About the job

Job summary

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) was created following the Prime Minister’s announcement on 7th February 2023. It is the Department for economic growth and support businesses to invest, grow and export, creating jobs and opportunities across the country. 

DBT’s scope is unique, and you would be working for a team responsible for establishing the finance function and ensuring business continuity across all aspects of finance, including financial management, financial reporting, internal controls, financial governance, business processes and systems.

Financial Accounting, Reporting and Control Team (FARCT) lead on the production of DBT’s financial accounts, DBT’s relationship with the National Audit Office (NAO), HMRC and providing advice on compliance with HM Treasury and Cabinet Office controls. The team are critical in establishing and embedding high quality financial accounting controls practices and processes in DBT, within and beyond the Finance team.

FARCT plays a critical role within the Department’s Finance and Business Services Directorate with responsibility for ensuring compliance with financial standards and best practice, delivery of statutory reporting, oversight of key financial controls, VAT compliance, cash management. It is a high-profile team which also provides advice on the accounting, budgetary and tax implications of new projects and programmes.  

The positions, which report to Senior Financial Accountants, will be expected to be flexible to take on varying roles in the team and will be exposed to all aspects of the Department’s financial accounting and reporting. You will be required to share your financial accounting expertise with stakeholders across the department and contribute to the assessment of business cases and investment decisions, to ensure both financial accounting and budgeting implications are clearly understood. 

FARCT are looking for five outstanding, self-driven and enthusiastic finance professionals with the required experience, skills, and personal qualities.

Job description

Responsibilities of the team:

• Overall primary objective is to deliver the Annual Report and Accounts (ARA) and completion of the interim and final audit exercises each year.
• Financial Reporting: Production of the Departmental Group accounts, consolidating over 19 partner organisations with the Core Department. Provide expert accounting advice and information used to inform key decisions to wider finance teams within the Department and partner organisations stakeholder management.
• Financial Accounting: Maintain the integrity of the Core Department’s ledger, working across teams to ensure that the Department group accounts are prepared and provide accounting and technical advice to the wider Department.

Key Responsibilities:

• Managing and quality assuring financial and non-financial information submissions, collected through the commissioning process at interim and year-end.
• Contribute to the group consolidation, production of key statutory financial reports (including Whole of Government Accounts – WGA) and notes to the accounts.
• Collaborating and working with the wider finance community, and over 19 external partner organisations to mitigate accounting risks so that the Departmental Accounts are free of material errors.
• Building relationships and working closely with the audit (NAO, GIAA) team, managing the audit timetable, provision of audit evidence and sample requests to ensure successful laying of the accounts.
• Managing the Client Liaison Schedule and overall accounts production timetable in line with group and parliamentary timescales.
• Providing accounting advice under International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM) guidance to a variety of partners around the Department.
• Supporting the Senior Financial Accountant as an advisor for accounting matters (e.g., GL discrepancies) and making sure that all known accounting issues are dealt with in a timely and planned manner.
• Preparing accounts and financial statements for DBT minor bodies.
• Driving improvements to the accounts production process to ensure the Department’s accounts achieve best practice in complying with all current accounting and legal reporting obligations.
• Line management of HEO grade staff.

Cash management:

• Managing DBT’s process for forecasting cash inflows & outflows and working with UK SBS in managing DBT’s bank accounts reporting daily and monthly on Oscar – HM Treasury system.
• Work closely with our shared services (i.e., UK SBS) on the day-to-day management of the Departments cash & banking.
• Liaising with teams across DBT around the timing of their large payments and receipts.
• Liaising with DBT’s shared services provider over daily payment runs and critical, emergency, and foreign payments, and the monthly departmental cashflow forecast to HM Treasury.
• Forecasting and monitoring receipts and refunds/repayments for Consolidated Fund Extra Receipts income streams.
• Liaison with Government Banking Service (GBS) and HMT cash management team and ensuring that the cash regulations are always adhered to.
• Working with partner organisations on cash and banking matters.
• Work with the senior management to develop and maintain the cash management policy/guidance.

