About the job

Job summary

 

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As part of HMRC Finance Operations, the Tax Accounts team play a crucial role in providing both Financial and Management information across all areas of HMRC.  We accounted for over £814 billion of tax revenue in 2022-23. The team has responsibility for production and assurance of all HMRC Tax Accounts. These include the Trust Statement (TS), National Insurance Fund (NIF) accounts for Great Britain (GB) and Northern Ireland (NI), the Isle of Man (IoM) accounts, the Whole of Government Accounts (WGA), monthly in-year tax management accounts, and the financial statements for the European Commission.

See what it’s like to work at HMRC: find out more about us or ask our colleagues a question. Questions relating to an individual application must be emailed as detailed later in this advert.

Job description

You’ll be leading a small team to produce the annual NIF accounts and related Government submissions. 

Working alongside key partners both within HMRC and other Government Departments (OGDs) you’ll be working to ensure that key controls, risks and issues are properly managed, and the National Insurance Fund is governed effectively.

Your office location is contractual so if you are successful, there is an expectation that you will attend that office location as required by the business. You need to consider how you will meet this requirement before you apply and discuss any concerns with the vacancy holder before accepting any role.

Person specification

As our Financial Accountant, some of your responsibilities will be: 

• Produce Financial Accounts to agreed timetables and the quality expected by the National Audit Office (NAO).
• Communicating with, and maintaining a good working relationship with a wide range of partners across the business.
• Working across the business to ensure that any recommendations from NAO auditors are dealt with in a timely and effective manner.
• Provide timely and helpful professional advice on accounting issues.
• Ensure that all regulatory and statutory requirements are met and HMRC policies and procedures are adhered to.
• Maintain a detailed overview of account production processes and data flows relevant to the tax accounts and monitor any areas of risk identified.
• Work alongside and assist other Finance professionals helping to resolve problems and covering workloads when required.

Essential Criteria 

• Qualified through one of the following six bodies or studying towards such a qualification: ACCA, CIMA, CIFPA, ICAEW, ICAI or ICAS (note - consideration will be made to those who are committed to studying and expect to complete the qualification within the next 2 years).
• Experience in preparing financial statements.
• Team leadership and planning skills.
• Effective verbal and written communication skills.
• Experience in financial data analysis and proficient in the use of Microsoft Excel.

Desirable Criteria 

• Experience of using modern accounting IT systems.

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%

Find more about HMRC benefits in 'Your little extras and big benefits handbook' for further information or visit Thinking of joining the Civil Service.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a name blind CV and, a 750-word Personal Statement. 

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Your CV and personal statement should be aligned to the person specification within the advert and the Specialist Knowledge & Experience within the role profile. 

Your CV is for information purposes only and will not be scored.

Your personal statement should explain how you meet the essential criteria for the role, formatted in the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) layout, so that we can clearly see what you did and what the outcome was.

Please note that your application may be rejected if you exceed the word counts as specified.

Sift

The sift will be carried out against the Personal Statement, with the successful candidates being invited to interview.

Interview

During the panel interview, your experience will be assessed, and you will be asked questions based on the behaviours listed in the advert, to explore in detail what you are capable of.

Technical elements will also be assessed at interview:

• Knowledge of Accounting Standards
• Ability to communicate technical accounting concepts clearly and concisely

Interviews will take place Face to Face.

We reserve the right to raise the score required at any stage of the process in order to manage numbers.

Interview dates to be confirmed.

A reserve list may be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made for the same or similar roles – if this applies to you, we’ll let you know via your Civil Service Jobs account.

Eligibility

To check that you are eligible to apply, review this eligibility information

Important information for existing HMRC contractual homeworkers

This role may be suitable for existing HMRC employees who are contractual homeworkers. Occasional attendance to the office will be required where there is a business need, so please review the advertised office locations for this role when applying and only select locations from the ‘location preferences’ section that you are able to travel to.  

Reasonable Adjustments 

We want to make sure no one is put at a disadvantage during our recruitment process because of a disability, condition, or impairment. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate. 

If you need a reasonable adjustment or a change to be made so that you can make your application, review this information on reasonable adjustments, and contact hmrcrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible.

Diversity and Inclusion

At HMRC we are committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues and creating an inclusive and respectful environment that reflects the diversity of the society we serve.

Diverse perspectives and experiences are critical to our success and we welcome applications from all people from all backgrounds with the experience and skills needed to perform this role. We’re committed to creating a great place to work for all our colleagues here at HMRC. We want everyone to feel valued and supported to achieve their potential at HMRC.

For more information on how we make this happen, review this information on our culture and values

Applications received from candidates with a criminal record are considered fairly in accordance with the DBS Code of Practice and the Recruitment of ex-offenders Policy.

We welcome applications from those who need to work a more flexible arrangement and will agree to requests where possible after considering operational and customer service needs. We can’t guarantee that we can meet all requests to work flexibly, as agreement will be subject to business ability to accommodate, and any request to work a more flexible arrangement should be made prior to your acceptance of the provisional offer.

Customer facing roles in HMRC require the ability to converse at ease with members of the public and provide advice in accurate spoken English and/or Welsh where required. Where this is an essential requirement, this will be tested as part of the selection process. 

The Civil Service runs 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. 

Locations 

HMRC has a presence in every region of the UK. For more information on where you might be working, review this information on our locations.

Security Update

For more information on the level of security checks we will carry out, review this information on security checks 

Further Information

The Civil Service values honesty and integrity and expects all candidates to abide by these principles. The evidence you provide in your application must relate to your own experiences.

Any instances of plagiarism or other forms of cheating will be investigated and, if proven, the relevant application/s will be withdrawn from the process. 

Duplicate applications for the same vacancy will also be withdrawn.

Transferring into HMRC from Civil Service If you are currently working for an ‘Other Government Department’ (OGD) and would like to consider the impact on your pay when joining HMRC, please see the attached document "Combined T&C and OGD Pay English”, found at the bottom of this advert. Further information on staff transfers can be found on gov.uk

Problems during the application process 

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

If you think you’ve made a mistake on a short application form (e.g. you’ve ticked the incorrect eligibility box), please contact hmrcrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk at least two working days before the vacancy closes. After this, we won’t be able to reopen your application.   

Please use the subject line to insert appropriate wording e.g. Please re-open my application - 342614 & vacancy closing date 15/03/24. Please note that we cannot amend or re-open your application if you have submitted your full application in the interests of fair and open recruitment.

For reasonable adjustments queries or requests, please see details within reasonable adjustments section above.

     

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. 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.