Purchasing Business Partner

The Cabinet Office supports the Prime Minister and the Cabinet in delivering the government’s manifesto commitments and objectives. The Cabinet office is both a “corporate centre” for government and a policy department in its own right that challenges, supports, leads and provides services to other Ministerial Departments. The Cabinet Office currently employs staff who are in a variety of roles across the UK.

Cabinet Office Finance is responsible for all aspects of the Cabinet Office’s finances and is a multidisciplinary team that brings together finance, commercial and other corporate functions under the leadership of the Cabinet Office Chief Financial Officer.

The Finance Operations Team is part of a larger Financial Control & Operations Team, which sits within the Strategy, Finance and Performance Directorate. The team is responsible for delivering and enforcing the purchase to pay processes of the Department.

The Finance Operations Team is part of a larger Financial Control & Operations Team, which sits within the Strategy, Finance and Performance Directorate. The team is responsible for delivering and enforcing the purchasing and payment processes across the Department.

The Purchasing Business Partner role aims to be a visible and versatile resource to support a range of stakeholders across the Cabinet Office. The post holder will use expert knowledge of CO systems and embrace active stakeholder management to improve our prompt payment performance and compliance with key legislative processes, looking for ways to continuously improve our processes.

You will ensure compliance with the Department’s purchase to pay processes, facilitating the efficient and prompt payment of the Department’s suppliers.

The role reports to the Finance Operations Manager.

You will act as the first point of contact for business areas and other parts of finance to provide support and advice to ensure processes are completed compliantly. The post holder will play an active part in raising financial awareness and capability across the Department.

The team is responsible for ensuring compliance, developing strategies, policies and processes governing P2P; ensuring they remain fit for purpose and meet Cabinet Office needs. This central expertise supports various business areas within the Department; delivering services to an ever-changing business and making the best use of technologies to drive continuous improvement and customer service excellence. 

The post holder will play a key role in maintaining a deserved reputation for excellent customer service. Working constructively with wider Cabinet Office teams will make you a valued contributor to ensuring the P2P process is audit compliant, and assists in driving through continuous improvements.

This post holder will need to establish and develop effective working relationships with a number of stakeholders, including the Finance Business Partners, Customers, Shared Service Centre (SSCL), Internal and External Audit. 

The role will provide lots of opportunity for both personal/professional development and an accompanying career path in an innovative organisation at the heart of Government.

Key Responsibilities

• Partner with business areas and other stakeholders to provide advice and guidance to ensure adherence to departmental policies on purchasing and payment processes, and monitor compliance. 
• Oversee business unit prompt payment performance, including managing the unpaid invoices to assist the Department in meeting targets. Fully investigating the ‘Invoices On holds’ report on a weekly basis then taking relevant remedial action.
• Proactively identify problem areas and problem suppliers that are impacting prompt payment scores and solve issues.
• Review manual payment requests, challenging when appropriate and facilitating payment when required. Taking appropriate action is taken when invoices are received that do not comply with CO Policy. Taking remedial action where P2P policy has not been followed.
• Build effective working relationships across a range of stakeholders both internally and externally to provide advice and guidance to reach effective resolutions.
• Use system expertise to manage Purchase Order Accruals (Good Received Not Invoiced), improving accuracy of the Department’s accounts
• Review and challenge requests to change purchasing options on our Government Procurement Cards in a timely manner and provide support to card holders to drive compliance.
• Respond promptly to interim and full year audit queries.
• Overseeing the delivery of timely payments and remittance adviceto suppliers, in line with contractual terms and targets
• Ensuring effective audit trails to support all transactions, reconciliations and approvals.
• Build relationships and work collaboratively with customers on all invoice/payment and procurement related issues from all stakeholders
• Support colleagues and management to ensure high standards of service delivery are achieved and maintained. Becoming a visible expert and point of escalation for their business areas
• Escalate any issues or concerns to appropriate FBPs/Business leads, highlighting actions taken, risks/issues, and recommending corrective actions where appropriate.

The successful candidate may be required to undertake occasional travel to London.

The post holder may be required to undertake additional responsibilities as expected in relation to the role and grade.

Experience

Demonstrate relevant working experience to fulfil the requirements of the role.

• Relevant Operational Finance experience.
• Numerate and competent with Microsoft and Google based applications
• A solid understanding of the purchase-to-pay process and purchase orders.
• Knowledge of invoicing/payment processes and relevant finance systems/software will be an advantage
• A team player who excels in a collaborative and hybrid working environment.
• Government Finance experience will be an advantage.

Knowledge and skills

• Strong attention to detail and excellent record keeping skills
• Good communication skills and ability to work with their team and stakeholders effectively to ensure delivery of outputs.
• Good organisational skills and ability to manage competing priorities
• The ability to work self-sufficiently.
• Experience of working under pressure 
• Problem solving ability; to identify problems, provide solutions and implement them.
• You will have an eye for detail and continuous improvement, be motivated and able to assist in the redesign processes and approaches to drive improvement.
• Play a key role to upskill wider CO colleagues on policy, processes and systems.
• Ability to effectively work as part of a team, and to take responsibility for your own area of work.

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

• Managing a Quality Service
• Changing and Improving
• Delivering at Pace

• Learning and development tailored to your role.
• An environment with flexible working options.
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity.
• A Civil Service Pension which provides an attractive pension, benefits for dependants and average employer contributions of 27%.
• A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by one day per year up to a maximum of 30.

Job contact :

• Name : Simon McCall
• Email : simon.mccall@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : cabinetofficerecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk