25.101 Head of Financial Accounts

Disclosure & Barring Service; Liverpool; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A government agency in Liverpool is seeking a Head of Financial Accounts to lead the Financial Accounts team, ensuring compliance with accounting standards and managing the audit process. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in finance, excellent communication skills, and the ability to develop financial policies. A CCAB or CIMA qualification is essential. The role offers a competitive salary and comprehensive benefits package.

Benefits

Generous annual leave

Flexible working opportunities

Employee Assistance Programme

Health and wellbeing commitment

Civil Service pension with employer contribution

Qualifications

• Proven ability to communicate complex matters to a non-financial audience.
• Strategic thinking and planning skills.
• Excellent relationship management and influencing skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the Financial Accounts team.
• Develop and monitor financial controls for accuracy and integrity.
• Manage external audit process and prepare audited financial statements.

Skills

Communication skills

Strategic thinking

Relationship management

Organizational skills

Resilience under pressure

Effective communication

Education

CCAB or CIMA qualification

Job description

Overview

As the Head of Financial Accounts, your role will lead the Financial Accounts team, providing guidance and support in establishing a controls-based environment, to provide advice, and develop policies, to ensure compliance with accounting standards, tax regulations, and other government financial reporting requirements. The Head of Financial Accounts is a senior member of the Finance team and is responsible for providing an efficient, effective and high-quality professional service meeting all reporting requirements.

• Effectively and proactively lead, manage and motivate the Financial Accounts team ensuring that there is a culture of high performance, strong engagement and a commitment to continuous improvement.
• Lead and manage the Financial Accounts team, providing direction and influence that ensures the team has the required capacity, capability, processes and systems to deliver its objectives.
• Develop and monitor financial controls for all financial areas, ensuring the accuracy, integrity, consistency & quality of the DBS general ledger.
• Lead the development of DBS' finance and accounting policies, ensuring compliance with latest standards, regulatory and stakeholder requirements.
• Support the Head of Operational Finance in the provision of technical guidance to all internal stakeholders and in the preparation of accounting papers.
• Lead the development and delivery of the annual finance timetable, encompassing monthly management accounts, annual budgets, forecasts, regulatory and stakeholder returns as required.
• Lead and manage the timely preparation of all regulatory and stakeholder reporting (including Home Office consolidation).
• Lead and manage the preparation of the annual audited financial statements, and supporting working papers, while maintaining good relationships with external auditors, ensuring no material issues arise within the external audit.
• Oversee the preparation of the monthly cash flow forecasting to ensure that the 3-month working capital cash requirement is not breached.
• Oversee and manage all Financial Accounts activities including any centralised requisitioning, journals and reconciliations, as well as the effective stewardship and compliance reviews.
• Act as a key point of contact with external auditors and effectively manage the external audit process.
• Ensure appropriate departmental KPIs are prepared and reported on a timely basis.
• To work closely with the Head of Management Accounts to ensure the timely completion of accurate management information and reporting.
• To work closely with the Head of Operational Finance and other Finance Heads of Service to improve the department's systems and procedures, both IT and non-IT based.
• Deputise for the Head of Operational Finance when required.
• Undertake additional duties appropriate to the role and/or grade.
• Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application; all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Plagiarism may lead to withdrawal of applications and disciplinary action for internal candidates. See candidate guidance for more information.

Qualifications and Skills

• Proven ability to communicate complex matters to a non-financial audience and to build effective relationships with senior stakeholders.
• Strategic thinking, planning and analysis skills, with the ability to develop creative solutions to support the management of change and mitigate associated risks.
• Excellent relationship management, influencing, facilitation and presentation skills.
• Presence and credibility to work with senior colleagues across the organisation.
• Highly organised and able to plan and manage a broad portfolio of activities.
• Resilience in challenging circumstances: ability to work under pressure, remaining calm but decisive.
• Highly effective communicator in person, in writing and in electronic media.

Experience – essential criteria

• Highly developed people leadership, management and communication skills.
• Successful relationship-building with own staff team members and wider Finance department.
• Leading the annual report and accounts production process.
• Managing the external audit process through to the delivery of annual audited financial statements.
• Excellent knowledge of latest accounting standards (IFRS experience and FReM knowledge preferred).
• Communicating complex accounting and tax issues to non-finance stakeholders.
• Developing financial policies, frameworks and procedures.
• Best practice financial controls.
• Experience within a senior Financial Accountant role and ability to draw upon practicable experience of managing multiple deliverables to tight timescales whilst implementing financial controls.
• Experience of driving improvements in processes to increase efficiency.
• Experience coaching and developing finance colleagues.

Technical essentials

• Must hold an accounting qualification from a recognised CCAB accountancy body or CIMA; active membership from a recognised CCAB body or CIMA.

Leadership and development

• Leadership
• Developing Self and Others
• Managing a Quality Service
• Working Together
• Communicating and Influencing
+ Making Effective Decisions

Salary and Benefits

Alongside your salary of £58,057, Disclosure & Barring Service contributes £16,819 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. The DBS offers a number of excellent benefits for its employees, including generous annual leave entitlement, maternity/paternity/adoption schemes (after a qualifying period), commitment to health and wellbeing, Employee Assistance Programme, flexible working opportunities, eyecare voucher scheme, Occupational Health Service including referrals for counselling and physiotherapy, 24/7 Counselling and Wellbeing Service, and a Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%.

About DBS and diversity

The DBS vision and purpose is to make people safer by being a visible, trusted and influential organisation, providing an outstanding quality of service to all our customers and partners, where our people understand the important safeguarding contributions they make and feel proud to work here. DBS is committed to attracting, developing, retaining and engaging diverse talent representative of the communities we serve, and to provide outstanding service to all customers with diverse needs. We want all staff to bring their 'whole self' to work.

Application process

This vacancy uses Success Profiles and will assess your Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills. To apply, provide a CV and a personal suitability statement of not more than 750 words outlining how your skills, experience and qualifications meet the requirements of the role, including essential and desirable criteria. If shortlisted, you will undergo a virtual interview with a two-part process: a 10-minute presentation on the topic provided on the day assessing the behaviour 'Communicating and Influencing' and a technical accounting question, followed by a panel interview assessing Leadership, Developing Self and Others, Managing a Quality Service, Working Together, and Making Effective Decisions. Feedback available only if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security and nationality

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline security standard checks. This job is broadly open to UK nationals, Ireland nationals, Commonwealth nationals with right to work in the UK, and certain EU/EEA/Swiss/Norwegian/Icelandic/Liechtenstein nationals and their family members under the EU Settlement Scheme, or those with settled/pre-settled status. See further information on nationality requirements. The Civil Service Code sets out standards of behaviour and merit-based recruitment principles. The Civil Service embraces diversity and runs a Disability Confident Scheme for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.