Senior Research Officer - Financial Scrutiny Unit

Welsh Parliament

Cardiff CF99 1NA, UK

Hybrid

Expires: Expiring in less than 4 weeks

Finance

Full time

£49,026 - £58,756 per year

Job summary

The purpose of the role is to provide analysis and information on finance and accounts within the Financial Scrutiny Unit Team in Senedd Research.

You will be part of a small and established team that provides specialist financial and economic analysis, briefing and support for Senedd Committees’ examination of public expenditure, taxation and performance - primarily of government departments and other public bodies.

You will work closely with committee staff, Audit Wales, Senedd Members and their staff to identify and explain financial issues to non-specialist audiences, writing briefings and articles, suggest lines of questioning, summarise the evidence received and draw issues to Members’ attention. You will also answer questions from Members and their staff.

The Financial Scrutiny Unit Team directly supports the Finance Committee, Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee as well as providing support for other Senedd Committees and the Independent Remuneration Board. We summarise key issues from various information sources, including financial statements, communicating these effectively, in lay terms and easily understandable formats..

We have a growing need to quickly interpret and understand technical accounting issues that routinely crop up in the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee, advising Members of their significance and impact, where appropriate. This particular role will require knowledge of financial reporting requirements for the public sector and keep pace with related developments and good practice.

The team also supports policy teams in Senedd Research to locate, understand and use numerical information. You will advise and work with colleagues in Senedd Research to produce regular briefings, analyses and presentations of government spending and respond to Members’ questions. We have a culture of working across teams to help support each other in times of high demand. You will work in an agile way to support Senedd Research through participation in cross service work.

The Financial Scrutiny Unit Team also has a very wide remit supporting colleagues in other areas of the Senedd Commission meaning you will have the opportunity to work with different teams across the organisation. You will need the ability to build effective working relationships, support and develop others with varying needs, as well as communicate technical outputs to a range of stakeholders and adapt content appropriately for the audience.

The role provides opportunities to work with other parliaments, institutions and stakeholders both in the UK and internationally.

Job description

Key tasks:
Some of the key responsibilities include:
- Providing written and oral analysis and briefing for committees in relation to annual reports and accounts, spending plans (e.g. budgets), regular fiscal events and related public policy matters;
- Contributing to improvements and development of accounts and financial scrutiny by the Senedd and other researchers in discussion with other team members, committee teams and others, including developing and taking forward ideas;
- Sourcing and summarising statistical, economic and financial information, including the relevant policy, in a range of subject areas in response to requests from individual Senedd Members and their staff to their deadlines.
- Developing effective relationships with Members of the Senedd and their staff to win their trust and confidence, and work collaboratively with colleagues from across the Senedd, Audit Wales, external stakeholders, academics and information providers.
- Working with and supporting colleagues around the organisation to improve their skills, understanding and use accounting and financial information.
- Developing and maintaining expertise, in particular in relation to the work of the Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee and Finance Committee. Making use of this knowledge to improve services to committees, Members of the Senedd and information available to the wider public.
- Creating accessible, inclusive and engaging outputs and working with the support of experts across Senedd Research to produce articles and social media content across multiple platforms.
- Work with existing inter-parliamentary research groups and develop own networks of contacts to help access expertise and ideas.to improve services.
Similar to all posts in Senedd Research, you are likely to have to cover subject areas outside your immediate field of expertise in response to the information priorities of our customers and to work flexibly as necessary.

Person specification

Job Specific criteria:

Communication skills: You will be a strong communicator and will have excellent interpersonal, written and oral communication skills.
Research skills: You will have excellent research and numeracy skills. These include the ability to critically review, summarise and communicate written and numerical information accurately to different audiences..
Sound judgment You will demonstrate sound judgement, free from any political or organisational bias and have experience of making effective decisions in challenging situations.
Subject knowledge: Holds an economics/finance/accountancy degree or a professional accountancy qualification (CCAB or equivalent), or has significant experience of in a central, local government financial or auditing role.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £49,026, Welsh Parliament contributes £14,202 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

23:59 26 May 2026

Your application must be submitted before midnight on the closing date.

You will be updated on your progress via the email address you first register with. Please check your Junk Mail and Spam folders to make sure you don’t miss any future correspondence.

Candidates that are successful at sift will be invited to an interview and assessment.

19 June 2026.

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

Security

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist 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.

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

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 : Recruitment Team
Email : jobs@senedd.wales
Telephone : 03002007588

Salary range

£49,026 - £58,756 per year