About the job

Job summary

This position is based Nationally.

Job description

Directorate: HMCTS Finance, Governance and Performance

Grade:         EO

Location:     National at any HMCTS Site

Based on current ways of working, work location is likely to be a combination of working from home and from the office. 60% of your working week will need to be in the office. This role requires regular travel to London and other sites, and overnight stays where necessary.

About us

HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is responsible for the administration of criminal, civil and family courts and tribunals in England and Wales. Our roles support our service users and colleagues, where people and businesses access potentially life-changing justice.  We’re looking for individuals who are committed to public service and want to make a difference in people’s lives in delivering justice. If you’re interested in developing a career with a real purpose, please apply.

Background:

We have ambitious plans in place to transform the services we offer to users of the justice system; the government are investing funds across our change programmes which will modernise the court estate, update and replace its technology, speed up and streamline working practices, refurbish buildings to reduce maintenance costs and provide much improved services for users.

The HMCTS Finance, Governance and Performance function will have a pivotal role in supporting senior stakeholders and their teams through the change, with the right strategy to build the necessary organisational capability and to realise the benefits nee

About the role

Our purpose is to provide crucial support to colleagues across HMCTS, so that everyday services can be maintained. Regardless of which role you are in, customer service is at the core of everything we do. With significant changes taking place across HMCTS, there has never been a better opportunity for us to make real improvements to the services we provide – something I invite you to be part of.

Your role in the Management Accounts Team (MAT) will be to support the administration of the month end reporting cycle, ensuring timely, fit-for-purpose products. You will be required to work with other finance and operational colleagues to support all relevant finance processes and delivery of information. You will also play a key role in supporting, developing, and improving a range of transaction processes and reports to ensure that postings to the HMCTS accounts are accurate and robust. 

Successful candidates will have access to extensive professional development resources as part of the Government Finance community.  

Your role as Finance Officer encompasses several key aspects (but not limited to):

• Supporting the preparation of month end accounts and providing narrative for their interpretation and presentation.
• Providing analysis and assurance on the integrity of transactions in the general ledger and month end accounts.
• Preparing journals, ensuring they are posted in accordance with policy and procedure and in line with the correct accounting treatment of transactions.
• Ensuring effective controls and procedures are in place to maintain the accuracy of the data in our financial systems, for your area.
• Monitoring team inbox ensuring enquiries are answered in a timely manner and prioritising enquiries escalated to you to achieve a quick solution.

Please see the attached role profile for the key responsibilities regarding the role and for a comprehensive overview of the position.

What are we looking for? (Person Specification)

The ideal candidate for this position should demonstrate:

Essential skills/expertise:

• The ability to deliver a quality customer service; organised to ensure service delivery objectives are met and be flexible to meet tight deadlines.
• The ability to develop effective working relationships with a range of stakeholders to support delivery of business outcomes. Working with remote colleagues as part of a team.
• Excellent communications skills: both written and verbal tasks.
• Adaptable and willing, with the ability to work in a culture of change; continually improving (products, processes, and priorities) to meet the current and future needs of the organisation.

Desirable criteria:

• Knowledge of month-end activities that feed into the financial accounts.
• Good IT skills (particularly Excel and PowerBi).
• Knowledge of using Oracle Financials (Hyperion) and Smartview.
• Knowledge of HMCTS and its business.
• AAT, or equivalent, or the ability to evidence financial experience.

For successful candidates without finance experience, full training will be provided.  There may also be an opportunity to study towards finance qualifications.

Further details

Location of post:

The post-holder can be based at any of our HMCTS sites, and travel to other HMCTS sites may also be required as part of these working arrangements.

You are expected to work from an office 60% of the week.

If you have any queries about the role, or wish to discuss, please contact Victoria.Sexton@justice.gov.uk

About our benefits

We reward our people for their hard work and commitment. We have a number of family friendly and flexible working polices that will help you achieve a healthy work-life balance.

In addition, we offer a range of employee benefits which include generous annual leave, a highly competitive contributory pension scheme, childcare benefits, season ticket and bicycle loans.

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.

Proud to Serve. Proud to keep justice going.

Person specification

Please refer to job description.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £27,223, HM Courts and Tribunals Service contributes £7,377 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.