Senior Finance Business Partner
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Apply before 10:55 pm on Sunday 17th November 2024
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Salary
To qualify you must be both working in a role where an accountancy qualification is essential or desirable, or part qualified, with an appropriate role and institute to be eligible for the finance allowance.
If you are working in an eligible role, are enrolled on a CCAB (or equivalent) qualification and have passed at least 50% of exams, you will be eligible for a part-qualified allowance of £2,000.
If you are working in an eligible role and are fully accredited/qualified with an accountancy body under CCAB (or equivalent), you will be eligible for a £5,000 accountancy allowance.
Job grade
Contract type
Loan
Length of employment
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Number of jobs available
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About the job
Job summary
Two Senior Finance Business Partner roles are available in the Finance Business Partnering Team.
The Team is organised into three areas who support the Director Generals (DGs) and their teams to effectively discharge their financial accountabilities. This includes providing support and guidance to directors to enable effective financial management of their budgets including oversight of the arm’s length bodies where applicable.
Finance is high on the agenda in the department and we play a pivotal role in supporting and shaping the way the resources are allocated to deliver the department’s strategic and operational priorities.
We are the ‘go to’ team for teams across the department, advising and providing robust challenge on the affordability and value for money of policy development and investment decisions, business planning and providing insight on budgetary performance against the delivery of our departmental objectives.
Job description
Senior Finance Business Partners - We are advertising 2 roles covering the Department’s Policy group. Both roles will provide high quality financial advice and analysis to colleagues on exciting policy areas as set out below. In addition, the roles include engagement with external finance teams at a portfolio of DCMS sponsored Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs).
Role 1 - Museums and Galleries - covers core policy areas, as well as managing a subset of the 15 sponsored Museums and Galleries (M&Gs) such as the Science Museum and Natural History Museum.
Role 2 - Sport, Gambling, Visitor Economy and Loans - covers core policy areas, as well as managing ALBs such as Gambling Commission, Sport England and UK Sport.
The primary responsibilities of the two roles are as follows:
- Support senior leaders to embed effective financial management within DCMS ensuring the successful implementation, development and improvement of policies and programmes
- Provide high quality financial advice and timely financial management data, information and analysis to directors and their teams
- Provide advice and guidance on all financial matters as necessary, from accounting to budgeting, input to fiscal events (e.g. Government Estimates process, Budget and Spending Review)
- Support policy teams in development and scrutiny of business cases in line with HMT’s Green Book, providing expert advice and challenge
- Lead assurance activities and effective financial oversight of Arm’s Length Bodies (ALBs), including regular engagement at senior levels and attendance at Audit and Risk Committees. Provide insight and challenge to ALB financial performance to DCMS sponsor teams and critical challenge, support and guidance to ALBs on their forecasts.
- Build and manage effective relationships with your Policy teams and ALBs to provide a trusted, single point of contact between Finance and the business.
- Actively work to promote good financial management through driving up the financial capability of non-finance teams
- Deliver a customer-focussed service that balances policy priorities with the broader financial needs of the Department
- Rigorously drive value-for-money thinking in all of our work
- Draft papers and prepare Ministerial / Senior Official submissions as necessary (including providing finance advice on policy submissions)
You may be required to carry out additional duties according to business need.
Person specification
The ideal candidate would have the following key skills and experience,
Essential requirements
- Highly numerate and literate with full CCAB or CIMA accountancy qualification or equivalent (or part qualified and working towards full qualification)
- Experience of providing financial analysis in a policy or corporate context including on projects and programmes
- Collaborate, able to work effectively with a wide range of colleagues and stakeholders and with experience of working with senior leaders
- Experience of supporting development and review of business cases
- Solutions-oriented and able to manage competing priorities to tight deadlines
Desirable skills
- Business partnering experience within a government or public sector context
- Working knowledge of Managing Public Money and central government accounting and budgeting rules
- Experience working with Arm’s Length Bodies in a finance context
- Experience of line management
We are running an information session where prospective applicants can find out more about the role. This will be hosted by Anita Raj and Phil Lewis and will take place on:
Thursday 7th November 2024 at 15:00 (Virtual)
The session will be an opportunity to hear more about the role, the team and wider directorate and the department. It will also be an opportunity for you to ask any questions.
