About the job

Job summary

Ministry of Defence's Strategic Finance and Investment Approvals group oversees all Defence investment planning and approvals, bringing together a mix of policy, finance, strategy and project skillsets to ensure we can continue to protect the nation and to help it prosper, while also ensuring it lives within its means in an increasingly fiscally demanding environment for all.

As Deputy Director Strategic Finance Plans, you’ll be driving decisions on the department's approach to the Spending Review as well as its ten-year planning process. You’ll also lead our government leading efficiency programme, the publication of our Equipment Plan report as well as leading our secretariat function. 

This is an exciting opportunity to shape and empower a team to deliver in a changing, complex international and fiscal context, so if you're interested in joining us, we would love to hear from you.

Job description

The current responsibilities of the role include:

• Lead the department's annual budgeting process. This includes working with the military capability function to issue direction to budget holders, consolidating the position, providing choices to ministers before enacting the budget.
• Managing planning risk and capability trade-offs, and ensuring that the Accounting Officers views are fully reflected.
• Leading the departments approach to efficiency reporting into HM Treasury (HMT) while also using systems to drive further efficiencies by working with budget holders to implement best practice
• Lead the creation of the departments equipment plan and work with the National Audit Office (NAO) to ensure they have the required information and access to support the publication of their companion report. Support the witnesses when preparing for the linked Public Accounts Committee session.
• Ensure the department meets its parliamentary obligations for finance, including dealing with Parliamentary correspondence and responding to Treasury Minutes as well as supporting Ministers in their preparation.
• Oversee financial advice to areas including infrastructure, workforce and nuclear, ensuring that advice has the full departmental context and that the dependencies and implications of courses of action are understood. Ensure that all policy engagements with HMT are known and supported fully by the strategic finance function.
• Through regular engagement with HMT build trust in the ten-year programme.
• Build and lead team of 25-30 policy, finance and analytical professionals and work alongside the In Year and Operations Deputy Director to give collective leadership to the MOD’s strategic finance function, working with them to hold the MOD’s relationship with HMT.
• Management of the multi-year plan, key reporting and external publications.
• Providing advice to the Permanent Under Secretary on Accounting Officer issues as required.
• Negotiating and agreeing multi-year spend with HMT, and responding to information requests.
• Advising approvals and scrutiny on financial elements of business cases, as required.
• Ensuring the successful management of the team, developing talent and creating an inclusive environment, to be measured through staff survey.

Person specification

The successful candidate must be able to demonstrate their experience and skills against the following essential criteria:

• Excellent and proven leadership skills with an ability to operate in an open manner, which builds trust and respect both internally and externally.
• Experience of building and motivating diverse teams to meet complex objectives, fostering an inclusive environment.
• Experience of using financial and non-financial evidence to give strategic advice to ministers or senior officials.
• Experience of successfully influencing and negotiating in a complex environment.
• An ability to work at pace and apply sound judgement.
• The ability to win the trust of senior officials and work collaboratively to find solutions to problems.

This role requires a professional finance qualification. We will accept candidates who are undertaking a qualification or unqualified candidates who will commit to undertaking a professional finance qualification while in role.

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 apply for this post, you will need to complete the online application process accessed via the advertisement listed for this role. This should be completed no later than 23:55 Tuesday 30th April 2024 and will involve providing the two documents outlined below via the Civil Service Jobs portal:

• A CV (no more than 2 pages) setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you have provided reasons for any gaps within the last two years.
• A Personal Statement (no more than 2 pages) explaining how your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role. 

Both documents are weighted equally in their scoring, so it's important to consider this when uploading your application. Failure to submit both documents will mean the panel only have limited information on which to assess your application against the criteria in the person specification. 

For further information about the role and full application process, please refer to the candidate pack attached below. If you wish to receive any material in a different format for accessibility, then please contact People-CivHR-SCSCandidateSupport@mod.gov.uk.

Tom Wipperman will be offering an online Q&A session with Friday 24th April at 13:00-13:45 to provide an overview of the role and welcome any questions you may have. Candidates can access the meeting by clicking here.

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. 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.