Senior Finance Systems Accountant D365 Planning / Reporting

Job summary

The Financial Control Division (FCD) is a friendly, dynamic, and fast-paced team working at the heart of UK Export Finance. We are responsible for ensuring that effective financial control processes are in place. We coordinate the Department’s estimates, budgets and forecasting processes. We produce accurate and reliable monthly management accounts, annual accounts, and other published financial information. We manage the UKEF bank accounts, purchase ledger, sales ledger, fixed asset register and the general ledger. We advise on accounting treatments, own the UKEF accounting policies and are working with others across the organisation and beyond to implement large-scale changes in our accounting policy, systems, and processes to operationalise IFRS 9 and IFRS 17. Our friendly and collaborative team is growing to support a larger number of UK Exporters. Not only has the demand for UK Export Finance products significantly increased since the pandemic, but the business is operating in a more uncertain market than it has seen in a long time meaning activity on claims and recoveries is also increasing. It’s therefore an exciting time to join us as we support a business that is at the heart of delivering government export and trade policy to build the UK economy back stronger. We are also in a unique period of transition as we prepare to implement IFRS 9 and IFRS 17 accounting standards that will affect how we account for nearly all our front-line business. This will offer the successful applicant a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience, and indeed, help shape and contribute to this fundamental shift that involves implementing wide-reaching new processes and significant new systems, including a new general ledger and a calculation engine.

Job description

About the Role

In recent years, UKEF has expanded both in terms of the number of products offered and of volume and the total value of transactions. In addition, UKEF is preparing to implement significant changes to its reporting policies and processes because of the implementation of two new reporting standards (IFRS 17 and IFRS 9).

To support these changes, the IT infrastructure used to record and manage UKEF business is due to undergo large-scale change and expansion over the next few years with the implementation of new systems and the automation of more processes.

The primary responsibility of the Senior Finance Systems Accountant D365 Planning / Reporting is to support the implementation and configuration of D365 and the interaction of it with the new systems and processes. They will develop, support and maintain the new processes and procedures used to produce the monthly management and yearly financial accounts; will support and administer the interaction (via interfaces) of Aptitude with various other systems and with the General Ledger.

In the longer term, the postholder will maintain and provide ongoing support to this expanded portfolio of systems used to manage billions of pounds worth of transactions each year.

Main Activities

The primary purpose of the Senior Finance Systems Accountant D365 Planning / Reporting is to support and maintain the finance systems, specifically D365, but with the opportunity to cross-train with other finance and reporting applications.

The role will have oversight of full D365 i.e. GL but also Budgeting, Cash, Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable, Reporting and Fixed Assets, and user issues.

The roles will shadow the implementation team and will sit between the Project and BAU teams to support both the developers and the SMEs, during the configuration and development and till the go-live, at which point they will take charge of the new BAU systems.

Responsibilities:

• Interfaces and associated reconciliations
• Answering complex queries from stakeholders/end users (which may one day include the wider business)
• Collaborating with department heads to understand their specific reporting requirements
• Leading on financial systems and data-related projects, including implementations
• Reviewing systems performance and identifying system issues
• Designing and implementing system controls to provide quality assurance over financial data
• Implementing, reviewing, and maintaining D365, policies, and procedures, ensuring compliance with relevant standards
• Building effective relationships with external vendors and developers, providing constructive feedback on defects and testing, highlighting possible product development to further systems’ functionality
• Aiding in the design, testing and implementation of new reports, systems functionality user interfaces and accompanying user guides
• Train and support finance and non-finance team members in the use of D365 and related procedures
• Prepare system reconciliations
• Work with Finance and other Business teams to resolve data processing discrepancies in a timely manner
• Act as a subject matter expert in delivering Finance requirements on new projects
• Complete any testing and new process development with training to handover to Finance teams on completion of projects
• Ensure Finance Process documentation remains up to date for any changes
• Liaise with auditors preparing systems-related supports for the audit

This list is not exhaustive, and you may be required to carry out additional duties according to business needs.

Person specification

UK Export Finance is looking for motivated individuals with a desire to learn about the business. Successful candidates will be provided not only with functional training to enable them to do well in their role, but also with personal development to help them to achieve their career ambitions. Please note that the person specification below outlines at which stage(s) you will be assessed on how you meet the criteria for the role(s) including:-

A = assessed at application stage I = assessed at interview stage

Essential

Knowledge

• Good working knowledge of D365 and its General Ledger, Cash and Banking, Budgeting, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable and Fixed Assets modules, as well as Financial Reporter (A, I)
• Good understanding of the monthly and annual financial reporting cycle, and accounting principles and practices (A, I)
• Able to gather requirements, develop and deliver technical specifications and translate the technical specifications back to users (I)
• Good working knowledge of Aptitude to D365 integration and reconciliation (A, I)
• Good working knowledge of PowerApps to D365 integration (A, I)
• Good knowledge of Coda Financials to support financial reconciliations (A, I)

Skills/Ability

• Good command of SQL queries and working knowledge of DBs and data management (A, I)
• Advanced Excel skills (A, I)

Experience

• Previously managed finance systems environments and ran or participated in finance systems upgrades and/or implementations (A, I)
• Experience in data migration and customer master management (I)
• Writing test scripts for E2E / UAT. (A)

Behaviours

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

• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together

Technical skills

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

• Questions - based on the requirements outlined within the essential criteria in the person specification

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £48,750, UK Export Finance contributes £14,122 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.

We are assessing candidates using Success Profiles (see Appendix 1) and across the whole process we will assess your Experience, Technical, and Behaviours as highlighted below.

The application must be completed by 23.55 on the day of the closing date for it to be accepted.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

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 for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Please ensure that you read through the Candidate Information Pack attached to this advert, before applying.

All applications will be sifted against our essential criteria outlined in the personal specification.

• Statement of suitability - you should fully articulate in 500 words how you meet the essential criteria outlined in the person specification within the Information Pack.

For the initial sift your application will be evaluated against:

1. Experience - Application and Statement of Suitability

In the event of a high volume of applications, an initial sift will be carried out on the following:

• Essential criteria, as listed in the person specification:
  • Good working knowledge of D365 and its General Ledger, Cash and Banking, Budgeting, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable and Fixed Assets modules, as well as Financial Reporter (A, I)
  • Good working knowledge of Aptitude to D365 integration and reconciliation (A, I)
  • Previously managed finance systems environments and ran or participated in finance systems upgrades and/or implementations (A, I)

If you are successful following the sift stage, you will be invited to an initial interview, to be held via MS Teams; this will include the following assessment:

1. Behaviours / Experience - a formal panel interview where you will be interviewed across all two behaviours highlighted in Appendix 1.
   • Behaviour - Delivering at Pace (Lead Behaviour in the event of tied candidates)
   • Behaviour - Working Together
2. Technical - you will be assessed across your technical expertise and acumen, in relation to the essential criteria
   • Questions - based on the requirements outlined within the essential criteria in the person specification

Details of interview panel members will be e-mailed to all successful candidates who are invited for interview.

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 security check (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

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.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 : UKEF Recruitment
• Email : Recruitment2@ukexportfinance.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : Recruitment2@ukexportfinance.gov.uk

Further information

Should you have a complaint or wish to raise any concerns regarding the recruitment process, please e-mail your complaint to the Head of Pay and Resourcing (UKEF) at Recruitment2@ukexportfinance.gov.uk and include “Complaint” in the subject heading. Should you remain dissatisfied following UKEF’s investigation then you can refer your complaint to the Commission - http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/making-complaint.

Attachments

Information Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 1898kB)