Deputy Director – Financial Strategy and Planning
UK Health Security Agency
Apply before 11:55 pm on Thursday 7th November 2024
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Senior leadership
Strategy
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About the job
Job summary
This Deputy Director role will lead a first-class, Strategic Financial Management team to enable the delivery of UKHSA’s strategic vision, having a constant and relentless focus on Value for Money. They will be accountable for leading a clear financial strategy supported by optimal resource allocations and investment choices, ensuring UKHSA stays within its annual budget and has aggregated reporting of financial and operational performance, delivering a ‘single version of the truth’, and providing in depth analysis of trends and relevant insights to inform decision making.
The role holder will be the accountable person for the business planning and fiscal events (including Spending Review) in UKHSA and be accountable and responsible for the overall corporate guardianship of the budgets and protection of the accounting officer.
The role holder will drive continuous, sustainable improvements in UKHSA’s financial management, controls and reporting.
A key aspect will be building and maintaining excellent relationships alongside management with internal functions and external stakeholders including Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), Ministers including Secretary of State, His Majesty’s Treasury, No.10, Cabinet Office.
Job description
Responsibility for the financial strategy of UKHSA, leading the annual business planning/budget setting process, to enable a balanced budget to be produced that aligns to the organisation’s strategic goals.
• Lead medium and annual financial plans and budget allocations with strong links to organisational strategy and annual business plan (in line with Departmental outcome delivery plan)
• Accountable for the provision of corporate level management accounting information, including Board level reporting.
• Accountability for the provision of the Main and Supplementary Estimates for our sponsor department and HM Treasury.
• Provide strategic financial advice to Ministers, Senior Officials and decision-making bodies
• Own the relationship with the Departmental Financial Sponsorship team to understand and consider the cross Departmental position, risk and potential Devolved Administration / Other Government Department implications
• To be an active board member, providing the necessary challenge on behalf of UKHSA and Secretary of State in respect of the financial and operational performance of spin-outs and other relevant entities
Person specification
For this vacancy we are using Success Profiles to assess your application, using Behaviours. It is important that through your CV and Statement of Suitability you give evidence and examples of proven experience to deliver against the following criteria:
Essential Criteria
• Excellent leadership skills, and the ability to motivate and develop a diverse finance team. Promoting consistent excellence in the team’s output, whilst balancing working at pace to manage a full workload with conflicting short and long-term priorities.
• Ability to confidently, clearly and credibly influence strategic planning at pace, making an impact at senior levels through excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including building and maintaining broad diverse networks and relationships, especially across Government with HM Treasury and Cabinet Office.
• Evidence of strategic thinking, excellent analytical skills and the ability to translate current challenges in order to create and contribute to a culture of innovation, risk management and long-term improvement. Using evidence-based strategies to evaluate the full range of options, understand the impacts and get the right solution.
• Expert understanding of cross-government financial processes.
• Demonstrable experience of building and maintaining a strong and effective network of collaborative relationships with a range of key senior colleagues.
Requirements of the role (e.g. qualifications, licenses and registrations)
Essential:
• Full membership of a professional accountancy body recognised by the CCAB, or CIMA, plus significant post qualification experience
Open to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including by definition internal applicants).
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Leadership
- Communicating and Influencing
- Changing and Improving
- Seeing the Big Picture
Benefits
- 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%
We pride ourselves as being an employer of choice, where Everyone Matters promoting equality of opportunity to actively encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce.
UKHSA ethos is to be an inclusive organisation for all our staff and stakeholders. To create, nurture and sustain an inclusive culture, where differences drive innovative solutions to meet the needs of our workforce and wider communities. We do this through celebrating and protecting differences by removing barriers and promoting equity and equality of opportunity for all.
Reasonable Adjustments
The Civil Service is committed to making sure that our selection methods are fair to everyone.
To help you during the recruitment process, we will consider any reasonable adjustments that could help you.
An adjustment is a change to the recruitment process or an adjustment at work.
This is separate to the Disability Confident Scheme.
If you need an adjustment to be made at any point during the recruitment process you should:
Contact the recruitment team in confidence as soon as possible to discuss your needs.
You can find out more information about reasonable adjustments across the Civil Service here: https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/reasonable-adjustments/
Things you need to know
Selection process details
Stage 1: Application & Sift
You will be required to complete an application form. You will be assessed on essential criteria, and this will be in the form of:
• a CV/ Application form (‘Employer/ Activity history’ section on the application)
• a 750 word Statement of Suitability.
This should outline how you consider your skills, experience, and knowledge, provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria.
The CV and Statement of Suitability will be marked together.
Unfortunately, late applications will not be considered.
If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to interview & assessment.
Please do not exceed 750 words. We will not consider any words over and above this number.
Feedback will not be provided at this stage.
Stage 2: Interview (success profiles)
You will be invited to a (single) remote interview.
Behaviours will be tested at interview and this will include a 5-minute presentation, the topic of which will be confirmed prior to the interview. Visual aids will be allowed.
The Behaviours tested during the interview stage will be:
• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing
• Changing and Improving
• Seeing the Bigger Picture (Presentation)
Interviews will be held week commencing 18 November 2024. Please note, these dates are subject to change.
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Your application may be rejected and/or you may be subject to disciplinary action if evidence of plagiarism is detected. Examples of plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by artificial intelligence (AI), as your own.
If successful you must hold, or be willing to obtain, security clearance to SC level. More information about the vetting process can be found here.
If you have spent more than 6 months abroad over the last 3 years you may need an International Police Check. This would not necessarily have to be in a single block, and it could be time accrued over that period.
Please be aware that we cannot make a formal offer until the SCS consultation process that is currently underway in UKHSA is concluded.
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.
Security
Medical
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 : Luke Heath, Director, Finance & Corporate Services
- Email : luke.heath@ukhsa.gov.uk
Recruitment team
- Email : SCS.MDRecruitment@ukhsa.gov.uk
Further information
