About the job

Job summary

The Strategic Finance and Investment Approvals Group sits at the heart of the Ministry of Defence (MOD). The Group leads on financial management, strategic financial planning and control, and approval of a multi-billion pound programme. The group is friendly and supportive, operating a flat structure and empowering our people to the fullest extent possible. We’re a diverse team bringing a mix of policy, finance, strategy and project skillsets, and experience both within national security and a range of other departments.

We are the strategic finance function for the department, bringing financial insight and scrutiny to all areas of the Department’s work. The Group plays a vital role developing strategic financial policy, securing and managing funding to achieve the department’s strategic objectives, and advising MOD Ministers and the Executive Team on financial strategy and financial management.

About the team:

The Defence Spending team leads on engagement with key business areas of Defence – Top Level Budgets (TLBs). These TLBs include RAF, Army, Navy and others. We play a pivotal role in providing strategic financial advice to senior stakeholders, including the Accounting Officer, Executive Team and Ministers and developing strategic financial policy on securing and managing funding for Defence. The team operates in a friendly and collaborative environment, working closely with both civilian and military advisers. The team provides great development opportunities for SEOs through unique exposure to senior stakeholders across Defence.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week. 

Job description

About the roles:

You will be responsible for building and maintaining strong relationships with stakeholders within your TLB(s), gaining a strategic understanding of the financial drivers within their forecasts and their deliverables. The role holder will provide strategic finance advice, guidance and scrutiny, coordinating with all other teams within the Strategic Finance and Investment Approvals Group to provide the overall financial intelligence for your TLB.

This includes feeding insight into both in-year and long-term financial planning assumptions, providing a strategic financial review of business cases and Accounting Officer submissions to identify issues, challenge assumptions and improve outcomes.

These are key roles within the team, leading interesting and challenging work with a lot of opportunity to develop and engage with senior stakeholders. We are an expanding team and would welcome applications from those coming from a policy or strategy background as well as those in finance. It is not essential to have a formal accountancy qualification, but you would need to be comfortable working with financial or spending numbers.

These posts are responsible for:

• Stakeholder engagement: Building an in-depth understanding of your TLB through regular engagement, linking their financial performance to strategic objectives and delivery outcomes. Maintaining a strong understanding of TLB programmes, approvals, efficiencies and deliverables to enable insight and analysis that drives decision making.
• Spending control and challenge: Leading on a range of reviews into TLB finances, including monthly performance reviews and quarterly deep dives, using insight to provide scrutiny to forecasts and writing briefing for seniors when required. Monitoring and supporting the management of financial or delivery risks within in your TLB, escalating significant risks to wider teams. Use your knowledge of your TLBs to provide a strategic review of business case submissions and Accounting Officer Assessments.
• Strategic financial advice: Feed insight on your TLB into the overall departmental position, ensuring that a well-rounded, evidenced view is represented.
• HMT engagement: Negotiating confidently and effectively to both secure funding for Defence priorities and manage the Departmental in-year and future year financial positions effectively.

Person specification

The successful candidates will:

• Work independently, proactively, passionately and confidently on a high-profile area across Defence.
• Have strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to work effectively across functions, teams and Departmental boundaries to influence key stakeholders and provide solutions.
• Be a strategic thinker, with the ability to understand and enable delivery of Departmental priorities, while ensuring affordability and adherence to Managing Public Money principles.
• Have effective communication skills, both oral and written, with the ability to deliver often difficult messages.
• An understanding of Government Finances is desirable.

Qualification

It is desirable, but not essential to hold or be studying towards an accountancy qualification. We are happy to support those already studying towards an accountancy qualification or thinking of studying towards achieving one.

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, Strengths and Experience.

As part of the written application process candidates will be required to submit a CV (max 1 page) and personal statement (max 500 words).

The personal statement should cover your suitability for the role and your motivation for applying for this role (but will not be marked against Civil Service Behaviours). CVs will not be scored.

We’ll also ask for evidence of the following behaviours on your written application form:

• Communicating and Influencing (lead behaviour)
• Leadership

 If we receive a large number of applications, an initial sift will be done on the lead behaviour (Communicating and Influencing).

 If you are invited to interview, you’ll be assessed against the following behaviours:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Leadership
• Making Effective Decisions
• Delivering at Pace

Interviews will be held in person at MoD Main Building, London.

Expected timeline:

Closing date: 2 January 2024

Interviews: w/c 15 January 2024

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.