Financial Operations Manager

Food Standards Agency; Cardiff, York; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

The Food Standards Agency seeks a Financial Operations Manager to oversee financial management and ensure compliance within a collaborative team. The role requires leading invoicing processes, managing customer accounts, and enhancing financial operations to foster public trust in food standards across the UK.

Qualifications

• Experience in financial operations.
• Willingness to work towards a recognized finance qualification.
• Significant experience in a finance environment.

Responsibilities

• Oversee invoicing and collection of FSA revenue.
• Manage 1,000 customer accounts and raise over 6,000 invoices annually.
• Lead Order to Cash processes and ensure compliance with government standards.

Skills

Financial management

Communication

Teamwork

Education

CCAB / CIMA qualification or equivalent experience

Job description

Location

Belfast, Cardiff, York

Job summary

The Food Standards Agency (FSA) is a non-ministerial department of over 1600 people. We play a critical role in protecting public health and consumers’ wider interests in food across England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Our vision is an important one - to drive change, delivering “food you can trust” and working towards a healthier and more sustainable food system.

Everything we do supports public health and consumer confidence in the food we eat. As our new Financial Operations Manager, you’ll play a vital role in helping us deliver that mission by ensuring the smooth and controlled flow of money in and out of the agency.

This is a key management role within our Finance team, reporting to the Financial Operations Lead and providing direction to the Finance Operations Supervisor and wider team. You’ll be responsible for overseeing the invoicing and collection of FSA revenue across England and Wales—managing over 1,000 customer accounts, raising more than 6,000 invoices annually, and working with external providers to manage cash receipts and recover debts. You’ll also lead on ensuring our Order to Cash processes meet government finance and debt management standards, providing assurance that they are being operated effectively and efficiently.

Job description

This role is about more than just numbers. You’ll be joining a close-knit, collaborative team that values knowledge-sharing, continuous improvement, and mutual support. We’re proud of our culture—friendly, inclusive, and driven by a shared commitment to public service. Many of us work remotely from across the UK, but we stay connected and work together to deliver a best-in-class finance function.

You’ll be joining us at an exciting time. Following the implementation of our Workday Finance and HR system in 2023, we’re continuing to evolve and improve how we work. You’ll have the opportunity to shape and influence our financial processes, working with stakeholders across the agency to ensure they’re fit for purpose, resilient, and delivering value for money.

We’re looking for someone with experience in financial operations, a collaborative mindset, and a passion for challenging the status quo. If you’re someone who thrives in a dynamic environment and wants to make a real impact in a public service organisation, we’d love to hear from you.

Be part of something meaningful. Apply now and help us deliver trusted food and trusted finance.

Working pattern guidance

If applying as a job share partnership you should both complete separate application forms on Civil Service Jobs but should make it clear that you are applying as job sharers. Further details on job sharing can be found hereJSF – What is the recruitment process for job sharers? , Civil Service Careers (civil-service-careers.gov.uk)

Applicants who wish to work compressed hours are welcome to apply - however your preferred working pattern may not be available and you should discuss this with the vacancy holder before applying.

Person specification

Please read the attached Candidate Pack to discover further details about the role, our organisation, who we are looking for and the criteria we will assess against during the selection process.

We look forward to receiving your application and wish you every success.

Qualifications

A qualified/part qualified accountant (CCAB / CIMA)

or

have significant experience of working in a finance environment, being willing to work towards a recognised professional finance or debt management qualification (AAT, CCAB, CIMA or CICM).

Behaviours

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

• Communicating and Influencing
• Managing a Quality Service