Finance and Commercial Readiness Lead (Ref: 77708)

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about how we do this visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity.

Overview

The Ministry of Justice works to protect the public and reduce reoffending, while endeavouring to provide a more effective, transparent, and responsive justice system for everyone who uses or encounters it. We are responsible for prisons and probation services in England and Wales, and for the courts and tribunals in England and Wales and (in some cases) in Scotland.

We are one of the largest government departments, employing around 85,000 people, with a significant operational responsibility for critical frontline services. These are delivered primarily through two large executive agencies: Her Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) and Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS), with HMCTS reporting jointly to the judiciary and ministers. We are also a significant policy department, responsible for much of law and justice policy in England and Wales.

The Synergy programme has been set up to transform Shared Services in Finance, Commercial and HR across Ministry of Justice, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Department for Work and Pensions and the Home Office.

The Functional Readiness roles are based within the functional teams they are supporting, to be closer to their main stakeholders. The Readiness roles will be dealing with change being delivered by the Synergy Programme (procuring our new SaaS ERP and BPO Service) as well as leading on delivery of our own MoJ Synergy   portfolio of projects to be delivered in readiness for a new SaaS ERP.

Role Summary

The post offers an exciting development opportunity for the successful candidate to utilise their Finance and/or Commercial expertise and excellent organisational and interpersonal skills, to work in a fast-paced environment over the Finance, Commercial and Change disciplines. Drawing upon your knowledge and experience, you will have a key role in supporting Finance and Commercial colleagues through design and implementation of our new shared ERP and BPS service, as well as leading on a portfolio of readiness projects, from design and feasibility, to testing and deployment.

The role will bring flexibility to pick up a variety of work and the ability to switch focus at pace is also key to being successful in this role. This role aligns strongly with the Synergy design principles and Government Finance Global Design Principles and Data Quality Framework.

Role Responsibilities   

Depending on experience and which of the teams (financial or commercial) you are facing out to, key tasks will include:

Synergy Programme:

• Lead the MoJ Finance and/or Commercial engagement with the Synergy Programme for the design and implementation of new shared ERP and BPS; working with a range of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) across MoJ to gain buy-in and understand work pressures to reflect against input required into the programme delivery plan
• Liaising with Finance or Commercial Directors to propose and gain agreement for a SME resource plan which balances ongoing finance/commercial delivery, input into the Synergy Programme, and risk-management.
• Ensuring the MoJ Finance / Commercial directorate is sufficiently represented within the Synergy Programme, and sufficiently contributes requirements to the programme, to make sure that the solution is business ready for MoJ.

MoJ Readiness:

• Working with Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), the post holder will lead and oversee delivery of a portfolio of complex readiness projects, from analysis to Board recommendations, based on best practice and future direction for government.

• Supporting effective progress of progress through identification of interdependencies, risks, and benefits. Ensuring effective risk and benefits controls are in place to ensure benefits are realised.

• Line management of one or two individuals may be expected. Overseeing the timely delivery of the project products and projects that they will be responsible for.

• Be an advocate of the ‘Adopt not Adapt’ concept of Cloud adoption, challenging established ways of working to realise the transformation aspirations of the programme; to deliver projects which move MoJ toward standardised or centralised, more efficient ways of working.

• For long or complex implementation projects, work across a multi-disciplinary team/stakeholder network to build the case for change, gain Design Authority and Project Board approval to gain funding (where required), to proceed to project implementation, or support handover to a Project Manager (where implementation is phased) and become lead SME for design and implementation of the project deliverables.

• Co-ordinate requirement gathering activities, their validation and sign-off ensuring that the needs of the key stakeholders are articulated, requirements capture as-is and to-be state and identify opportunities and consequences of change.

• Identifying, building, and maintaining strong effective relationships with senior stakeholders; business experts, architects, commercial and technical teams, from across the department and across government, to confidently challenge, influence and negotiate positive outcomes and solutions. Also, for the portfolio of projects overseen, lead stakeholder analysis, develop strategies and ensure communication and engagement is delivered to plan.

• As well as being a champion of best practice, and assessing and understanding the impacts of change, the post holder will lead business change management activity, working with the Project Manager to create the required business change products and ensuring they are used effectively. Leading on engagement with subject matter experts to ensure products maximise benefit realisation.

Essential Skills

To be successful in this role, candidates will have:

Lead criteria

• Strong Finance and/or Commercial background with functional understanding of the interdependencies across different processes, how these processes are delivered and designed within UK government and what is required from a system to enable them.
• Extensive experience in at least one of the following global process areas: Purchase to Pay, Source to Contract, Order to Cash, Business Intelligence Reporting, Financial Accounting, Inventory, Grants, Non-current Assets.
• Experience of engaging, leading and influencing a wide network of stakeholders of all grades, and/or a proven track record of negotiating with senior stakeholders to deliver change or improvements.
• Proven ability of working with analytical evaluation teams to interpret complex and conflicting data, draw conclusions at a tactical and strategic level.
• CCAB Qualified accountant or CIPS qualified or extensive experience of working in finance or commercial role, with significant expertise.
• Working well in a fast-paced environment by proactively leading, managing and prioritising competing demands and risks, to meet challenging and changing deadlines.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to tailor messages for the audience to secure buy-in, and successfully engage with and influence senior stakeholders.
• Experience of working between a major programme and a business area, leading business readiness activities and managing large virtual teams to ensure the necessary pace is maintained.

Desirably, candidates will have:

• Understanding of the Cloud ERP market and capability of these systems to be able to automate and streamline processes in future.
• Leadership of Cloud Design and/or Transformation at scale, from initial evidence gathering through to implementation and live running.
• MS Office 365, SharePoint, and MS Teams Skills.

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

• Leadership
• Making Effective Decisions
• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing

• Access to learning and development
• A working environment that supports a range of flexible working options to enhance your work life balance
• A working culture which encourages inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
• Annual Leave
• Public Holidays
• Season Ticket Advance

For more information about the recruitment process, benefits and allowances and answers to general queries, please click the below link which will direct you to our Candidate Information Page.

Link: https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

Job contact :

• Name : SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team
• Email : Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com
• Telephone : 0845 241 5359

Recruitment team

• Email : Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com