Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) Finance Military Operations Costing Cell Team Leader

Job summary

The Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) is a multi-disciplinary 3* military headquarters that deploys, commands, sustains and recovers UK personnel from current operations around the world.

Within PJHQ, J8 (Finance) works closely with other PJHQ divisions, Strategic Finance and Treasury to cost options and then secure appropriate funding for the Chief of Joint Operations (CJO). We then manage the regular and proper use of budgets and ensure spend can be properly accounted for.

The Costing Cell sits at the heart of the J8 financial process, responsible for the initial costing of options by working with a wide range of stakeholders to understand planning assumptions and calculate associated costs. The J8 Costing Cell also leads on the division response to crisis (e.g. Humanitarian Assistance Disaster Relief (HADR) response), attending any crisis meetings and providing financial advice and costings to support the response.

This position is advertised at 37 hours per week.

MOD Hybrid Working Policy requires colleagues to work at their post location, or other office locations according to business needs, for an average of 60% of working hours. This is particularly relevant as the post holder will need to access IT systems and attend meetings not available when working remotely. Please consider whether you can meet this requirement before applying for this role.

There are occasions where out of hours or weekend work may be required, with individuals compensated with time off or paid overtime.

Job description

Lead the J8 Costing Cell by:

• Promoting visibility of the team and encouraging Divisions to engage early if they have likely costing requirements.

• Producing detailed costings for an activity on request, within the required timescale given, ensuring that costs provided are realistic and requirement owners are fully aware of any limitations or risks associated with the costs provided.

• Liaising with relevant divisions and Commands to obtain the correct level of information to support costings.

• Support the development of Financial Review / Approval Notes, ensuring they capture all known planned spend and represent value for money.

• Attend relevant meetings to understand costing requirements and associated assumptions.

• Drive improvements to the costing process, including developing improved way to capture planning assumptions and present costs including risks.

• Develop options for aligning costing process with IYM and forecasting.

Lead on J8 Crisis Response / Contingent Operations by:

• Review contingency plans on a regular basis to ensure all financial assumptions and costings are up to date.

• Providing financial guidance during the planning response process including liaising with Head Office to identify appropriate funding source.

• Producing detailed costings for planned responses.

• Scrutinising financial requests and providing guidance where needed.

• Liaising with relevant lead authority (if not PJHQ) to oversee associated expenditure ensuring costs are captured and managed appropriately.

• Reporting on final costs of crisis response and where required prepare invoice for charging costs back to other government departments as required.

Provide wider support across the division and drive forward change and improvements to the following cross-cutting areas:

• Manage J8 funding tracker, tracking the status of costings, approvals, leads and values.

• Oversee the management of Salary Misbookings and Allowances across operations, liaising with J8 desk officers and relevant FLCs to ensure they are accounted for correctly.

Deliver financial scrutiny of expenditure proposals by:

• Ensuring financial scrutiny of expenditure proposals is carried out against the basic criteria of minimum military requirement, propriety, regularity, affordability, and value for money and is compliant with MOD policy and guidelines.

• Assess spend proposals against expenditure plans to ensure that unplanned spend can be accommodated within allocated budgets.

Manage allocation of costing tasks between Costing Cell team members.

Undertake line management, mentoring and countersigning tasks as required by the role. This role has 2 direct reports.

Person specification

Essential

The ideal candidate will be very well organised and a strong communicator, who is able to quickly build good working relationships with a variety of stakeholders within the organisation and externally, use their initiative to solve problems and can deal with a wide range of people.

Job holders need to be familiar with a number of finance specialisations including forecasting, financial planning, governance, requirement scrutiny and transactional processes (invoice payments, accruals, prepayments etc.).

The role requires a high standard of IT skills including the use of Excel and Word and a familiarity with Oracle-based systems.

Successful applicants will be expected to be in Northwood on a regular basis. Given the nature of operational requirements, access to classified IT systems and attendance at in person meetings will necessitate time in the office of at least 60% of the week and potentially more as required by business needs.

Desirable

Finance qualification Level 4 e.g. AAT or Certificate Level CCAB/CIMA – either working towards or qualified

There is potential for the post holder to periodically visit operational theatres to conduct assurance checks, with the possibility of observing operational activity first-hand. This would be subject to successful completion of training and a medical.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Leadership
• Changing and Improving
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £46,040, Ministry of Defence contributes £13,337 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Benefits for MOD civil servants include, but are not limited to:

• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 28.97%
• 25 days paid annual leave rising to 30 days on completion of 5 years’ service
• In addition to 8 public holidays per year you will also receive leave for HM The King’s birthday
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and adoption leave
• Special Paid Leave to volunteer up to 5 days a year
• Eligibility for employee discount services
• Gym access
• Café and shop on site

Learning & Development

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• Professional and Personal Development of skills
• Access to thousands of training courses through Civil Service Learning, some free or paid by MOD
• Potential to undertake or continue formal finance qualifications such as AAT/CIMA.

