Management Accountant-MA Operations (Ref:77489)

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.

Job Title/ Position  Management Accountant – MA Operations

Grade HEO/ Band C

Number of Vacancies 1

Business Group Management Accounting Centre of Excellence

Directorate Financial Management and Control

Location National

Hours 37

Post Type Permanent

Role Type/ Team Finance

Ministry of Justice an Inclusive Employer

We recognise the challenges that people with (multiple) protected characteristics may experience on the job market and in their career progression. We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer of choice and ensuring equity of opportunity for all. We welcome the unique contribution diverse applicants bring in terms of their culture, ethnicity, race, nationality or national origin, age, sex, gender identity or expression, religion or belief, disability status, sexual orientation, educational or social background or any other factor. To find out more about how we champion diversity and inclusion in the workplace please visit https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity

Overview

• The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) sits at the heart of public service delivery and the government’s wider social reform agenda, working to protect and advance the principles of justice. The department has been at the forefront of the Government’s wider efficiency agenda making our finance roles an exciting and challenging opportunity.
• The MoJ Management Accounting Centre of Excellence team sits within the Financial Management and Control Directorate and supports the department by providing a centralised, professional service to the department and individual business areas, adhering to the key principles in Managing Public Money, the Estimates Manual, the Spending Controls Framework and Budget Holder Responsibilities. It supports all MoJ operational Agencies, Arms-length Bodies (ALBs) and Head Quarter (HQ) functions (resource budget ~£10bn, capital budget ~£1.7bn) in providing robust, timely and transparent management accounting services.
• The MoJ Management Accounting Centre of Excellence works with other Finance teams, including the Finance Business Partnering teams, to provide a high-quality finance service to the department. The teams have recently been structurally separated with clearly defined roles and responsibilities but must work closely together to deliver an effective end-to-end process of data extraction, analysis, reporting, insight, and advice.
• The MoJ Management Accounting Centre of Excellence will promote and maintain best practice in management accounting, business intelligence, data integrity and visualisation, reporting from a standard suite that is tailored where necessary. It will also seek to exploit new and existing technology as an enabler to delivering more efficient services and focus on streamlining and optimizing processes.

Purpose of the role

• This is a management accountant role within one of the operational MA teams within the MoJ Management Accounting Centre of Excellence. The postholder will need to be flexible in their approach as they may be asked to support one or more of the MoJ agencies (e.g. HM Prisons & Probation (HMPPS), Legal Aid Agency (LAA), Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA), Office of the Public Guardian), or one or more of the Finance Operating Model ALBs (e.g. Parole Board (PB), Youth Justice Board (YJB), Judicial Appointment Commission (JAC), Independent Monitoring Authority (IMA), or MoJ HQ function(s).
• This role offers a great opportunity to become part of the MoJ Management Accounting Centre of Excellence and contribute to its’ continued development. It is a team constantly evolving, working towards its’ vision which is: ‘A Centre of Excellence, recognized for delivering high quality financial management and insight to our customers, by a respected capable team which constantly strives to reform and improve in order to add value’.

The primary purpose of the role is to support the Management Accounting Centre of Excellence in providing a time critical management accounting function for MoJ.

The post holder will be responsible to the Lead Management Accountant for ensuring all monthly, quarterly, and annual accounting processes are correctly carried out to MoJ published timescales.

This is a management role, responsible for providing assurance to the Lead Management Accountant regarding the financial position of allocated area(s)/functions(s). It provides clear analytical interpretation of financial information.

The post holder will be responsible for building and maintaining effective stakeholder relationships within an allocated area/Directorate/function with finance business partners, the wider finance community and across the business community.

The post holder will typically be part of a geographically dispersed team of between 10 and 12 finance professionals with line management of a small number of direct reports.

Role Summary

Management Reporting HEOs are responsible for key month end activities, ensuring accuracy and providing insight, which support the team to produce financial reports.

