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Civil Service Pension with an average employer contribution of 27%
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Type of role
Senior leadership
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About the job
Job summary
As Director General, Finance, you will be working at the heart of the MOD as the principal financial adviser for Defence. Director General, Finance is the only Director General on the Defence Board, and acts as a key adviser to and problem-solver for the Secretary of State, junior ministers, Permanent Secretaries and Chiefs of Defence Staff. There is an especially strong link between Director General, Finance and the Permanent Secretary, who is the MOD Principal Accounting Officer and holds overall responsibility for the Defence budget of c.£50bn per annum.
“Accounting Officer” has a particular meaning in the public sector. As set out in Managing Public Money, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/managing-public-money an Accounting Officer in a public sector organisation is the person who Parliament calls to account for stewardship of its resources.
You will lead a team of c.900 staff with a budget of c. £70M, responsible for all aspects of financial management and control, including the budget and forecasting. The Director General, Finance chairs the Investment Approvals Committee on behalf of the Permanent Secretary. Another area of focus of the Director General, Finance is on improving all aspects of financial management to allow the Defence Board to meet its business and reform objectives, building on a solid basis in financial reporting and financial discipline.
Job description
To give you a sense of the role, you will be responsible for:
- Ensuring there is an effective financial management information and reporting service, providing best in class financial information to the key stakeholders in the Ministry of Defence as well as improving further budgeting and forecasting processes;
- Managing the Departments in-year performance against targets and budgets;
- Building strong relationships with HM Treasury which will include negotiating the future Defence budget levels and briefing them on strategic finance matters as they arise;
- Contributing to the construction of the forward Defence expenditure programme, including objectives and targets for Ministry of Defences top level budget holders and the resources allocated for their achievement, and supporting performance reporting;
- Setting the framework of and targets for efficiency and value for money work across Defence;
- Overseeing the Departments risk management and assurance approaches, reporting to the Defence Board;
- Leading the development of the Equipment Plan and oversight of the other investment plans (including infrastructure and operations);
- Leading the Investment, Approval and Scrutiny processes, chairing the Investment Approvals Committee on behalf of the Permanent Secretary;
- Leading the Project Delivery function and driving significant reform to the Defence Acquisition system, which will include providing challenge and support to 50+ Defence Major Programmes Senior Responsible Owners (SROs);
- Providing advice and support to the Departments Accounting Officers including on regularity and propriety issues, and ensuring a sound system of Corporate Governance throughout Defence to support the Statement of Internal Control for financial management and to disseminate best financial management practice throughout the Department;
- Production of the Annual Report and Accounts and seeking formal Parliamentary approval for expenditure;
- Setting strategic direction and leadership of the Departments finance function, including the development of necessary skills and competencies. Providing advice and leadership to the internal audit, fraud and assurance and analysis functions in the Department.
You will also join a supportive and collaborative cross government Finance Function and as a DG will be expected to support cross government work on Finance.
Person specification
Qualifications
Benefits
£40,230 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
Civil Service recruitment processes at Director General level are regulated by the Civil Service Commission, and we follow clear guidelines to ensure that our recruitment is fair and open. We also design our recruitment processes to reflect our values-based approach to HR (using staff engagement panels, for example) and to ensure that shortlisted candidates have the opportunity to meet key stakeholders for the role, before they join us.
We expect the process for this role to be as follows:
- The closing date for applications will be 23:55 on Sunday 29 October;
- The panel will then select a longlist of candidates who will undertake preliminary interviews with Odgers Berndtson in early November;
- The panel will then select a shortlist of candidates. During November shortlisted candidates will:
- Participate in a staff engagement panel with a selection of people from across the Ministry of Defence
- Undergo an Individual Leadership Assessment (ILA) including a series of psychometric tests
- Meet with key stakeholders, potentially including a senior Minister or leader from the department
- Inputs from all of those steps will then form the basis of a panel interview, chaired by Sarah Pittam from the Civil Service Commission on Monday 11 and Tuesday 12 December 2023.
Other panel members at the interview will include David Williams, the Permanent Secretary of the MOD, Cat Little, Second Permanent Secretary at HM Treasury and Head of Government Finance Function, Brian Gilvary, Non-Executive Director at the MOD and Madelaine McTernan, Chief of Defence Nuclear at the MOD.
Full details will be provided to shortlisted candidates and recognising that there are a number of steps in the process, we will do our best to arrange the sessions in a way that works for you. We hope that this process will be conducted in face-to-face sessions, but if you need any adjustments do let us know.
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).
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Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
- Name : Simon Havers
- Email : simon.havers@odgersberndtson.com
- Telephone : simon.havers@odgersberndtson.com
Recruitment team
- Email : simon.havers@odgersberndtson.com
