system;
• Child Abuse and Image Database (CAID) where we continue to improve the world-leading capability aimed at combatting child sexual abuse and exploitation;
• A range of other Police & Public Protection Technology (PPPT) programmes which will replace, improve and modernise essential national technology systems.

ESMCP, HOB and LEDS are all on the Government’s Major Projects Portfolio. In this role you will lead the Portfolio’s Programme Finance function and the teams embedded within the politically and technologically complex Law Enforcement Technology Programmes. The over-arching objective is to support the Programme Directors, Senior Responsible Officers (SROs) and executive leadership teams through providing professional advice and challenge and to ensure that decisions are made with reference to financial information and consequences, influencing as needed, so that the wider objectives of the HO can be met.

Job description

Key responsibilities include:

• Leading all aspects of programme finance for the Portfolio, including developing the medium-term financial plan, finance business cases, audit support, budgeting, supporting the Programme Director and SRO and advising business and investment boards on all finance issues;
• Ensure the Portfolio has sound financial governance and ensure funding envelopes within existing budgets are utilised to deliver within monetary constraints;
• Leading and maintaining the relationships with HM Treasury, law enforcement sector and three emergency services, user organisations, devolved administrations and other government department’s officials at senior levels and leveraging/influencing these relationships to the benefit of the Home Office;
• Provide strategic leadership and insight as part of the programme and HO finance function’s Leadership Teams;
• Ensure integration with the financial management plans of the Department;
• Lead the programmes preparation for key fiscal events including Spending Reviews and the Police Settlement, as well as financial input into key governance events both internally and externally, such as HM Treasury Approval Panels and the Major Projects and Review Group;
• Develop and present financial insight and analysis to various boards and committees in a way that facilitates effective prioritisation and strategic alignment;
• Financial leadership for major commercial procurements and supplier contracts;
• Continually review the service provided to internal and external customers, seeking feedback and both facilitating and responding to change;
• Leading the finance team and developing their programme finance capabilities to maintain and build a dynamic and positive team culture that can satisfy multiple and often challenging demands;
• Oversee and advise on the high standards of financial compliance expected of those handling public resources, such as Managing Public Money principles;
• Provide sufficient capacity and capability to manage investments effectively as well as to provide a focal point for raising standards on investment management;
• Line management of the finance teams embedded in the portfolio programme teams.

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:

• Experience of providing professional finance and corporate services to senior stakeholders and influencing business decisions.
• Strong leadership, interpersonal skills and authority; able to successfully foster and manage interrelationships between own team and other areas. A proven track record of creating a common purpose and instilling organisational values and behaviours that promotes a corporate vision.
• Experience of working in a change / programme management environment managing large and complex programmes.
• An ability to foster an organisational culture that is positive about change and committed to delivery of the strategic vision.
• Capacity to work collaboratively and in co-operation within a multi-stakeholder environment.
• Excellent communication, networking and negotiation skills.
• A qualified accountant (CCAB or equivalent i.e. ACCA; CIPFA; ICAEW; ICAI or ICAS, or CIMA, or a European or international equivalent qualification).

Desirable Criteria

• Evidence of handling political and presentational risks and consequences, anticipating strategic risks and hurdles.
• Experience of providing financial leadership for large commercial procurements and supplier contracts.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £75,000, Home Office contributes £20,250 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

Please follow the Job Advert instructions on the Civil Service Jobs website to apply online, no later than 23:55hrs on Tuesday 16th April 2024.

Provide some basic personal information:

1.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;

2.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.

3.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.

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.