Apply Now
Details
Reference number
Salary
Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
Job grade
Contract type
Business area
Type of role
Working pattern
Number of jobs available
Contents
Location
About the job
Job summary
Here at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, we work on things that make a real difference to peoples lives.
We are at the forefront of helping the country to recover after the pandemic, helping to achieve a better life for more people and a stronger economy across the whole UK.
Whether its through delivering safe, affordable and green homes, supporting communities in all their diversity, or investing in places across the whole UK, our work is at the top of the political agenda.
Our new second HQ in Wolverhampton and the governments Northern Economic Hub in Darlington are a central part of becoming a more outward facing department that reflects the communities that we serve. If you are thinking of joining us, there has never been a more exciting time.
Summary
DLUHC Finance is an exciting and varied place to work. We work closely with policy teams to develop government policy on issues ranging from the governments Levelling Up agenda, the response to Covid-19, building more homes across the country, and tackling homelessness and rough sleeping.
Our focus is ensuring we make best use of taxpayers money to deliver for the public. The Finance Business Partnering function is at the forefront of this. We are split into two teams: Finance and Performance: Housing; and Finance and Performance: Corporate, Communities and Local Government.
We assist policy and delivery teams in ensuring policies are value for money and deliverable and help them understand how well they are achieving their policy goals. As part of this, we work closely with policy colleagues and other teams in Finance, translating data and offering financial insights and advice to support them in understanding the implications of the financial data.
We are a friendly team, with a focus on development, supportive line management, and prioritise wellbeing. Successful candidates will have access to extensive professional development resources as part of the Government Finance Community, including support for career development. We are constantly seeking to improve how we work and welcome new ideas to shape this. We are looking forward to hiring people with a range of backgrounds and perspectives to bring new expertise and fresh thinking to our teams.
Job description
If you are looking for a Management Accountant/ Junior Finance Business Partnering role that offers a variety of policy interventions and budgets this is the role for you. This is an interesting role for people who are in or want to get into Finance, in a friendly and supportive finance business partner teams covering Housing, Building Safety, Levelling Up, Union, Elections and Places. The roles advertised are varied and pacey and covers Groups that have seen a lot of change and policy proposals requiring financial support. The roles focus on supporting policy teams and business managers with the monthly forecasting process and other finance queries, in order to provide sound financial information to directors and central finance. This will include working with financial systems and related tasks (SAP), supporting finance commissions and processes, doing ad-hoc analysis, engaging with policy colleagues and business managers, and providing high quality financial information and insight for senior managers.
Reporting to a G7 Senior Finance Business Partner, you will provide finance business partnering and management accounting support to your business area. You will be part of a small and collaborative team, working closely with the wider departmental finance function, as well as the wider organisation to deliver your objectives.
The main responsibilities are:
- Ensure the integrity of transactions on financial systems, ensuring good controls and checks are in place to maintain accuracy.
- Work with policy teams to understand and explain significant changes in forecast and actuals; provide updates on issues and risks.
- Support financial processes, including grant payments, cash forecasting and purchases.
- Leading on month end activities by providing management accounting functions for your business area: General Ledger, SAP and Financial Systems. As well as supporting in the production of journals, budget amendments and robust forecasts, including people forecasting, and facilitating senior responsible officer commentaries, ensuring that we are effectively linking our financial performance to the delivery of the Departments objectives
- Developing a firm understanding of your policy or corporate directorate and building strong and productive relationships with policy teams to ensure you become a trusted advisor and critical friend.
- Providing financial support and challenge to business areas when developing policy, including reviewing and assessing business cases, to promote effective decision-making.
- Ensuring that policy proposals which have financial implications are affordable and meet budgetary requirements as set out in Consolidated Budgeting Guidance.
Person specification
At DLUHC we value diversity and inclusion and actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including those that are underrepresented in our workforce. We promote equality of opportunity in all aspects of employment and a working environment free from discrimination, harassment, bullying and victimisation. As such if you require any accessibility alterations to the recruitment process, please get in touch with the vacancy holder.
- While it would be valuable to have an understanding of HM Treasurys Managing Public Money and how the government assess policy and spend proposals, this is not essential. We welcome experience from different sectors. It is important that you have the ability to understand the risks associated with policy and corporate decisions and as a critical thinker, you will be someone who is able to apply a framework of value for money, feasibility, propriety and regularity to new ideas. As an effective problem solver, your ability to use data and financial analysis to drive effective decisions will be a key contributor to your success in this role.
- The essence of the role is to work closely with policy and the corporate teams, you will be able to demonstrate your ability to build enduring relationships with a range of partners from a solid foundation of trust and empathy. This will be central to delivering constructive challenge in a way which is effective. Your stakeholder engagement skills will be built on diplomacy, problem-solving and a can-do approach.
- You will be highly motivated and an enthusiastic self-starter, with an ability to learn. An aptitude for working autonomously where required is essential and will help you take ownership of work. Demonstrating both the ability to approach things analytically and with a focus on key stakeholders and their behaviours.
- You will be a strong communicator, someone who can draw insights from data and bring complex concepts to life for non-financial expert colleagues. You will be comfortable working at pace, managing time and competing priorities effectively to maximise productivity.
- The department is a constantly evolving and changing, you will need to respond flexibly to this, but also be able to prioritise and organise your workdays to deliver key monthly tasks
Benefits
£8,313 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme.
Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
- 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 average employer contribution of 27%
Things you need to know
Selection process details
We are for everyone
At DLUHC we value diversity and inclusion and actively encourage and welcome applications from everyone, including those that are underrepresented in our workforce. We promote equality of opportunity in all aspects of employment and a working environment free from discrimination, harassment, bullying and victimisation.
We would strongly recommend that applicants get in touch with the vacancy manager to find out more information about this role.
DLUHC want to bring in a diverse workforce at all levels.
Our application system is designed to remove as much bias as possible from the recruitment system this means that a hiring manager does not know your name, your details, see your whole application in one go (or have your CV at review stage unless stated otherwise).
Your answers are randomised and chunked up. This means that each assessor views sets of responses to questions for example all candidates responses to Seeing the Big Picture rather than seeing a candidates full application. The science behind this is that recruitment can be subject to ordering and fatigue effects and we want to reduce this as much as possible.
Most of our campaigns utilise multiple assessors and so it is possible that each of your answers would be viewed by different assessors.
When writing your application, remember:
- The assessor wont be reading your answers sequentially.
- Do not assume that the same assessors will have read all of your answers.
- If talking about something in your first answer, make sure that you write the second answer as if you had not written the first (and so on!)
At sift, we will be assessing
Behaviour 1 Communicating and Influencing
Behaviour 2 Managing a quality service
Behaviour 3 Delivering at Pace
Experience (lead criteria) – Thinking about your career to date, what skills, knowledge and experience do you have which make you the best candidate for this role?
There is a 250 word limit per question.
In the event that we receive a large number of applications, we may conduct an initial sift using the lead criteria listed in the advert. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progress straight to assessment/interview
The interview will be of a blended nature consisting of the following success profiles elements:
Behaviour
Strength
The strength based questions will require natural responses from the candidates.
In the full campaign we will test the below Success Profile Elements:
Behaviours: (Communicating and Influencing, Working Together, Managing a Quality Service, Delivering at Pace)
Experience: yes
Strengths: yes
We do not consider direct CV applications to our Recruitment mailbox you must apply for this role via the application link on Civil Service Jobs
Please note that near miss offers may be made at the lower grade to candidates who do not meet the grade criteria for this campaign.
HEO salary
- The salary for this role is £30,792 (National).
- For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable.
HEO Accountant
- If you are a fully qualified accountant, you may be entitled to a higher salary of £33,650 (National).
- For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable.
- In order to receive this, you must be fully qualified and in a qualifying post as agreed by the Finance Head of Profession.
Please note that the average employer pension contribution is based upon the National minimum salary for this role. Should your agreed starting salary for this role be different, the average employer pension contribution will be calculated accordingly. If you are a Secondee, this will not apply as you will remain on your home organisations terms and conditions.
BENEFITS:
Transfers across the Civil Service on or after 4 October 2018:
Any move to DLUHC 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
For further information about the benefits available to DLUHC employees, please see the attached Candidate Pack.
GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION:
- Wolverhampton
- Birmingham
- Darlington*
There may be opportunities for candidates to work flexibly depending on the business needs. This will be discussed with the vacancy manager on a case-by-case basis if you are successful for the role.
*Please note: The Darlington Economic Campus (DEC) is a pioneering new cross-government hub which will bring together people across departments and public organisations to play an active role in the most important economic issues of the day. The work of the Campus will make a real difference to people both across the UK and internationally. There will be substantial career opportunities and exciting prospects – a career at the Campus means you will be working at the heart of Government, with access to the benefits and fantastic opportunities offered by the civil service. This role is based at DLUHC and we will be joined on the campus by:
- HM Treasury
- Department for International Trade
- Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
- Office for National Statistics
- Department for Education
For further information on the DEC, please take a look at the attached DEC candidate pack.
SIFT AND INTERVIEW DATES:
Sifting is envisaged to take place W/C 28th August with interview dates to be confirmed. All interviews are currently being held remotely via videocall.
Reserve List
In the event that we identify more appointable candidates than we currently have posts available, we will hold applicant details on a reserve list for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made. This may include roles at a lower grade. Candidates placed on a reserve list will be informed of this. Those candidates who do not wish to remain on the reserve list should contact recruitment@levellingup.gov.uk to be removed from the reserve list.
Candidate Pack Information
Please see attached Candidate pack for further information.
Before starting your application its very important to make sure that you are eligible to apply and meet the Civil Service nationality requirements. All candidates are expected to read the information provided in the DLUHC candidate pack regarding nationality requirements and rules
Internal Fraud Database
The Internal Fraud function of the Fraud, Error, Debt and Grants Function at the Cabinet Office processes details of civil servants who have been dismissed for committing internal fraud, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned. The Cabinet Office receives the details from participating government organisations of civil servants who have been dismissed, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned, for internal fraud. In instances such as this, civil servants are then banned for 5 years from further employment in the civil service. The Cabinet Office then processes this data and discloses a limited dataset back to DLUHC as a participating government organisations. DLUHC then carry out the pre employment checks so as to detect instances where known fraudsters are attempting to reapply for roles in the civil service. In this way, the policy is ensured and the repetition of internal fraud is prevented.
For more information please see- Internal Fraud Register
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).
Apply and further information
You may want to save a copy for your records.
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : Ellie Stamp
- Email : Ellie.Stamp@levellingup.gov.uk
Recruitment team
- Email : recruitment@communities.gov.uk