Typical Role Responsibilities

Management Reporting HEOs are expected to perform important month end activities, ensure accuracy, and provide insight, which supports the team to produce financial reports.

Entry Routes

Suitable for staff with the required skills and / or experience from within or outside Finance

Within Finance 

This role may be suitable for individuals in the following roles:

• Management Reporting EO
• Finance EOs/HEOs with the required numeracy and data analysis skills

From Outside Finance

This role may be suitable for EOs on promotion and HEOs with the required numeracy and data analysis skills, an interest in financial reporting and who are considering joining the Finance Function

Progression Routes

Staff in this role typically move into other HEO roles in Finance or progress to Management Reporting SEO or Financial Operations SEO roles.

Role Responsibilities/Tasks

Getting the Basics Right

• Management of the monthly accounting cycle. Responsible for providing time critical monthly, quarterly, and annual management and statutory financial accounts – for allocated areas at regional/ functional level – meeting local and published timetables. This includes oversight of timely, and accurate completion of the quarterly schedules.
• Responsible for ensuring all budgets, forecasts and journals are uploaded/posted in accordance with local and published timetables.
• Responsible for adherence (within team/areas of responsibility) with MoJ and HM Treasury policies and guidelines (journal policy, finance manual, Managing Public Money), including compliance checks e.g., journals are in accordance with the policy and checks are evidenced.
• Management of a functional mailbox ensuring a high level of quality service is maintained.
• Ensuring a strong partnership is developed and maintained with all Stakeholders (Finance Business Partners, the Business, Shared Services (SSCL)) to support service delivery.
• Promoting diversity, inclusion and equality of opportunity, respecting difference and external experience, supporting the principles of fairness of opportunity for all.

People and Capability

• Take personal responsibility for your own learning and development by actively engaging in learning opportunities through the MoJ Professionalism and Capability Centre of Expertise and researching L&D options for inclusion in development plans.
• Ensure direct reports are supported in learning and development by actively engaging in and encouraging learning opportunities through the MoJ Professionalism and Capability Centre of Expertise. Maintain development plans to support improved capability whilst also supporting individual ambitions.
• Support the Lead Management Accountant to provide strategic leadership to the team to ensure capability to successfully deliver business performance, through identification of skills gaps/training needs.

Operating Model

• Support the Future Finance Programme’s priorities, understanding how you and your team feed into them through engagement in working groups, updates and team discussions.
• Actively support Lead Management Accountant and Senior Management Accountant in implementation of new ways of working, adopting smarter processes. Engage in continuous improvement through regular review and sharing of ideas to support improved ways of working and develop ‘thematic’ analytics expertise across the team.
• Collaborate with colleagues across the wider MA team to develop close and effective working relationships and practices enabling resilience and consistency in delivery, including regular review of MA work instructions and implementation of new ones building on a consistent approach and service delivery.

Finance Insight

• Oversee the Actuals, Budgets and Forecasts for all designated budgets on the financial accounting system, to ensure the accuracy of monthly reporting.
• Undertake regular reviews and monitoring of expenditure across all designated regions/ functions for resource, capital and balance sheet/suspense accounts investigating and challenging significant variances, movements and patterns, to inform forecasting and decision making, advising Finance Business Partners of issues for resolution with local budget holders.
• Responsible for analysing, interpretation and insight of key management information, to inform monthly reporting i.e., feed into monthly dashboards.

Trusted Advisor

• Provide advice and guidance to users, problem solving and developing smarter ways of working, to include effective information flow/ sharing with the Business, Compliance Team; support the Business in activities impacting on the accounts; support FBPs by providing useful analysis and MI.

Planning & Performance

• Have an awareness and understanding of financial risks and opportunities, ensuring they are identified and reported to line managers and stakeholders (regional/divisional FBPs, Compliance, Governance team) as required, ensuring an accurate picture is incorporated within the wider MoJ accounts.
• Responsible for team’s weekly/monthly task schedule ensuring a formal plan of review and monitoring is in place for effectiveness and completeness, and that all tasks are allocated and actioned appropriately.

