Job Description

About the Team

Government Financial Reporting (GFR) is a friendly and support team that sits within the public spending group and prides itself in developing professional technical expertise and working collaboratively with its wide range of stakeholders. It leads on a number of critical finance ministry functions including:

 

• Developing guidance and maintaining the integrity of the key financial management and reporting frameworks that underpin spending in central government – covering financial reporting, departmental budgeting and the Supply Estimates process (the means by which government spending is authorised by Parliament).

 

• Producing major financial and statistical publications, including Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis and the Whole of Government Accounts (which consolidates the accounts of over 9,000 entities).

 

• Providing advice to government departments and Treasury Spending Teams (who manage the Treasury’s spending relationship with departments) on complex or novel transactions – particularly in respect of the financial reporting and statistical classification (e.g. whether they are on or off the Government’s balance sheet).

 

• Managing relationships with key independent external stakeholders, including the National Audit Office, the Office for National Statistics, the Financial Reporting Advisory Board, and a number of accounting standards bodies both in the UK and internationally.

GFR comprises around 30 members of staff and provides exposure to a wide range of colleagues across the government finance function, as well as working on areas of emerging policy and risk management within government. The team is dynamic, and fully supports learning, development and growth.

Key Accountabilities

The Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) is a set of consolidated accounts for the whole of the public sector. This is a highly complex account and at the forefront of what is done internationally. Each publication is a significant project with sophisticated technical and logistical issues. There is strong support for WGA both within the Treasury and from other interested parties such as Parliament, the National Audit Office and the Office of Budget Responsibility. This is a really exciting time to be joining the team as we seek to produce the account in the context of the implications of the COVID 19 epidemic – with both the logistical implications and the financial reporting impacts for the account itself. We are also maintaining our focus on our wider strategic goals to improve the timeliness/speed, quality, and usability of the publication.

The key accountabilities of the role are:

Develop the strategy and plans for effective delivery of the WGA publication in this year and beyond, to achieve the department’s strategic goals for the publication, including raising its profile and demonstrating its benefits (including from the underlying dataset) for wider public financial/fiscal management.

Lead, empower and develop a team (4 Range E’s, 2 Range D’s, 2 Fast streamers and an apprentice), ensuring that they have appropriate objectives and development plans supported by coaching and mentoring.

Maintain the critical path for the delivery of WGA. Ensure that work is appropriately planned, delegated and reviewed. Manage slippages and seize opportunities effectively, keeping key stakeholders updated on progress. Take ownership of improving processes (including working with others to deliver technological change) to deliver improvements this year and in future years.

Lead on developing effective relationships with key stakeholders including the National Audit Office, the Treasury Audit and Risk Committee, devolved administrations, accounting institutes and Departmental finance teams. Prepare and deliver briefing to senior officials for Parliamentary hearings.
 

Responsibilities

Sift Criteria

Candidates – Please note, you will be asked to give evidence in your application of how you meet these criteria.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

1. CCAB (or equivalent) qualified accountant

Required Behaviours, Experience and Technical Skills:

1. Experience of building, motivating and developing a team to deliver a large long-term project involving many stakeholders. [Leadership]

2. Ability to think strategically to plan and deliver sophisticated projects delivered in a complex IT environment. [Managing a quality service]

3. Experience of leading a complex financial reporting process, keeping all parties on track to deliver against deadlines and priorities. {Experience]

4. Knowledge of how to accurately manage the process of preparing consolidated accounts, including detailed knowledge of International Financial Reporting Standards. [Technical skill]

5. Ability to identify and implement improvements to processes or products, ensuring engagement from a range of internal and external partners. [Changing and improving]

The lead criteria is: 2 – Managing a quality service.
If we receive a large number of applications, applications will be assessed against this criteria alone first. They will then be assessed against the other criteria if they have met the minimum score on the lead criteria.

Qualifications

CCAB (or equivalent) qualified accountant

Behaviours

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

• Developing Self and Others
• Managing a Quality Service
• Changing and Improving
• Leadership
• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Changing and Improving
• Leadership

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Accounting skills and experience

Benefits

Flexible working arrangements:

HM Treasury views flexible working as essential in enabling us to recruit and retain talented people, ensuring that they are able to enjoy a long-lasting career with us. All employees have the right to apply for flexible working and there are a range of options available including; working from home, compressed hours and job sharing. Additionally, we operate flexitime systems, allowing employees to take up to an additional 2 days off each month, providing you work enough hours to meet business need.

We also offer a generous maternity/ paternity and adoption leave package.

At HM Treasury we have an incredibly broad remit; our work touches every citizen of the country. So, it’s important our employees come from the widest possible range of backgrounds, bringing us the widest possible range of perspectives and ways of thinking. We are committed to ensuring that all staff are able to realise their potential and achieve a healthy work-life balance.

Benefits:

 

• 25 days’ annual leave (rising to 30 after 5 years), plus 8 public holidays and the Queen’s birthday (unless you have a legacy arrangement as an existing Civil Servant)
• Flexible working patterns (part-time, job-share, condensed hours)
• Access to a generous Defined Benefit pension scheme with employer contributions.
• Onsite restaurant and coffee bar. The London office also offers a gym, showers and prayer room
• Access to a cycle-to-work salary sacrifice scheme, season ticket advances and payroll giving
• Access to a retail discounts and cashback site
• A Rental Deposit Advance Scheme to help meet the total costs of deposits for privately rented homes
• A range of active staff networks, based around interests (e.g. analysts, music society, sports and social club) and diversity (e.g. women in the Treasury, ethnic minority network, LGBT* network, faith and belief network)

Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

1. Experience of building, motivating and developing a team to deliver a large long-term project involving many stakeholders. [Leadership] 2. Ability to think strategically to plan and deliver sophisticated projects delivered in a complex IT environment. [Managing a quality service] 3. Experience of leading a complex financial reporting process, keeping all parties on track to deliver against deadlines and priorities. {Experience] 4. Knowledge of how to accurately manage the process of preparing consolidated accounts, including detailed knowledge of International Financial Reporting Standards. [Technical skill] 5. Ability to identify and implement improvements to processes or products, ensuring engagement from a range of internal and external partners. [Changing and improving]