Senior Finance Business Partner – Energy Security and Net Zero

Job summary

Do you want a career where you can make a real difference? Do you want to work at the forefront of current policy making decisions? Do you want to have an impact on the UK and beyond? If yes, then a career at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) could be for you.

Here at DESNZ we are delivering our mission to make the UK a clean energy superpower, with clean electricity by 2030 and accelerating the UK’s journey to net zero. Our work is helping ensure clean energy for all, keep bills down and seize the opportunities to lead the world in new green industries, taking back control of our energy with Great British Energy and encouraging greater energy efficiency across the UK. The work of the department has never been more timely or relevant, and by joining us you will be part of making that difference.

Our work is varied, interesting and most importantly it's impactful. Our DESNZ Values are interwoven into everything we do; we are bold, we are collaborative, we are inclusive, and we learn. As a department we are committed to these values to build a culture where everyone can thrive

We offer great working benefits including a world-class pension, flexible working options and a career where your learning and development is taken seriously. We are enormously proud to be a Disability Confident Leader employer. We support candidates with adjustments throughout our recruitment process. Information about disability confidence and just some examples of the adjustments that you can request can be found in the reasonable adjustment section below.

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service D&I Strategy.

Find Out More

We regularly run events where you can find out more about the department and tips for the application and interview process. You can sign up for upcoming events here: https://forms.office.com/e/pqUhdr3L72

You can also follow our LinkedIn Careers Page: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/desnz-careers/

Job description

The Government's energy and net zero policy remains highly prominent, with a heightened emphasis on ensuring the UK's energy security and advancing the nation towards its net zero goals.

As a Senior Finance Business Partner (G6) for one of the major policy and delivery areas within the department you will develop close relationships with the business areas, senior leaders across relevant portfolios and the Director General overseeing these portfolios. Your role will involve working as a trusted adviser, influencing and collaborating within the business and Finance. You will work seamlessly with other corporate colleagues, notably in analysis, commercial, and delivery, to provide a coherent and aligned way forward. You will also build strong, collaborative relationships with HMT (His Majesty's Treasury) colleagues, working to deliver for the government and ensure relevant advice and steers are provided as we seek to agree our financial settlements and secure relevant approvals.

You will provide strategic financial leadership, assurance and Business Partnering for key Energy Security and Net Zero projects and portfolios, ensuring robust financial planning, governance, and value for money. Potential responsibilities will depend on specific portfolio responsibilities, but as an example could include providing Finance advice to policymakers whose remit includes energy bills, markets and suppliers, and the capacity, resilience and security of the system, or supporting the delivery of some of our biggest capital projects. There are opportunities to contribute finance advice on long-term strategy and risk mitigation, advise and assure the development and approval of business cases involving significant spending commitments, as well as play a key role in Finance's response to special situations and world events affecting the energy system and prices.

Person specification

• Ensure SROs (Senior Responsibility Owners) for policies and programmes receive excellent financial advice.
  
• Support SROs in meeting their objectives, including advising on relevant controls and standards. In some instances this will mean supporting in drafting AO (Accounting Officer) Advice, ensuring spend meets MPM (Managing Public Money) requirements.
  
• Provide the Accounting Officer with clear, balanced and pragmatic advice where action or inaction by the department presents a significant risk to his duties.
  
• Ensure key financial / HMT issues are brought out, understood, escalated (if necessary) and resolved, including liaising and negotiating with HMT.
  
• Improve the business’ ability to plan and forecast accurately, with clarity of the connection between finance and delivery of outputs and outcomes.
  
• Work with other professions to provide integrated expert advice.
  
• Ensure your team is engaged, motivated and delivering at its best, with a commitment to continuous improvement.
  
• Play a full role in the Finance Business Partner SLT as one of our Team Leaders.

As a line manager, you will be responsible for working with your members of staff to define their objectives, as well as managing their development and performance.

Essential Criteria

• A track record of providing excellent advice at pace to secure effective delivery and value for money for the public.
  
• Building strong collaborative relationships at senior levels which deliver good outcomes even when objectives may be in conflict (e.g. when negotiating over cuts). Experience working with HM Treasury is also desirable.
  
• Outstanding ability to communicate (orally and written) a complex financial picture with clarity and accuracy to the most senior decision-makers and building this capability in the department.
  
• Ability to develop and lead a diverse and high-performing team, building professional capability to deliver results both in the short and long term.
  
• Familiarity with central government finance policies and protocols (for example Managing Public Money, Consolidated Budgeting Guidance, HMT Green Book, and fiscal frameworks) and an understanding of, or ability to rapidly learn, how to apply these principles to novel situations and scenarios.
  
• Advanced financial modelling and analytical capability.
  
• A strong grasp of accounting principles, as applied to Central Government, including a willingness to digest and consider wider accounting standards and manuals.
  
• Impeccable professional and ethical standards.

Desirable Criteria

• A full accountancy qualification (CCAB, CIMA or equivalent) is desirable, though part-qualified applicants and/or those with substantial experience in public spending control (e.g. in HMT) will also be considered if committed to qualification.

Behaviours

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

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions
• Leadership

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £70,275, Department for Energy Security & Net Zero contributes £20,358 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero offers a competitive mix of benefits including:

• A culture of flexible working, such as job sharing, homeworking and compressed hours.
• Automatic enrolment into the Civil Service Pension Scheme, with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
• A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30.
• An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities, which all staff are actively encouraged to pursue.
• Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts.
• A hybrid office/home based working model where staff will spend a norm of 40-60% of their time in the office (minimum of 40%) over a month with flex dependent on balancing business and individual need.

Office attendance

The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home based location for 40-60% of the time over the accounting period.

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.

As part of the application process you will be asked to complete a CV and personal statement. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Please use your personal statement (in no more than 1000 words) to set out, with reference to the job description, why you would be a good candidate for this role.

In the event of a large number of applicants, applications will be sifted on Personal Statement only. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview.

The interview will consist of behaviour questions.

Interviewees will be asked to deliver a presentation; further details will be provided nearer the time.

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

Further Information

Reasonable Adjustment

We are proud to be a disability confident leader and we welcome applications from disabled candidates and candidates with long-term conditions.

Information about the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) and some examples of adjustments that we offer to disabled candidates and candidates with long-term health conditions during our recruitment process can be found in our DESNZ Candidate Guidance. A DESNZ Plain Text Version of the guidance is also available.

We encourage candidates to discuss their adjustment needs by emailing the job contact which can be found under the contact point for applicants section.

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

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

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

A location based reserve list of successful candidates will be kept for 12 months. Should another role become available within that period you may be offered this position.

Candidates who meet the minimum benchmark may be placed on a Reserve List for consideration for similar roles, including those at a lower grade. Candidates who narrowly miss the benchmark and are not placed on the Reserve List may still be considered for an offer in a similar role at a lower grade.

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

Any move to the Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero 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.

DESNZ does not normally offer full home working (i.e. working at home); but we do offer a variety of flexible working options (including occasionally working from home).

DESNZ cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign. DESNZ holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify.

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

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.

Feedback

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 : Edward Parrott
• Email : edward.parrott2@energysecurity.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : desnzresourcing.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 you should contact in the first instance DESNZrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: Click here to visit Civil Service Commission/Complaints

Attachments

DESNZ TCs v1.2 Opens in new window (doc, 174kB)