Part-time will only be considered provided full time hours can be covered.

Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and working from home as part of a non-contractual hybrid working arrangement. All office-based employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in office, subject to site capacity and any required workplace adjustments. Requirements to attend other locations for official business, or work in another MOD workplace, will also count towards this level of office attendance. Applicants can request further information regarding how this and other flexible working arrangements 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.

The post does not offer relocation expenses.

External recruits who join the MOD who are new to the Civil Service will be subject to a six-month probation period.

Please Note: Expenses incurred for travel to interviews will not be reimbursed.

Please be advised that the Department is conducting a review of all pay related allowances which could impact on those allowances that the post currently being advertised attracts.

Any move to MOD from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.

The Ministry of Defence is committed to providing a safe and healthy working environment for its staff which includes educating them on the benefits of not smoking, protecting them from the harmful effects of second-hand smoke and supporting those who want to give up smoking. Under the Smoke-Free Working Environment policy, Smoking and the use of all tobacco products (including combustible and chewing tobacco products) will not be permitted anywhere in the Defence working environment however some exemptions are in place, please refer to local guidance. The policy is Whole Force and includes all Defence personnel, contractors, visitors and other non-MOD personnel. All applicants seeking, considering, or accepting employment with the Ministry of Defence should be aware of this policy and that it is already in place at a number of Defence Establishments.

MOD Recruitment Satisfaction Survey – We may contact you regarding your experience to help us improve our customer satisfaction. The survey is voluntary and anonymous. You may however be given the opportunity to provide additional information to help us improve our service which includes the collection of some personal data as defined by the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The MOD Privacy Policy Notice sets out how we will use your personal data and your rights.

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

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

At Sift,

Candidates will be required to complete an online application, which will include a CV (including job history, details of qualifications and previous experiences and skills)

Candidates will be required to provide a Personal Statement. (500 Words)

In the event of a high number of applicants, the sift will be performed solely on the CV element.

At interview,

Candidates selected for interview will be required to explain/discuss examples of their experience, against the following Civil Service Success Profile Behaviours:

• Leadership
• Changing and Improving
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Please Note due to security constraints this vacancy is only open to sole UK Nationals Only.

Further Information:

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 in to 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. This role does not meet that category and we will not sponsor a visa. It 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.

The Ministry of Defence requires all candidates who are successful at interview to declare any outside interests. These declarations will be discussed with successful candidates following the interview process and before a formal offer of employment is made, as some outside interests may not be compatible with MOD civilian roles. This will not, in the majority of cases, prevent employment in MOD, but it is a measure that must be taken to ensure that appropriate mitigations can be put in place to manage any potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest from the first day of employment.

The Ministry of Defence adopts a zero-tolerance approach to unacceptable behaviours, which includes bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and victimisation. You will not be eligible and will not be considered for this post if you have been dismissed from a role for such unacceptable behaviours within the last five years. This will also apply if you resign or otherwise leave a role but, because of an adverse decision, would have been dismissed for gross misconduct had you continued in that employment. Pre-employment checks will be carried out.

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 developed vetting (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

Open to UK nationals only.

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

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.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 : Steve Watts
• Email : steve.watts805@mod.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : DBSCivPers-Resourcingteam3@mod.gov.uk

Further information

Please ensure you read the attached candidate information document prior to completing your application. If you are dissatisfied with the service you have received from DBS, or believe that DBS has failed to follow the recruitment process in line with the Civil Service Commission principles of selection for appointment on merit on the basis of Fair and Open competition, you can raise a formal complaint by writing to DBS at the following address: Defence Business Services, Scanning Hub, Room 6124, Tomlinson House, Norcross Lane, Blackpool, FY5 3WP. If after raising your complaint with DBS you remain dissatisfied you can complain directly to the Civil Service Commission at the following address: Civil Service commission, Room G/8, 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ Or by email: info@csc.gov.uk.

Attachments

20250919-CSOC Candidate Information Pack V8-Accessibility-O Opens in new window (pdf, 416kB)Candidate Information Opens in new window (docx, 32kB)Defence Internal Brief notice Opens in new window (docx, 43kB)Defence Civil Service Offer Opens in new window (pdf, 1562kB)