Project Finance Business Partner

Job summary

The Insolvency Service is a leading Government agency which plays a crucial role in providing essential services to the public and to business. The work we do is important to the proper functioning of markets, the economy in general and support for thousands of people each year who are in financial difficulty.

Inclusive and diverse teams are important to us. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including groups underrepresented in our workforce. The Insolvency Service strives to ensure that the agency is a safe, inclusive, and welcoming place for everybody to bring their true self to work and to help the agency to achieve its diversity objectives. We have 9 active employee network groups available to join or become an ally, these include, Carers Network, Disability network group, Employee Assistance, Representatives, FACES Network Group, LGBT+, Mind Matters, Part Time Workers, The Shed - Men’s Network Group and Women’s Network Group.

We offer full-time, part-time, job share and flexible ways of working. We value capability, technical skills and experience and we place great emphasis on lifetime development to support our people. We encourage our employees to become more involved in areas they feel strongly about, whether it be for the benefit of the agency, though our Engagement network or in their own local communities via volunteering opportunities.

The Insolvency Service is a great place to work, learn and grow your career!

This is an exciting opportunity for a qualified or final year part-qualified Accountant to join the Insolvency Service as a Project Finance Business Partner (FBP).

Are you looking to step into a high-impact role where your financial expertise will directly shape decision-making? As a Project FBP, you will play a key part in supporting Projects, driving financial rigour and strengthening the Agency’s ability to deliver its strategic objectives.

This is an interesting, varied and rewarding role within an established team of finance professionals.

Job description

The Finance, Commercial, Sustainability and Property (FCSP) Directorate manage, oversee and analyse the Agency’s financial and commercial activity. By reporting on our current position, forecasting our future budgets and working closely with internal and external stakeholders, we play an active part in understanding the agency’s performance and in shaping its current and future financial position.

The role is within the Project & National Interest Case FBP Team which works within the FCSP Directorate and is strategically placed at the heart of the organisation to provide project finance advice to key stakeholders and Senior Leaders across a varied project portfolio.

What do Project FBPs do:

The team supports the organisation in the delivery of change projects (with the NIC Accountant separately helping to administer National Interest Cases) by providing expert financial guidance and reporting. We help the business achieve this by offering robust challenge to achieve realistic financial forecasts, and support with HM Government finance processes. We also provide input to business cases and deliver specific accounting advice to shape commercial decisions.

What we can offer people in the role:

• Qualifications and Training
• • support to complete your professional accountancy qualification if applicable. Please see Person Specification for further details of Qualification requirements of this role
  • support to complete the CIPFA Diploma in Finance Business Partnering
  • opportunity to complete other related training, such as CIPFA Better Business Cases training
• Teamwork
• • team members are encouraged to support each other and work together, for example knowledge-sharing or simply giving time to one another to help overcome challenges
• Autonomy
• • all our team members are encouraged to identify issues and continuously improve ways of working as part of a wider stakeholder group. Over the past year a range of initiatives have been undertaken on the team: a complete overhaul of the project forecast books, the introduction of a team SharePoint site, standardised reports harnessing Power BI, amongst others.
• Working with others. These roles offer a great opportunity to directly work with people outside of Finance. The Project FBPs:
  • act as the Business Expert, utilising their comprehensive knowledge of key business drivers and the wider political environment to continually add value
  • provide constructive challenge to Project team members to ensure financial forecasts are based on robust plans
  • have an influential voice, utilising strong emotional intelligence to influence at the highest level, bring constructive challenge and enhance the quality of decision-making
  • are the businesses Financial Advisors, providing the options for the business to develop by combining their technical knowledge, strategic insight, commercial acumen and an understanding of business risk and opportunity.

Responsibilities:

The successful candidate can expect to be involved in a range of the following:

• Finance Business Partnering
  • be the single point of Finance contact for your stakeholders, fostering excellent working relationships
  • hosting or attending meetings, e.g. monthly forecast review meetings, presenting key finance information at project boards
  • field and reply to finance queries from stakeholders, focussing on delivery outcomes whilst remaining impartial and providing appropriate challenge
  • being a key stakeholder on strategy formation, working collaboratively with stakeholders and Finance colleagues
• Technical and Accounting
  • ensure accounts are reflective of the accruals concept
  • provide auditable and transparent records relating to accounting transactions
  • monitor and address potential issues of novel and contentious spend
  • provide advice around accounting and VAT treatment of transactions, ensuring financial transactions are appropriately recorded
• Business Case Development
  • provide financial input into business case development, working collaboratively with stakeholders to obtain information, challenging assumptions when necessary
  • assessing financial impacts across multiple years, e.g. capitalisation and IFRS16 lease accounting
  • assisting with obtaining necessary internal and external approvals of business cases
• Budgets, Forecasts and Spending Reviews
  • work closely with stakeholders to support them with developing robust financial forecasts, utilising available tools, e.g. resource tracker
  • understand potential under and over spends and areas of financial risk early, reporting and monitoring appropriately
  • provide monthly consolidated returns to stakeholders such as the Management Accounts and Financial Accounts team
  • provide annual budget and spending review returns to the Financial Planning Team, matching these to internal forecasts and applying narrative to support
• Line Management
  • this role may require the line management of a Cost Centre Manager (CCM), undertaking quarterly performance reviews and developing capability
  • oversight of CCM’s Cost Centre and Ledger Management duties relating to transactions and journal processing
  • oversight and support the CCM’s cross-team task
  • provide CCM direction on non-standard reporting requirements, ensuring delivery to stakeholders in a suitable method and reviewable time-frame.

Please note that as this is a Finance role month-end is a critical time, therefore leave for the 1st and 2nd working day of each month can only be approved by exception.

