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! 

The HM Treasury office at Rosebery Court in Norwich plays a vital role in delivering corporate services and operational functions including finance, HR, payroll, and systems, to the department and its arm’s-length bodies. The Norwich office is home to a number of government departments and agencies in addition to HM Treasury.

Job description

About the Group

Corporate Centre

The Corporate Centre Group provides a wide range of corporate services to enable people at HM Treasury and many of the other organisations who form part of the Treasury Group (including the Government Internal Audit Agency, the Debt Management Office and the new UK Infrastructure Bank) to operate effectively and efficiently. We are a diverse group, both in terms of our professions and in our ways of working, and the Corporate Centre Group spans all 3 HM Treasury locations.

The Corporate Centre Group is made up of: Correspondence and Information Rights; Finance; Human Resources; Treasury Business Solutions (TBS); and the Multisite and Darlington Economic Campus programme team.

About the Team

HM Treasury's Group Finance Team comprises approximately 50 staff. We provide high quality advice covering strategic finance, financial management, financial reporting and counter fraud and risk for internal use, and accurate information for Parliamentary control and public accountability purposes.

We are part of the wider Government Finance Function (GFF), which represents and supports the finance community across the civil service. GFF offers a range of developmental opportunities, resources, tools and networks to support us in our roles.

The Financial Management team provide financial insight and decision support to policy teams, our boards and senior leaders in the organisation enabling them to understand the financial and budgetary impact of policy as it develops. The team is responsible for the in-year financial management of our annual departmental budget and forecasting, supporting the annual business planning process, working with the department on new spend proposals and business cases, negotiating with the departmental spending team and liaising with Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs) to monitor their budgets and spend.

We are a friendly, encouraging, diverse and inclusive team, and we are committed to actively supporting everyone’s well-being and professional development.

Key Responsibilities

In this role you will need to understand the business of both the core department and its Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs) and be able to translate and present complex information clearly. You will provide valuable financial advice, challenge and support, strategic insight and business solutions to Directors and build strong interpersonal relationships in your team and the wider organisation.

Key responsibilities include:

1. Providing specialist financial advice to ensure strong financial management to both the core department and it’s ALBs – engaging with experts on behalf of the business and providing advice on financial planning, key finance processes, fiscal events and budget setting.
2. Direct management responsibility of a team of 2 (Assistant Finance Business Partner and Management Accountant) and oversight of management accounts work and preparation, including month-end processes, ensuring a high quality of the financial support is provided to stakeholders from across the department. Leadership role within the Financial Management team alongside other Finance Business Partners, supporting the development of the strategic direction and objectives of the wider team.
3. Build strong relationships with key stakeholders across the breadth of portfolio, including within the core department, ALBs and sponsor teams, to ensure strong communication and information flow to support strong management of the group’s finances. Lead the continued upskilling of stakeholders to ensure key financial processes are undertaken accurately and in line with best practice, and to support the department to self-serve where applicable.
4. Supporting the development and implementation of credible financial and workforce plans that are consistent with the department performance and activity plans.
5. Driving evidence based policy-making by inputting financial insight throughout the process.
6. Challenging and supporting the business to enhance decision-making and increase performance. Identifying weakness in process compliance within the business and reporting on control effectiveness.
7. Overseeing the delivery of prompt, accurate management reports, translating data into meaningful outputs, with a breadth of reporting across internal and external environments.
8. Maintaining a strong understanding of the overall financial position of the HM Treasury group and providing incisive variance explanations and clear interpretations for senior management.

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.  

We will assess the below further criteria in your application form;  

1. Evidence of delivering a high quality financial service to a diverse range of stakeholders (Experience)
2. Ability to interpret and communicate complex financial information clearly to wide range of stakeholders, in order to support effective and best value decision making (Communicating and Influencing)
3. Ability to consider a wide range of complex financial and non-financial information, assess risk and draw conclusions to provide high quality advice on investment proposals (Making Effective Decisions)
4. Ability to actively build and maintain strong working relationships to achieve shared objectives, and challenging assumptions while being willing to compromise if beneficial to progress. (Working together)

The lead criteria is: Communicating and influencing

If we receive large volumes of applications, we will conduct an initial sift on the lead criterion only.

Required Qualifications: 

Must be fully qualified with CCAB, CIMA or equivalent

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £52,960, HM Treasury contributes £14,299 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.

Interview

At the interview stage, applicants for this post will be assessed against the criteria set out in the job description which will include Behaviours and Strength questions – however the panel will ask you about different aspects of these at the interview.  The behaviours to be assessed at interview are as follows: 

Seeing the Big Picture	Working Together
Making Effective Decisions	Communicating and Influencing

Interview task 

Prior to interview, candidates will be contacted about a task to complete as part of the assessment. This will test the Seeing the Big Picture behaviour, and this will not be tested again later in the interview. The task involves assessing a work-based document and presenting your recommendations back to the panel. As part of this, candidates are asked not to produce slides or any other visual aids. The exact details of the task will be sent to candidates 24 hours prior to their interview time. 

Strength based interview questions 

The interview panel will ask you questions about what you enjoy doing and what you do well and often to assess your strengths. When looking at your strengths, we want to find out whether you and the organisation and job are a good fit. 

More details regarding assessment at interview can be provided upon request at any time during the application or interview process.

Recruitment Timeline 

Closing date: Monday 12th August 2024

Shortlisting: w/c Monday 12th August 2024

Interviews:  w/c Monday 26th August 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 Security Check (SC) 

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 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.