Person specification

• A credible and authentic leader, with the ability to communicate, engage and motivate people to deliver results
• A dynamic, self- starter, with great attention to technical details and sound knowledge of public sector accounting
• Experience of working to tight timelines
• Excellent communication skills to build strong working relationships at all levels across the DBT family
• You will be passionate about great public services and delivering on the DBT objectives
• Have a strong accounting background
• A CCAB qualification, with significant financial experience and focus on producing financial accounts and information through innovative solutions and application of IFRS
• Driven, collaborative colleague, with good attention to detail. Able and willing to make difficult decisions and stand by them
• Able to identify areas for improvement and take action to make appropriate and successful changes
• Experience of working to tight deadlines and demonstrate the confidence, composure and credibility needed to challenge the way activities are delivered
• Strong problem solver
• Effective communication skills
• Strong technical accounting skills
• Excellent Leadership and project management skills
• Ability to work collaboratively across teams

Essential criteria

• Fully or part qualified accountant - CCAB (e.g., ACCA, ACA, CIPFA or CIMA) and If part qualified, you must be actively studying towards completing the accountancy qualification.

• Ability to build trusting relationships with various stakeholders and work towards influencing them.

• Experience of financial management and transactions, forecasting and budgeting.

• Good written and verbal communication skills, including experience of communicating financial performance and management information to non-financial audiences.

• Excellent Excel and presentation skills.

• Experience of external audit cycles in Central Government / public sector set of accounts or private sector organisation.

• Experience of Group Accounts consolidation and producing financial statements in a complex organisation within or outside of government and making sound accounting judgements.

• Strong accounting skills (e.g. IFRS Application ability to accurately create accounting journals, identify the audit evidence required to support a transaction and perform General Ledger (GL) reconciliations).

• Experience of using different Group Accounts preparation and consolidation systems e.g., Oracle Financials, EPM, CDM or similar systems.

• Ability to work flexibly and respond positively to changing business needs.

Desirable criteria

• Experience of government accounting regulations i.e., FReM and Managing Public Money.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £39,384, Department for Business and Trade contributes £10,633 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.

Interviews for this vacancy will be conducted virtually. We will, however, consider in-person interviews by exception.

Please ensure that you check your emails regularly as all updates from us will be sent to you this way.

It is likely that the sift will take place 1-2 weeks after the closing date and interviews 3-5 weeks after the closing date though this is subject to change. 

To apply for this post, you will be asked to complete the following as part of the online application:

1. A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Provide employment history that relates to the essential criteria, and that any gaps in employment history within the last 2 years are explained. The CV should not exceed more than 2 x A4 pages.
2. A Personal Statement of up to 750 words. Explain how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role in reference to the job description.

In the event of a large number of applicants, an initial short sift will be conducted on the Personal Statement.

Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

Reasonable Adjustments

We are committed to supporting candidates so they can perform at their best throughout the recruitment process. This includes making reasonable adjustments to our process. In order to request an adjustment: 

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section on the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. 

Alternatively contact the Government Recruitment Service at DBTrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.  

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

Candidate Support

You may want to join a virtual Candidate Support Session. These sessions include helpful tips and advice on the recruitment process, from application to interview.  

Please see attached Candidate Pack for further information on: Diversity and Inclusion; Benefits; Learning and Development; Working Patterns and what we deliver as a department. 

Further Information:

Existing Civil Servants and applicants from accredited NDPBs are eligible to apply, but will only be considered on loan basis (Civil Servants) or secondment (accredited NDPBs). Prior agreement to be released on a loan basis must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return.

• A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made. Reserve Lists will be for each location and appointments made in merit order based on location preferences.   
• Any move to the Department for Business and Trade from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments.
• The Department will not consider sponsoring a visa or issuing a Certificate of Sponsorship. We are unable to offer advice on any Visa and Immigration cases.  
• New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.  
• Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty. Any applicant who has details held on the IFD will be refused employment.   
• A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.  
• Terms and Conditions are attached.  Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.
• Please note – the successful candidate will be expected to remain in post for a minimum of 18 months before being released for another role.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service /Disclosure Scotland/Access NI on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading. 

For further information on the Disclosure Scotland confidential checking service telephone: the Disclosure Scotland Helpline on 0870 609 6006 and ask to speak to the operations manager in confidence, or email Info@disclosurescotland.co.uk 

For further information on the Access NI confidential checking service telephone: the Access NI Helpline on 0300 200 7888 and ask to speak to the operations manager in confidence, or email accessni@ani.x.gsi.gov.uk 

Vetting

The requirement for SC clearance is to have been present in the UK for at least 3 of the last 5 years. Failure to meet the residency requirements will result in your security clearance application being rejected.   

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the following page https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/demystifying-vetting

Feedback

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. 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.