About the job

Job summary

Please refer to Job Description

Job description

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about how we do this visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity.

Job Title/ Position: Finance Business Partner
Grade: SEO
Number of Vacancies: 2
Business Group: MoJ Finance
Directorate: Finance Business Partnering
Location: Birmingham, Victoria Square House, Birmingham City Centre.

Regular travel to the Birmingham location will be expected.

Hours: 37
Post Type:Permanent 
Role Type/ Team: Finance

Overview

The team is based within the Finance Business Partnering directorate. The team support the Office of the Public Guardian.

This role is central to the relationship between the OPG business area and the finance function. You will use your strong technical and influencing skills and sound understanding of the relevant OPG business area to provide advice, challenge and scrutiny to senior colleagues. The post holder will need to establish and develop effective working relationships with many stakeholders, including Directors, Deputy Directors, Programme Leads and Senior Managers.

The OPG helps people in England and Wales to stay in control of decisions about their health and finance and make important decisions for others who cannot decide for themselves. OPG is an executive agency, sponsored by the Ministry of Justice.

Role Summary

Finance Business Partnering SEOs are responsible for building strong relationships with their directorate, understanding the business, and explaining financial information for budget holders in an understandable manner.

Typical Role Responsibilities

SEO FBPs are developing expertise and responsible for building strong relationships and understanding the business within a directorate or possibly supporting a lower risk Director led unit. They aim to communicate financial data and other information clearly and provide valuable financial advice, challenge and support, strategic insight, and business solutions.

Entry Routes

Suitable for staff with the required skills and / or experience from within or outside Finance

Within Finance 

This role may be suitable for Finance individuals at HEO or SEO with the required influencing and interpersonal skills.

From Outside Finance

This role may be suitable for HEOs on promotion and SEOs with the required data analysis, influencing, stakeholder management and numeracy skills and who are interested in joining the Finance function.

Progression Routes

Staff in this role typically transfer to Management Reporting SEO, Financial Accounting and Reporting SEO or Business Support SEO roles, or progress to Financial Business Partnering G7, Management Reporting G7 or Financial Accounting and Reporting G7 roles.

Role Responsibilities/Tasks

• Developing an understanding of the business, its stakeholders, and deliverables
• Building and maintaining relationships with customer budget holders
• Providing advice on compliance with policy, standards, accountabilities, and controls
• Translating, owning, and adding insight to financial data to provide clear information and evidence to support business activities and requirements
• Providing guidance at appropriate level budget holder meetings and boards
• Reviewing and providing input to business cases/ strategic documentation
• Identifying and applying relevant costs, benefits, and investment appraisal techniques
• Providing relevant coaching and training to the business
• Providing ad-hoc analysis and presentations to drive and support business decisions, such as efficiency and cost reduction options, using all available data and analytics tools

Behaviours Required

Success Profiles will enable a fairer and more inclusive method of recruitment by enabling us to assess the range of experiences, abilities, strengths, behaviours, and technical/professional skills required for different roles. This flexible approach to recruitment focuses more on finding the right candidate for the specific role. To find out more about Success Profiles to support your application please click here for further guidance.

• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service

Please refer to the Civil Service Behaviours Framework, which can be found here, to complete this application: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/717275/CS_Behaviours_2018.pdf

If we receive a large volume of applications, we reserve the right to conduct the sift based on one lead behaviour. The chosen lead behaviour for this campaign is Working Together.

In addition to Civil Service Behaviours identified above, if you will be using Experience to assess the candidate please provide further details below:

CV

Interpersonal Skills

• Possesses emotional intelligence and can think empathetically, considering the strategic goals of others
• Fosters a culture of knowledge sharing and collaboration between the business, finance, and other corporate services
• Can tailor their communication style to a range of audiences, including internal and external stakeholders
• Uses facts and evidence to aid negotiation and influencing
• Helps others to understand the interdependencies between business and finance
• Proactive and passionate, inspiring others to continuously improve
• Ability to "speak the language" of finance to business, and vice versa, acting as the critical translator between the two

Professional Skills

Key for Levels of Professional Skills

• A = Awareness
• W = Working
• P = Practitioner
• E = Expert

Core                                                                          Level
Budgeting, forecasting, and costing                               P
The Budgeting Framework                                            W
Commercial acumen                                                    W
Investment appraisal and evaluation                               W
Strategic analysis and insight                                       A
Oral and written presentation skills                                E
Performance and risks                                                 W
Data and analytics interpretation                                   P

Useful                                                                       Level

Taxation                                                                     A
Interpretation of accounts                                            A
Government financial reporting                                     A
Supporting the PAC agenda                                        A
Understanding the role of the NAO                              A
Risk management and fraud                                       A

Qualifications

Recommended:

• Part Qualified with CCAB, CIMAor equivalent
• Working towards qualification

In addition to salary, a pensionable, non-contractual specialist allowance will be applied to this role. Specialist allowances apply to certain roles only, are non-transferable to other roles and are subject to annual review.

Travel

The MoJ offers Hybrid Working arrangements where business need allows. This is an informal, non-contractual form of flexible working that blends working from your base location, different MoJ sites and / or from home (please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas). Some roles will not be suitable for Hybrid Working.  Similarly, Hybrid Working will not suit everyone’s circumstances. Arrangements will be discussed and agreed with the successful candidate(s) and subject to regular review.

Regular travel to and from Victoria Square House in Birmingham city centre is required for this post typically 2 days each week. It is therefore expected that the successful candidate lives within a reasonable distance of these sites. 

A base location near or within the region will be allocated to the successful candidate. The post holder is expected to meet their own travel costs to and from their base location. If required to attend a location other than their base location, post-holders may be entitled to claim some or all any extra expense (beyond the usual base location travel costs) in line with the T&S policy.

The successful candidate will be appointed to either one of the locations specified in the advert or, if nearer to their home, an alternative MoJ office location in the region which may include their nearest Justice Collaboration Centre or Justice Satellite Office. This will be discussed and agreed upon completion of pre-employment checks.

Applicants are advised to access the JCC/JSO office map, which is updated whenever a new JCC/JSO site opens, to determine potential travelling times and distances to MoJ locations before applying for a job.

Application Process

To apply please complete the online application form. Applications will be sifted by a panel who will look at the Civil Service Behaviour framework and what is evidenced in your application. Should many applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the lead behaviour, Working Together.

Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to interview. Applicants will be expected to demonstrate the essential role requirements within the application behaviour responses. 

Candidates who are successful following the sift process will be invited to interview, where the behavioural elements and strengths will be tested further alongside other elements of the post. Further details will be provided to shortlisted candidates in advance of the interviews.

Training

The Ministry of Justice is committed to staff development and offers an extensive range of training and development opportunities.

Interview dates: Expected WC 08/04/24

For further information please feel free to contact Matthew Larden: Matthew.Larden@justice.gov.uk

Person specification

Please refer to Job Description

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £39,868, Ministry of Justice contributes £10,804 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.https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

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.