Please register your interest here and you will be sent an invitation. Please note that the session will not focus on the DCMS recruitment process, please direct any queries that you have on this topic (timelines, reasonable adjustments, onboarding etc) to recruitment.team@dcms.gov.uk
Qualifications
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Working Together
- Leadership
- Seeing the Big Picture
- Changing and Improving
Benefits
DCMS values its staff and offers a wide range of benefits to everyone who works here. We’re committed to developing talent, and supporting colleagues to have great careers in our department. To support with that, some of the benefits we offer include:
Flexible working arrangements and hybrid working - DCMS staff work on a flexible basis with time spent in offices, and time spent working from home
26.5 days annual leave on entry, increasing to 31.5 days after 5 years’ service
A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
Access to the Edenred employee benefits system which offers discounts to popular retailers and access to various useful resources such as financial and savings advice
3 days of paid volunteering leave
Up to 9 months maternity leave on full pay + generous paternity and adoption leave
Staff reward and recognition bonuses that operate throughout the year
Occupational sick pay
Access to the Employee Assistance Programme which offers staff 24/7 confidential support and resources such as counselling, debt guidance and management advice
Active and engaged staff networks to join including the LGBT+, Ethnic Diversity, Mental Health and Wellbeing and Gender Equality Networks
Exceptional learning and development opportunities that you can explore alongside your day to day work
Season ticket loan, cycle to work scheme and much more!
Terms and conditions at SCS grades will vary. Those applying for SCS roles should refer to the candidate information pack for more information on terms and conditions.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
To apply for this vacancy, you will need to submit the following documents which will assessed against the experience success profile, no later than 23:55 pm on Sunday 17th November 2024 via the CS Jobs portal.
- A CV setting out your career history, with key responsibilities and achievements. Please ensure you provide employment history that relates to the essential and desirable criteria, and that any gaps in employment history within the last 2 years are explained. The CV should not exceed more than 3 x A4 pages and you should insert your CV into the "Job History" section on Civil Service Jobs on the Civil Service Jobs application form.
- A Statement of Suitability (max 750 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role in reference to the essential requirements highlighted. You may also choose to reference the desirable skills listed however these will not be considered in the assessment of your application except in circumstances where there are a high number and calibre of candidates.
For the shortlist, we will select applicants demonstrating the best fit for the role by considering the evidence provided in your application.
In the event of a large number of applicants, an initial sift will be conducted on the statement of suitability. Those who are successful in the initial sift will then be scored on all elements of the application.
For support in writing your application and interviewing, please refer to the ‘Application and Interview Guidance’ document attached to the job advert.
The interview process will assess behaviours, strengths and technical skills and will include a behaviour focused presentation. Full details of the presentation, including the topic, length of time, and whether or not you will need to use visual aids, will be sent to you prior to your interview.
The behaviours to be tested at interview are:
- Working together
- Leadership
- Seeing the Big Picture
- Changing and Improving
Prior to the interview you will be sent the behaviour questions in advance.
You will not be made aware of the strengths being assessed prior to your interview.
For indicative sift and interview dates please refer to the attached Candidate Information Pack.
Your interview will take place remotely via GoogleMeets.
Further Information
If the vacancy is offered as FTA/Loan, existing Civil Servants must join on a Loan basis only. Prior agreement to be released on loan must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return.
A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.
This role is full time only. Applicants who wish to work an alternative pattern are welcome to apply however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.
Any move to Department for Culture, Media and Sport 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. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk
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.
DCMS has a London and a National pay scale. For more information on this, including the circumstances in which each pay scale will apply, please see the ‘Information for Applicants’ document.
In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service 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.
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.
Reasonable Adjustment
We are committed to supporting candidates so they can perform at their best throughout the recruitment process. This includes making reasonable adjustments to our process.
In order to request an adjustment, please:
Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section on 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 a verbal test rather than a written one.
Alternatively, contact the Government Recruitment Service via dcmsrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.
Accessibility
If you are experiencing accessibility difficulties with any of the attachments, please contact us. Contact details can be found in the 'contact point for applicants' section of the job advert.
Feedback
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Nationality requirements
Working for the Civil Service
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).
Diversity and Inclusion
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : Anita Raj
- Email : anita.raj@dcms.gov.uk
Recruitment team
- Email : dcmsrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Further information