Other duties

The post holder will be required to work flexibly and undertake other duties reasonably requested by line management which are commensurate with the grade and level of responsibility of this post. This may also include working closely with other MoJ Finance staff to develop solutions/problem-solve, engaging in project work to drive financial improvements.

Knowledge, Skills, and Behaviours

Person Specification

• Experience of working in a diverse team to deliver an effective and efficient service, in a fast-paced environment.
• The post holder will have a high level of technical ability, including advanced Excel skills and experience in using Oracle based finance systems such SOP Hyperion and SmartView.
• The post holder will provide clarity and analytical interpretation of the financial management information recognising patterns and trends in a wide range of data and drawing conclusions. They will be able to explore different options outlining costs, benefits, risks and potential responses to each.
• The post holder will develop proposals to improve the quality of service with involvement from key stakeholders within the MA team, the Directorate and the wider MoJ community, assisting the Lead Management Accountant to maintain a high level of financial performance and providing quality financial and budgetary information for a range of designated cost centres and allocated portfolio.
• They will undertake specific thematic expertise analysing financial movement and challenging forecast which will demand initiative and self-motivation.

Behaviours Required

Success Profiles will enable a fairer and more inclusive method of recruitment by enabling us to assess the range of experiences, abilities, strengths, behaviours, and technical/professional skills required for different roles. This flexible approach to recruitment focuses more on finding the right candidate for the specific role. To find out more about Success Profiles to support your application please click here for further guidance.

• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing

Please refer to the Civil Service Behaviours Framework, which can be found here, to complete this application: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/717275/CS_Behaviours_2018.pdf

If we receive a large volume of applications, we reserve the right to conduct the sift based on one lead behaviour. The chosen lead behaviour for this campaign is Working Together

In addition to Civil Service Behaviours identified above, the following is required:

• A Statement of Suitability

Interpersonal Skills

• Support Senior Management Accountant in delivery of outputs
• Develop collaborative relationships with key stakeholders across organisation e.g., Finance Business Partners, governance, customers
• Ability to effectively negotiate with stakeholders

Professional Skills.

Key for Levels of Professional Skills

• A = Awareness
• W = Working
• P = Practitioner
• E = Expert

Qualifications

• Level 4 qualification with AAT, CCABor CIMA
• Qualified with CCAB, CIMAor equivalent
• Working towards qualification
• Some financial experience

Travel

The MoJ offers Hybrid Working arrangements where business need allows. This is an informal, non-contractual form of flexible working that blends working from your base location, different MoJ sites and / or from home (please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas). Some roles will not be suitable for Hybrid Working.  Similarly, Hybrid Working will not suit everyone’s circumstances. Arrangements will be discussed and agreed with the successful candidate(s) and subject to regular review.

Applicants are advised to access the JCC/JSO office map, which is updated whenever a new JCC/JSO site opens, to determine potential travelling times and distances to MoJ locations before applying for a job.

Application Process

To apply please complete the online application form. Applications will be sifted by a panel who will look at the Civil Service Behaviour framework and what is evidenced in your application. Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the lead behaviour, Working Together

Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to interview. Applicants will be expected to demonstrate the essential role requirements within the application behaviour responses. 

Candidates who are successful following the sift process will be invited to interview, where the behavioural elements and strengths will be tested further alongside other elements of the post. Further details will be provided to shortlisted candidates in advance of the interviews.

Training

The Ministry of Justice is committed to staff development and offers an extensive range of training and development opportunities.

Networks

The opportunity to join employee run networks that have been established to provide advice and support and to enable the views of employees from minority groups to be expressed direct to senior management. There are currently networks for employees of minority ethnic origin, employees with disabilities, employees with caring responsibilities, women employees, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender employees.

For further information please feel free to contact Saima.Saleem@justice.gov.uk  

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

• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service
• 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