Finance Data Officer

Job summary

Are you a strong advocate for change and continuous improvement?Are you a self-starter who thrives on learning new skills and taking initiative in a dynamic environment?If so, we have an exciting opportunity for you to join our team at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and we'd love to hear from you!
In MHCLG Finance we are looking to expand our resources and skillset within the data function to continue to improve our data efficiencies within our newly implemented SAP finance system. This role will sit within the Finance directorate, as part of the Finance Process and Data team. You will report to the Finance Data lead and will also work closely and collaboratively with colleagues across other Finance teams together with Digital colleagues.

The successful candidate will contribute to the development and deployment of robust data management frameworks, support the implementation of data governance policies, and utilise analytics tools to deliver actionable insights and support strategic decision-making across the organisation.
The aims of this function are:

• To be responsible for responding to requests for information and ad hoc financial reporting
• To adopt practices to align the finance directorate with the principles of the MHCLG data strategy
• To collaborate across teams in the Unity Cluster to align finance data objects, demonstrate business requirements and share best practices
• To coordinate across internal finance teams to implement processes and reporting for maintaining data quality
• To join up with our reporting improvement plans

Job description

We are advertising for two roles within the finance data function that should expect to have some overlap in responsibilities:

Data and reporting

• Being central point for extracting SAP finance data to respond to parliamentary queries, Freedom of Information enquiries and ad hoc data requests
• Driving continuous improvement and identifying opportunities to enhance data quality in existing business processes aligning to the MHCLG data strategy, Reconciling and reporting on grant expenditure to Cabinet Office and supporting opportunities to innovate the manual processing of grants data collection
• Developing a data catalogue and getting to grips with the way data is structured in SAP to ensure a thorough understanding of the different types of data
• Manipulating data to respond to queries, preparing reports using excel or other appropriate tools.

Unity programme

• Representing MHCLG and communicating the departments finance data requirements across the Unity programme
• Supporting the completion of master data templates against Unity design principles for testing and migration
• Coordinate and monitor data cleansing activity across multiple teams explaining technical aspects to non-technical stakeholders
• Establishing and documenting data management and governance processes adhering to departmental retention schedules
• Working with the teams to ensure the business divisions experience minimal disruption to their day-to-day operations

Person specification

• Confident when working at pace, taking responsibility for your work with little supervision.
• Experience of working in finance or in a data role where you are used to using systems to extract information and are comfortable working with complex datasets.
• A good eye for detail, high level of accuracy and ability to spot inconsistencies.
• Good communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Able to persuade and influence others to bring everyone along together on the change journey.
• Experience of delivering change that is specifically related to corporate processes and ERP systems.
• Hold a recognised Finance qualification or be actively working towards one, or have significant experience in a finance environment.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £41,890, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £12,135 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.At MHCLG we offer many benefits that range from tailored career pathways and flexible working to MyLifestyle Childcare Voucher and Cycle to Work Schemes. For more information, please click here.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

Application and Selection
The application process will be split into 2 stages, testing the following Success Profiles:

Behaviours , Experience , Technical

Please ensure your CV does not contain any personally identifiable information.

Note: We do not consider direct CV applications. All applications must be submitted via the provided application link.

Important: Your CV and Cover Letter must be merged into a single document before uploading.

Stage 1: Sift (CV & Cover Letter)

Experience: Please provide up to a 500-word statement of suitability, describing how you meet the essential criteria, including your relevant experience and skills.

Stage 2: Interview

• Behaviours: Making Effective Decisions, Delivering at Pace, Changing and Improving
• Experience: Experience questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the job description.
• Technical: Technical questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the job description.

Candidates will be asked to prepare a 5-minute presentation, further details will be provided on invitation to interview.

Sift and Interview Dates

Sifting is envisaged to take place the week commencing 16th February 2026.

Interviews are envisaged to take place the week commencing 2nd March 2026 and are currently being held remotely via videocall. This could be subject to change.

How We Recruit

Find out more about our recruitment processes here.

• Applying

• Sifting

• Interview

• Interview Results & Feedback

• Reserve List

• Near Miss

• Civil Service Grades

• We are a DCS, RIS & GPTWV employer

• Reasonable Adjustments

How to Apply

Find out everything you need to know before applying here.

You must review the following information from the MHCLG Career's Site before submitting your application. This step is essential to ensure your eligibility for the role and that your application is completed correctly.

• Security Clearance Requirements

• Civil Service Nationality Requirements

• Right to Work

• Artificial Intelligence

• Civil Service Code and Recruitment Principles

• CV Declaration

• Sponsorships

• Salary and Grade

• Existing Civil Servants

• Conflict of Interest

• Location and Flexible Working

• Fixed Term Contracts

• Internal Fraud Database - Internal Fraud Register

• Appeals and Complaints

• Conflict of Interest

Security Clearance Requirements

National Office:

London Office: + CTC

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 counter-terrorist 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.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Kaldeep Rana
• Email : Kaldeep.Rana2@communities.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@communities.gov.uk

Further information

If you are unsure about any part of the process or require additional information about the post to enable you to progress your application, you should speak to the Resourcing team - recruitment@communities.gov.uk. Candidates can appeal at any stage of the recruitment process if they believe there has been:

a procedural irregularity

an infringement of the Civil Service equal opportunities policy

exceptional circumstances which were not notified to the interview panel which might have affected performance on the day.

It is important to note that these are appeals about the process not the decision. In the first instance, an appeal should be directed to the MHCLG Resourcing Hub at recruitment@communities.gov.uk.

If the MHCLG Resourcing Hub is unable to satisfactorily resolve your complaint, you may contact put your complaint in writing to the Civil Service Commission, Room G8,1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ or by email to: info@csc.gov.uk

Attachments

1a. MHCLG Candidate Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 834kB)1b. Candidate Guidance Opens in new window (pdf, 355kB)1c. Success Profiles Candidate information Opens in new window (pdf, 936kB)Darlington Economic Campus Career Pathways Opens in new window (pdf, 452kB)