Senior Finance Business Partner -­ Corporate Services

Job summary

The Senior Finance Business Partner for Corporate Services manages a team that provides professional financial advice to the DG and Directors of Corporate Services in delivery of their objectives. It has a key role in supporting the DG in managing the Group's spending within budget while supporting longer ­term financial planning and business case development. The role also supports both IBCA and Digital ID, two of the higher priorities for the department.

Job description

Responsibilities of the role:

• Leadership: setting direction, building an identity and sense of community across the team, and ensuring that finance is seen as an enabler to the business
• Supporting Directors General, Directors and budget holders in delivering Cabinet Office priorities in an effective and efficient way
• Building excellent working relationships with other teams in finance and corporate services
• Engage early in pipeline reviews and policy development, whilst providing the investment appraisal of business cases.
• Work closely with senior commercial colleagues and representing Finance on boards to shape decision making and supporting on financial aspects of the programme’s delivery cycle.
• Identify and communicate potential opportunities and risks to enable leadership to make decisions around investments and continuous improvements.
• Seeking opportunities to lead and drive change across teams
• Support the Directorate on strategic finance exercises, for example, business planning, resource allocation and workforce planning.
• Building a comprehensive understanding of the business areas in scope of the role, taking into account the short, medium and long­ term vision for the business and how it relates to the wider department and whole of government
• Supporting budget holders in the business in their decision making process, acting as a core part of their management teams, supporting the delivery of their business objectives, understanding the cost drivers of the business area, providing independent advice based on robust financial analysis, helping to prioritise resources effectively and helping them to manage risks and opportunities
• Supporting individuals in their professional development and career planning, qualifications and playing a key role in talent management across the finance function (working closely with the Head of Finance Profession and across government)

Person specification

Essential Criteria

• Experience or a demonstrable passion and understanding of finance business partnering
• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills, including experience of advising and influencing at senior levels, ideally in a finance role
• A passion for building high performing, diverse and inclusive teams where everyone can bring their best performance
• Proven leadership in a matrix organisation while fostering a culture of respect, honesty and reliability
• Proven ability to build excellent working relationships with a very wide range of stakeholders in a complex organisation by demonstrating an ability to understand the organisation and its challenges
• Excellent analytical skills and the ability to use these skills to deliver insight
• Experience of financial control and governance in a large public or private sector organisation
• Ability to provide commercial insight and understanding, working with the commercial function in a constructive way
• Excellent technical accounting skills across a wide range of financial disciplines and a proven ability
  to apply them effectively.
• Strong Excel and data analysis skills combined with a clear understanding of how this should be applied for the benefit of the organization.
• Knowledge of government finance and fiscal events such as spending reviews.

Key skills:

• Business partnering experience
• Gives advice and guidance
• Listening skills
• Negotiation skills
• Presentation skills
• Relationship management
• Remains calm under pressure
• Self developing and enabling
• Strategic thinking
• Team working
• Understanding and explaining data
• Verbal communication skills
• Written communication skills

Qualifications

Fully qualified accountant with a recognised professional body.

Additional information:

A minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace. Although requirements to attend other locations for official business will also count towards this level of attendance.

Qualifications

Fully qualified accountant with a recognised professional body.

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing

Technical skills

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

• At interview you will be asked technical questions to assess your accounting knowledge.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £69,308, Cabinet Office contributes £20,078 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 which provides an attractive pension, benefits for dependants and employer contributions of 28.97%.
• A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by one day per year up to a maximum of 30.

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.

Application process

As part of your application, you will be required to provide a CV setting out your career history/qualifications/previous skills and experience, highlighting specific responsibilities and achievements that are relevant to the essential criteria in the person specification section of the job advert.

You will also be asked to provide a Statement of Suitability (no more than 1,000 words).
This should outline how you consider your skills, experience and achievements and provide evidence of your suitability for the role and the criteria outlined above, with particular reference to the essential criteria

Interview process

Candidates who are successful at the application stage will progress to interview where they will be assessed against a mixture of behaviour, experience and technical based questions.

You may also be asked to deliver a short presentation at interview. Further details will be provided if you are invited to interview.

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

Further Information

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

Any move to Cabinet Office 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.

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.

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

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

Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you.

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 menurecruitment.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.

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 : Leslie Gilbert
• Email : Leslie.Gilbert@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Recruitment team

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

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and wish to make a complaint, then in the first instance you should contact Government Recruitment Service by email at : menurecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission at info@csc.gov.uk. For further information on the Recruitment Principles and bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission, please visit their website at: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk.

Attachments

Cabinet Office Employee Offer Opens in new window (pdf, 302kB)Cabinet Office Terms and Conditions - External 2025-02-20 Opens in new window (docx, 83kB)