Head of Office - Finance Director

Job summary

Do you have exceptional organisational skills and the ability to manage competing priorities in a fast-paced environment?

Are you a confident communicator who can build strong relationships and provide high-quality support to senior leaders and stakeholders?

If so, we have an exciting opportunity for a Head of Office to join our team at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) and we'd love to hear from you!

We’re looking for an exceptional, highly organised self-starter to lead the Finance Director’s Private Office. This a pivotal, high-profile role at the heart of the Finance Directorate and often the first point of contact for external stakeholders.

It is a fantastic opportunity for someone who thrives on prioritisation, enjoys working collaboratively, and takes pride in delivering a high-quality, professional service. You’ll need strong organisational and communication skills, sound judgement, and the confidence to engage effectively with colleagues at all levels. Strong horizon-scanning and the ability to manage competing priorities will be key to supporting the Director and leadership team.

With plans to expand the scope of the Private Office, this role also offers a unique opportunity to shape and lead the next phase of its development, driving improvements in how the Directorate operates.

Please note for this role that occasional travel to the London office may be required.

Job description

• Prioritising the importance and urgency of work within the team, ensuring services are delivered to a high standard and deadlines met;
• Oversight of the commissioning and delivery of high quality briefing material, ensuring the Director is supported effectively;
• Providing reasoned advice, resilience and support to the Director and other members of the Leadership Team;
• Leading the smooth rhythm of key standing items across the Directorate, including standing SLT meetings, ‘all staff’ engagement and communication activities;
• Effective engagement with other Private Offices, notably the Chief Finance Officer’s private office to ensure senior level alignment on relevant issues, together with key contacts across other departments;
• Actioning ad hoc requests from the Director and other members of the Executive Team as required;
• Line management and personal development of Private Office team members;
• Organisation of events, from strategic planning workshops for small groups to conference style events for c100 attendees.

Person specification

• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to communicate concisely and coherently to a wide variety of audiences including senior leaders.
• Stakeholder engagement, able to build and foster constructive relationships with a wide variety of stakeholders.
• Self-starter, capable of working at pace
• Ability to evaluate complex topics, determine the key priorities and work with others to ensure delivery
• Excellent organisation skills, both in terms of organising information and staying on top of issues, and in terms of logistics for events or meetings.
• Experience of working in a similar environment, with a good awareness of the role of the finance function, and how government departments operate.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £44,004, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £12,747 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 Staff Benefits Scheme, Childcare Vouchers, 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

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: Your covering letter should be no more than 1 page referencing how you meet the criteria set out in the job description.

In your CV and covering letter, please include:
a. why you are interested in the role;
b. how you meet the essential skills and experience required

If you run into any technical problems when applying through Be Applied (for example, trouble logging in or submitting your application), their support team can help. Please contact them at hello@beapplied.com.

If we receive many applications, we may conduct an initial sift using the cover letter. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to interview.

Stage 2: Interview

• Behaviours: Communicating and Influencing, Seeing The Big Picture, Delivering at Pace, Changing and Improving.

• Experience: Experience questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the job description.

Candidates will be asked to a short exercise at the start of the interview, further details will be provided on invitation to interview.

Sift and Interview Dates

Sifting is envisaged to take place the week commencing 22/06.

Interviews are envisaged to take place the week commencing 06/07 and are currently being held remotely via videocall. This could be subject to change.

Disability Confident Scheme (DCS)

We are a Disability Confident employer.

We apply a fair and proportionate interview process for all candidates. In line with our commitment to the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS), we aim to progress candidates who apply under the Disability Confident Scheme and meet the required minimum selection criteria.

However, where high application volumes are received, progression to interview may be limited to those who best meet the role criteria. In these circumstances, the benchmark required to proceed to interview may be raised for all candidates.

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

• Civil Service Code and Recruitment Principles

• CV Declaration

• Sponsorships

• Salary and Grade

• Existing Civil Servants

• Conflict of Interest

• Location and Flexible Working

• Internal Fraud Database

• Appeals and Complaints

• Fixed Term Appointments for:

• External Candidates

• Existing Civil Servants (Including Loans)

• Secondments

• MHCLG employees

Security Clearance Requirements

National Office: +SC

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.

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 : Hannah/Debbie
• Email : jobshare.cahill-walker@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