Person specification

• You will have an inquisitive mind and be able to constructively challenge at all levels to achieve the right results
• You are able to keep your own and the team’s efforts focused on the goals that really matter and successfully manage, support and stretch yourself to deliver agreed outcomes by being proactive and taking ownership and accountability for decisions and commitments
• You will have a keen eye for detail and a tenacious approach to your work
• You will have strong analytical and problem solving skills and be able to recognise patterns, trends and draw key conclusions in a wide range of evidence and data
• You will have the ability to build and establish positive relationships with a range of stakeholders to support the delivery of business outcomes and possess good interpersonal skills and communication skills, written and verbal.

Essential Criteria:

You must be a fully qualified current member of a CCAB Accountancy Institute or CIMA, or a part-qualified current member of a CCAB Accountancy Institute or CIMA and within 12 months of achieving full membership.

If the successful candidate is within 12 months of qualifying, they will be committed to completing their studies and log book within a maximum of 12 months of appointment (pro-rated based on exams left to complete).

• Experience in Management or Project Accounting
• Have a strong level of excel skills, with the willingness to enhance further
• Be able to work autonomously without prompt

Desirable Criteria:

• Experience of Power BI
• Experience of Business World

Successful applicants will receive funding towards their final CCAB or CIMA exams if appropriate.

Please note: Expected Office Attendance is 60%, including occasional travel for face-to-face events such as team meetings and training.

Qualifications

You must be a fully qualified current member of a CCAB Accountancy Institute or CIMA, or a part-qualified current member of a CCAB Accountancy Institute or CIMA and within 12 months of achieving full membership.

Technical skills

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

• Short accounting treatment assessment presentation. Details will be provided to candidates who are successful at sift stage.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £48,429, Insolvency Service contributes £14,029 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

We want you to have a good work-life balance and want to support you in all that you do, so we offer a great benefits package including:

• flexible working arrangements and flexi-time
• full time new entrants to the Civil Service and those Civil Servants on modernised terms and conditions will be entitled to 25 days leave increasing on a sliding scale to 30 days after 5 years’ service
• in addition to this you are entitled to 8 public/bank holidays plus an additional day of privilege leave
• competitive maternity, paternity and parental leave
• 5 days paid leave for learning and development
• 5 days paid for volunteering
• a Cycle to work scheme
• staff have access to an employee assistance programme, Workplace Wellness, for confidential, independent support and advice during difficult times in either their professional or personal life

Your pension is a valuable part of your total reward package where the employer makes a significant contribution to the cost of your pension. Your contributions come out of your salary before any tax is taken. This means, if you pay tax, your take-home pay will not be reduced by the full amount of your contribution; and your pension will continue to provide valuable benefits for you and your family if you are too ill to continue to work or die before you retire. For more information, visit www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk

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 Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.

As part of the sift process, you will be asked to complete:

• CV
• Personal Statement

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the Personal Statement, assessing candidates against the essential criteria. Only those who meet the essential criteria at this stage will proceed to a full assessment of their application. If a candidate does not meet the minimum requirements during the initial sift, the remainder of their application will not be reviewed. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to interview.

Your CV should provide a clear overview of your employment history, key responsibilities, relevant qualifications, and the skills and experience you’ve gained throughout your career including any notable achievements.

Note: Your CV will be scored as part of the assessment process and will be assessed against the criteria outlined in the job advert.

Your personal statement should be no more than 750 words and should explain how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role. Please ensure your statement references the essential criteria in the Person Specification, along with any desirable criteria, and details how your skills, qualities and experience align to the Job Description and Responsibilities of the role. This will help provide a clearer basis for scoring and will be particularly useful in the event of tied scores.

If successful at the sift stage, at interview, you will be assessed on the following:

• Experience
• Technical Skills
• Strengths

Expected timeline (subject to change)

Sift – w/c 09/03/2026

Interview – w/c 23/03/2026

Location - MS Teams

Your interview will be conducted by video. You will be notified of this if you are selected for interview. Candidates are asked to note the above timetable, exercising flexibility through the recruitment and selection process.

Visa Applicants

To sponsor a candidate under the Skilled Worker visa, a sponsorship licence is required. The Insolvency Service does not currently hold this licence and therefore, cannot legally sponsor Skilled Worker visa applicants.

Hybrid Working

Insolvency Service operates a hybrid working policy subject to business need, giving people the flexibility to choose when and where they work and collaborate with others.

Individuals are expected to work from one of the office locations stated in the advert to connect with their colleagues, as required by their role and business team needs. There is flexibility to split the working week, spending a minimum of 60% in the workplace, which includes the office, site visits, court etc.

Further Information

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

Any move to Insolvency Service 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; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website.

Reasonable Adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

Contact Government Recruitment Service via InsolvencyRecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section in the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service/Disclosure Scotland on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

For further information on the Disclosure Scotland confidential checking service telephone: the Disclosure Scotland Helpline on 0870 609 6006 and ask to speak to the operations manager in confidence, or email Info@disclosurescotland.co.uk

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.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

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).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 : Sarah Jeffrey
• Email : Sarah.Jeffrey@insolvency.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : InsolvencyRecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Further information

If you feel there have been procedural irregularities at any stage of the recruitment process or that your application has not been treated in accordance with the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles, and wish to make a complaint, then in the first instance you should contact hr.recruitment@insolvency.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive you can then contact the Civil Service Commission.

Attachments

Applying for a Job - A Candidate Guide (1) Opens in new window (pdf, 3061kB)Insolvency Service Candidate Information Pack (Sept 2025) Opens in new window (pdf, 6459kB)