About the job

Job summary

Navy Command Headquarters (NCHQ) in Whale Island, Portsmouth, is the nerve centre of the Naval Service. It upholds operations around the globe and provides the ships, people, aircraft, and equipment to deliver the UK’s defence policy.

NCHQ supports all the Royal Navy’s activities, from front-line operations to personnel support and training; finance and governance; safety; equipment acquisition; programmes and planning; and Defence Engagement.

Civil servants and Armed Forces personnel work together in a wealth of interesting and challenging jobs in areas ranging from finance; legal services; personnel and HR; project planning and managing contracts, to media and communications.

The vision for the finance function for financial management is: Protecting Value, Driving Value, Adding Value and putting finance at the heart of decision making to support and enable delivery of Defence outputs.
The Deputy Finance Business Partner (DFBP) is a key role in delivering this vision by demonstrating the need for finance, ensuring that the function is included in strategic decision making, with responsibility for building and sustaining the partnership between Finance and the Business. This role forms a key part of the MoD’s Finance Functional Leadership Programme.

The DFBP is the finance professional who ensures that the associated financial and economic implications are considered to protect and drive value enabling Navy Command to deliver against its strategic plan and objectives.

This role requires a wide range of skills and requires the successful candidate to utilise a combined skill set encompassing interpersonal skills, professional skills and technical knowledge. By applying these skills together with their contextual understanding of the business’ strategic goals, plans, performance and risk management, the DFBP will be equipped to provide strategic financial advice and improve the quality of decision-making.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week. 

Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working.  This is a non-contractual arrangement where all office-based employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in office, subject to capacity and any required workplace adjustments. Requirements to attend other locations for official business, or work in another MOD office, will also count towards this level of attendance. Applicants can request further information regarding how this may work in their team from the Vacancy Holder (see advert for contact details). Defence Business Services cannot respond to any questions about working arrangements. 

Job description

This role can offer great job satisfaction and there are many opportunities to develop and progress both within the Department and across the wider Civil Service. 

The successful candidate will be required to:

• Support the business to deliver their outcomes – working collaboratively with the business and other functions to enable the delivery of plans and objectives.
  
• Provide constructive challenge, scrutiny, insight and analysis on financial plans and programmes to ensure ambitions are sustainable, aligned to strategy, maximise value for money and are linked to benefits.
  
• Input into the development of business cases, investment appraisals and proposals identifying and highlighting any potential issues.
  
• Implement Continuous Improvement – proactively seeking opportunities for continuous improvement in the service finance provides by engaging with the Business to prioritise those changes that could add most value.
  
• Act as the bridge between the business and the rest of finance - engaging with the wider business and drawing on the required support from the finance function.
  
• Build effective business engagement – building successful partnerships and managing relationships with both the business leadership and other partners.
  

The post holder may be required to undertake additional responsibilities as expected in relation to the role and grade, including travel to locations across the Defence estate when required.

Person specification

The successful candidate will demonstrate during the application and selection process:

Essential

• Experience in Management and Financial Accounting with good excel skills
• Excellent communication and influencing skills
• Briefing senior stakeholders
• A track record of working with stakeholders to deliver results, and
• Experience in leading a team and managing deliverables

Desirable

• Experience of project management and an understanding of commercial practice in government
• An understanding of financial scrutiny and approval decisions
• Qualifications - qualified, or studying towards CCAB, CIMA or equivalent qualification.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £43,080, Ministry of Defence contributes £11,631 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 and Experience.

This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

This vacancy assesses candidates through Success Profiles, the new recruitment framework used within the Civil Service. Your suitability for the role will be assessed using the Success Profile elements that have been chosen for this campaign.

To apply please complete the advertised CS job application process and submit your CV including relevant skills and a 500-word max personal statement demonstrating how you meet person specification listed.

At interview, you will be assessed against the following Success Profiles Behaviours:

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

We welcome applications from everyone irrespective of gender and ethnic group. Appointment will be based on merit alone.

Sifting will take place once closed. Successful candidates will be contacted to arrange an interview which will take place at Navy Command Headquarters, Portsmouth following Sift. 

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. If you need to advise us that you need additional help or reasonable adjustments for the recruitment process, please contact: DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk . 

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical.  

The role currently being advertised has not been assessed as business critical and is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points based system. Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn. 

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.