Head of Finance

Crown Commercial Service; United Kingdom; Hybrid; GBP 76,000; Full time

Job summary

Join a forward-thinking organization that plays a crucial role in public procurement in the UK. As a key member of the finance team, you will ensure effective financial management and stewardship of public funds. This role involves leading financial strategy, managing resources efficiently, and providing strategic insights to senior management. With a competitive salary and generous benefits, this position offers a unique opportunity to make a significant impact while enjoying a flexible working environment.

Benefits

Generous pension scheme

Discretionary performance-related bonus

Minimum 25 days annual leave

Remote working flexibility

Qualifications

• Qualified accountant with experience in financial management and reporting.
• Strong stakeholder management and leadership skills.

Responsibilities

• Support the Director of Finance with financial stewardship and planning.
• Develop and implement the organisation's financial strategy.

Skills

Stakeholder Management

Financial Management

Leadership

Communication Skills

Financial Analysis

Education

Qualified Accountant (CCAB or equivalent)

Job description

Birmingham, Liverpool, Newport (Gwent), Norwich

Job Summary

Join a team that brings value to the nation

Would you like to play a key role in the finance function of the largest public procurement organisation in the UK? Do you want to help manage public money and join a team that delivers value?

Directorate Overview

Finance, Planning and Performance oversees our financial reporting, develops budgets and projections, formulates business plans, tracks implementation progress, measures success metrics and manages

corporate risk and assurance activities across CCS.

Role Summary

The post holder will support the Director of Finance, Planning and Performance with effective financial stewardship of the CCS Trading Fund and will be responsible for ensuring a high standard of financial

management, integrity and planning. The post holder will ensure the organisation achieves its objectives in line with the overall Agency Business Plan and that all CCS activities are financially viable and its assets

managed appropriately.

Job Description

Key responsibilities and accountabilities

• integral member of the CCS and FPP senior leadership group, forging strong relationships with strategy, policy, and operational teams. The role is directly responsible for c25 members of staff
• developing and implementing the organisation’s financial strategy, ensuring it aligns with overall business objectives
• leading on the planning and management of medium and short-term financial planning, ensuring efficient and effective use of financial resources
• provision of strategic financial reporting and advice to senior management and boards, offering constructive challenge and scrutiny to expenditure proposals and forecasts
• responsible for providing performance data, analysis, and insights to inform decision-making and improve financial performance, particularly around commercial benefits, savings, income and expenditure
• champion productivity and efficiency reporting, improving links with business planning, income strategy and management decisions
• ensure that the working capital of the Trading Fund is properly managed and controlled
• provide advice, support and challenge on investment cases and special projects
• responsible for appropriate and effective management of supplier financial sustainability
• ensure compliance with Treasury guidelines on Managing Public Money through a framework of robust and effective control
• responsible for compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements, supporting corporatequality, risk management, and assurance activities, ensuring that financial business risks are being tracked and mitigated as effectively as possible
  
  

Key Responsibilities And Accountabilities

• integral member of the CCS and FPP senior leadership group, forging strong relationships with strategy, policy, and operational teams. The role is directly responsible for c25 members of staff
• developing and implementing the organisation’s financial strategy, ensuring it aligns with overall business objectives
• leading on the planning and management of medium and short-term financial planning, ensuring efficient and effective use of financial resources
• provision of strategic financial reporting and advice to senior management and boards, offering constructive challenge and scrutiny to expenditure proposals and forecasts
• responsible for providing performance data, analysis, and insights to inform decision-making and improve financial performance, particularly around commercial benefits, savings, income and expenditure
• champion productivity and efficiency reporting, improving links with business planning, income strategy and management decisions
• ensure that the working capital of the Trading Fund is properly managed and controlled
• provide advice, support and challenge on investment cases and special projects
• responsible for appropriate and effective management of supplier financial sustainability
• ensure compliance with Treasury guidelines on Managing Public Money through a framework of robust and effective control
• responsible for compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements, supporting corporatequality, risk management, and assurance activities, ensuring that financial business risks are being tracked and mitigated as effectively as possible
  
  

Person specification

Essential Criteria (Assessment Will Be Based On Applications)

• qualified accountant – CCAB or equivalent qualification
• proven stakeholder management abilities (including influencing and negotiating)
• highly developed people leadership, management and communication skills
• significant experience of general financial management including; producing sets of published accounts following external audit, managing financial control systems and processes, financial systems administration, financial analysis and financial policy development
• demonstrable experience of preparing financial plans and forecasts, preparing medium term financial plans, annual budgets and forecasts
  
  

Behaviours

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

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing
• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together
  
  

Alongside your salary of £76,000, Crown Commercial Service contributes £22,017 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

What we will offer you, here are some of the benefits you can expect:

• Competitive salary
• Generous pension scheme
• A discretionary non-contractual performance related bonus
• Working remotely in addition to working in advertised office location
• Minimum 25 days annual leave to a maximum service related 30 days excluding bank holidays
  
  

Explore Fully How We Will Reward Your Work.

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil ServiceD&I Strategy.

We want to make our recruitment process accessible to everyone, so if there is any way that we can support you, please contact [e-mail]

Working flexibly, delivering outcomes

CCS is a flexible business with a smarter working model where our colleagues benefit from a mix of home and office working. Successful candidates are expected to work from one of the office locations listed. Our current office attendance approach requires a minimum of 26 days per quarter (approx 2 days per week, which may be subject to change) in CCS office locations or off site meetings with suppliers, customers, partners, networking / industry events. This is pro rata for those who work part time. Our smarter working principles mean that our people have the advantage of both office and offsite based collaboration and learning, as well as working from home. This way of working allows us to honour our commitment to being a responsible business, offer flexibility and better work life balance as well as ensuring we deliver our business with confidence and in accordance with our CCS values.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours.

Selection Process

Candidates who are successful at sift will be contacted as soon as possible following the closing date and advised of the interview process in more detail. The sift will commence 23rd May 2025 and interviews will be held on 9th June either at one of our offices or via video with interview times and dates to be confirmed. (Subject to change)

To find out more about our recruitment process please click here

Please note: Applicants can make use of artificial intelligence but the information presented at application must be factual.

A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months, which the Civil Service may use to fill future suitably similar vacancies across government for candidates who are considered appointable following interview. Should you be placed on a reserve list and want to be removed please contact [e-mail].

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours.

This role has a minimum assignment duration of 3 years. An assignment duration is the period of time a Senior Civil Servant is expected to remain in the same post to enable them to deliver on the agreed key business outcomes. The assignment duration also supports your career through building your depth of expertise.

As part of accepting this role you will be agreeing to the expected assignment duration set out above. This will not result in a contractual change to your terms and conditions. Please note this is an expectation only, it is not something which is written into your terms and conditions or indeed which the employing organisation or you are bound by. It will depend on your personal circumstances at a particular time and business needs, for example, would not preclude any absence like family friendly leave. It is nonetheless an important expectation, which is why we ask you to confirm you agree to the assignment duration set out above.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This Job Is Broadly Open To The Following Groups

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
  
  

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

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).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

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).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job Contact

• Name : The recruitment team
• Email : [e-mail]
  
  

Recruitment team

• Email : [e-mail]
  
  

Further information

Complaints procedure

Our recruitment processes are underpinned by the principle of selection for appointment on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles details of which can be found at http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact [e-mail] in the first instance.

If you remain unsatisfied with the response you receive you can then contact the Civil Service Commission at [e-mail]

https://www.crowncommercial.gov.uk/careers-with-ccs