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Job summary

About the Department:

DBS was established under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 on 1 December 2012, working from two sites, which are Liverpool and Darlington. We operate on behalf of government delivering Disclosure functions in England, Wales, Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, and Barring functions for England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. We function within a framework of legal and regulatory requirements and that includes work with a range of external organisations including other government departments, regulators, and trade bodies.

We provide a service that enables organisations in the public, private and voluntary sectors to make better informed, safer recruitment and other decisions. We do this by providing information to enable them to determine whether individuals are unsuitable or unable to undertake certain work, particularly with occupations involving regular contact with vulnerable groups, including children.

Our Strategy:

Our current Strategy sets out our purpose, vision, and the impacts we want to achieve. Our strategy was co-created with our staff and has been supported by insight from our various partners, and throughout, you will find our ambitions to be achieved. Everything that we do within DBS, from developing our strategic intent, to the day-to-day operational delivery of our services, is underpinned by constant considerations of safeguarding, quality, sustainability, value for money, and diversity and inclusion. Our strategic objectives aim to enhance our effectiveness, influence, and customer satisfaction while fostering a supportive environment for everyone.

Equality, Diversion, and Inclusion at DBS

DBS is committed to fostering an environment that values individual differences and ensures fair treatment to unlock the full potential of staff and better support customers. Equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) are core to driving organisational success and we have developed specific equality objectives for DBS. Every decision and activity will be considered through an EDI lens, aiming to build an inclusive culture, improve policies and practices, gain external assurances, and become a leading voice of good practice in EDI.

Read More:

For further information, please see below for a collection of DBS strategies and business plans:

• DBS strategies - GOV.UK
• DBS business plans - GOV.UK

Job description

As a Financial Accountant your role will be to support the Senior Financial Accountant in maintaining a robust controls-based environment, delivering on all matters of statutory and regulatory reporting. To assist with all Financial Accounts activities; including but not limited to any centralised requisitioning, journals and reconciliations, stewardship and compliance reviews, as well as wider business training and support.

• Assist with and actively contribute towards a culture of high performance, strong engagement and a commitment to continuous improvement.
• Assist with all Financial Accounts activities including any centralised requisitioning, journals and reconciliations, as well as effective stewardship and compliance reviews.
• Provide wider business support and training on any financial processes/matters where appropriate.
• Maintain financial controls for all financial areas, ensuring the accuracy, integrity, consistency & quality of the DBS general ledger.
• Assist in the preparation of accurate and timely information to support all required reporting, including management information, external and internal audit, as well as regulatory and stakeholder returns including Home Office consolidation submissions, Freedom Of Information (FOI) requests and Parliamentary Question (PQ) responses.
• To work closely with the Management Accountants to ensure the timely completion of accurate management information and reporting.
• Proactively identify and recommend process and system improvements from both an efficiency and financial control perspective
• Support the successful implementation of the departments systems and procedures, both IT and non-IT based
• Deputise for the Senior Financial Accountant when required.
• Undertake additional duties appropriate to the role and/or grade.

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

• Proven ability to build effective relationships with colleagues across the organisation and other stakeholders
• Excellent attention to detail, analytical and problem-solving skills
• Strong written and verbal communication skills
• Ability to work flexibly and respond positively to changing business needs
• Must be able to work independently in researching and putting forward solutions to technical accounting queries
• Experience of the preparation and audit of financial statements
• Knowledge of latest accounting standards
• Experience of control account reconciliations
• Experience of finance systems, processes and control environments
• Must be actively studying and progressing towards becoming a member of a CCAB accounting body or CIMA.
• Sound knowledge of MS Excel

Desirable:

• Experience of Fixed asset accounting including reconciliation and maintenance of the Fixed asset register
• Intercompany/group transaction experience and reconciliation
• Knowledge / experience of government accounting and reporting

Further Information:

To View the DBS Recruitment and On-boarding Privacy Notice, please click the link below:

DBS Recruitment and On-boarding Privacy Notice - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

This privacy notice covers personal data collected during the recruitment, security clearance and on-boarding process.

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Changing and Improving
• Developing Self and Others
• Managing a Quality Service

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Working Together

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £36,444, Disclosure & Barring Service contributes £10,557 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

The DBS offers a number of excellent benefits for its employees. These can include:

• Generous annual leave entitlement
• Excellent maternity, paternity and adoption schemes (after a qualifying period)
• Commitment to the health and wellbeing of our employees
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Flexible working opportunities
• Eyecare voucher scheme
• Occupational Health Service including referrals for counselling and physiotherapy
• 24/7 Counselling and Wellbeing Service
• A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

The DBS vision and purpose is to make people safer by being a visible, trusted and influential organisation, providing an outstanding quality of service to all our customers and partners, where our people understand the important safeguarding contributions they make and feel proud to work here. To do this, the DBS is committed to being an employer that is able to attract, develop, retain and engage diverse talent that is representative of the communities we serve, and to be an organisation providing outstanding service to all our existing and new customers, who are diverse and have a range of different needs. We want all our staff to be able to bring their ‘whole self’ to work.

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 recruitment process the Disclosure & Barring Service will conduct an experience and behaviour based sift exercise and interview process.

To apply for this role, please provide a CV along with a personal statement of no more than 750 words, outlining how your skills, experience and qualifications meet the requirements of the role, including all essential and desirable criteria, alongside the behaviour example: Working Together

For all candidates who are successful at the initial sifting stage, you will be invited to interview.

The interview will consist of a panel-based interview via Microsoft Teams.

The aim of the panel interview will be to assess your ability to demonstrate the following behaviours:

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Changing & Improving
• Developing Self & Others
• Managing a Quality Service

The following timetable outlines indicative dates. Please note, these dates may be subject to change without prior notice.

Advert closing date: 03/08/2026 at 10:00am

The initial candidate sift is due to take place week commencing 03/08/2026.

Interviews are due to take place week commencing 17/08/2026.

Whilst we will endeavour to provide some flexibility with regards to dates wherever possible, it is unlikely that we will be able to offer an alternative date once an appointment has been scheduled.

The exact dates and time will be confirmed to successful candidates nearer the time.

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

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 : DBS People support team
• Email : DBSPeopleSupportTeam@dbs.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : DBSPeopleSupportTeam@dbs.gov.uk

Attachments

JD HEO Financial Accountant June 2023 Opens in new window (docx, 528kB)