Senior Finance Business Partner ( 3553)

Job summary

Do you have excellent attention to detail, strong analytical capabilities and experience of working in a finance team? If the answers to the above are yes, then this exciting opportunity could be for you.

This post is embedded in the National Records of Scotland (NRS) Finance Team, part of the Corporate Services Directorate. This role offers a unique opportunity to work with a broad range of internal and external stakeholders, including NRS Senior Management and Budget Managers, to ensure the delivery of value for money outcomes.

This post is important in providing the necessary support and advice, building strong relationships with customers to support the Scottish Government’s and NRS overall purpose. The post holder will need a proactive and flexible approach to ensure that key strategic priorities are met.

The post holder will work directly to the Programme Finance Lead.

Job description

• Support initiatives to ensure NRS recovers costs for services through fees and charges in a compliant and cost-effective manner, and, where appropriate, supporting commercial ventures.
• Lead on our financial management, initially specifically income management: revenue budget and forecast, production of the monthly management accounts and investigate and report on significant variances, recommend remedial actions required to deliver a balanced financial position and monitor the implementation of these actions.

• Support effective financial management by providing finance and business support to the Corporate Finance Lead and Programme Finance Lead, as well as providing specialist advice to senior managers and budget holders by on key financial information, including on costing / pricing NRS services.

• Supporting the production and publication of the NRS Annual Report and Accounts, ensuring compliance with the relevant accounting policies and engagement with the external auditors.

• Proactively identify efficiencies in systems and processes, ensuring that financial controls are adequate and continually improving in order to contribute to the delivery of value for money outcomes.

• Line management and mentoring of staff ensuring they have the support, knowledge and skills to carry out their roles effectively.

• Ensure guidance, regulation and legislation is adhered to, including the Scottish Public Finance Manual (SPFM) and the UK Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM). Reviewing procedures, implementing auditors’ recommendations and providing effective support and delegation of responsibilities and tasks to staff in this area.

• Work flexibly across the Finance Team, taking on a range of other work as required to ensure that priorities are met.

Person specification

Qualifications

The successful candidate must be fully CCAB qualified (or equivalent) with up-to-date CPD.

Please note: If you fail to demonstrate how you meet the minimum qualifications as stated above, your application will be automatically sifted out.

Success profileSuccess profiles are specific to each job and they include the mix of skills, experience and behaviours candidates will be assessed on. The Success Profile will include the Professional / Technical skills, Experience and Behaviours. Technical / Professional Skills:

1. Budgeting, Forecasting and Costing - Practitioner Level
2. Understanding of International Accounting Standards - Working Level
3. Government Financial Management - Practitioner Level
4. Working with Data in Finance - Practitioner Level

You can find out more about the skills required, here: Experience

1. Strong financial management experience with the ability to identify, generate and interrogate financial data to support decision making, including in relation to costing / pricing.
2. Ability to interpret non-financial information to inform financial decision making, including regulatory and standards.
3. Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with a proven ability to explain financial information clearly and concisely, influencing key stakeholders and maintaining strong working relationships.
4. Evidence of people management and interpersonal skills, being credible with staff, creating conditions to build confident and effective teams.

Behaviours:

1. Making Effective Decisions (Level 3)
2. Delivering at Pace (Level 3)

Find out more about Success Profiles: Civil Service behaviours - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Qualifications

The successful candidate must be fully CCAB qualified (or equivalent) with up-to-date CPD.

Please note: If you fail to demonstrate how you meet the minimum qualifications as stated above, your application will be automatically sifted out.

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Delivering at Pace

Technical skills

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

• Budgeting, Forecasting and Costing - Practitioner Level
• Understanding of International Accounting Standards - Working Level
• Government Financial Management - Practitioner Level
• Working with Data in Finance - Practitioner Level

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £49,401, Scottish Government contributes £14,311 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

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, Experience and Technical skills.How to applyApply online, providing a CV and Supporting Statement (of no more than 1500 words) which provides evidence of how you meet the skills, experience and behaviours listed in the Success Profile above.
If invited for further assessment, this will consist of an interview and a short presentation.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools can be used to support your application, but all statements and examples 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, and presented as your own) applications will be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.

Please see our candidate guidance for more information on acceptable and unacceptable uses of AI in recruitment.

Assessments are scheduled for May 2026, however this may be subject to change.

Recruitment Principles
As a government organisation, we adhere to the Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles and we investigate any complaints received in relation to recruitment cases.

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.

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 : Josh Mccreary
• Email : Josh.Mccreary@nrscotland.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : scottishgovernmentrecruitment@gov.scot