Head of Finance

Information Commissioner's Office; Cardiff; On-site; GBP 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A government regulatory body is seeking a Head of Finance to lead the finance function in Cardiff. The role involves ensuring effective financial management, compliance, and strategic leadership in a public sector environment. The ideal candidate will possess a strong financial accounting qualification, significant management experience, and will be responsible for optimizing financial strategies. A competitive salary of £79,372 is offered, along with generous benefits such as flexible working options.

Benefits

Pay progression scheme

Hybrid and flexible working options

25 days paid holiday per year, plus public holidays

Flexi leave (up to 26 additional days leave per year)

Health Cash Plan

Fantastic development opportunities

Qualifications

• 5+ years of senior management experience in finance.
• Experience in public sector finance post-qualification.
• Proven ability to lead and manage teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Finance team in service delivery and performance management.
• Oversee annual budgeting and financial reporting processes.
• Ensure compliance with financial policies and procedures.

Skills

Financial accounting qualification (e.g. ACCA, ACA, CCAB, CIMA)

Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Excellent organisational skills

Analytical skills for complex financial information

Education

Financial accounting qualification

Job description

This is a senior leadership role within the ICO, responsible for leading the Finance function in all aspects of service delivery including financial planning and performance management, statutory financial reporting, and operational finance delivery. The postholder will promote a collaborative team culture with a focus on staff engagement and continuous improvement to deliver high performance outcomes. The postholder will work closely with the Head of Procurement on commercial and financial governance matters, delivering a strong financial controls environment to ensure compliance with all financial delegations and managing public money. The Head of Finance, supported by the Finance Director, will lead the team in the creation of appropriate financial strategies to drive value for money outcomes and ensure the long‑term financial resilience of the ICO.

Responsibilities

• Provide effective leadership to the Finance team, ensuring that they are clear about expected standards of performance. The Head of Finance will ensure the team are suitably developed, motivated and engaged to provide high performing services to the business.
• Ensure strong and effective accounting policies and procedures are in place to control and manage the use of resources and safeguard public money. The Head of Finance will monitor compliance with these policies and, in partnership with the Head of Procurement, will ensure compliance with all external spending controls.
• Lead the annual budgeting process to prepare a prioritised and balanced budget, ensuring timely sign‑off through Executive Team and Management Board.
• Lead the development of longer‑term financial projections and modelling. And with the support from the Director of Finance, ensure appropriate recommendations and financial strategies are in place to prioritise and manage expenditure within various funding model conditions.
• Support the Director of Finance in the delivery of funding model reviews.
• Lead the Finance team in the provision of regular financial performance monitoring reporting to budget holders and external stakeholders. Provide monthly financial performance reporting to Finance Director for onward reporting to Executive Team, Management Board and Audit and Risk Committee.
• Oversee the preparation of the annual statutory accounts and external audit process ensuring timely completion with positive audit outcomes.
• Provide assurance of effective treasury management processes through effective controls and reporting, ensuring sufficient working capital is in place for financial resilience.
• Ensure the Finance team delivers strong financial transactions performance with timely and accurate recording of income and expenditure, and timely payments to third‑party suppliers.
• Identify opportunities for continuous improvement in all areas of responsibility. Instigate and implement changes and, where appropriate, recommend more strategic changes to the Director of Finance.
• To participate on behalf of the Commissioner/ICO as required in meetings, events and activities where senior representation is required.
• Act as Information Asset Manager, supporting the Information Asset Owner in ensuring good information governance practice and data protection compliance obligations are understood and applied by all the staff in the department.
• Provide the Information Asset Owner (IAO) with assurance that the asset is appropriately managed in line with legal requirements, ICO standards and procedures.
• Deputise for the Director of Finance as appropriate.

Qualifications

• Financial accounting qualification (eg ACCA, ACA, CCAB, CIMA).
• Significant senior management experience in a similar role/scale (around 5 years).
• At least five years relevant public sector finance post‑qualification experience.
• Experience of leading and managing people.
• Experience of leading significant projects from concept to sign‑off.

Essential criteria assessed during interview

• Comprehensive and up‑to‑date technical awareness of accounting standards, public sector procurement and budget setting and monitoring.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Personnelly effective – excellent organisational skills, ability to prioritise and delegate.
• Ability to seek out, manage and influence opportunities for continuous improvement and change.
• Ability to analyse complex financial/operational/statistical information and produce accurate/intelligent forecasts and plans.

In the event of a high volume of applications, we may not be able to invite all candidates who meet the minimum criteria to interview. However, we encourage you to stay in touch and apply for future roles that match your interests.

All candidates who meet the minimum criteria and apply in‑line with our guaranteed interview scheme for disabled and ethnic minority applicants will be interviewed.

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

Security

• Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
• People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard checks.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

The ICO is committed to promoting and enhancing equality, diversity, and inclusion. We are focused on developing a workforce that is representative of the communities we serve and together we are building an inclusive workplace where all of our colleagues have the opportunity to make a real difference. We are championing this through our Equality Diversity and Inclusion Board together with a number of staff networks. Read more about our commitment on our website.

As part of the ICO’s commitment to our EDI objectives and creating a workplace that represents the communities and societies we serve, we guarantee an interview to candidates who declare they identify as belonging from an ethnic‑minority background and who meet the minimum criteria for this vacancy. Candidates with a disability who meet the minimum criteria for this vacancy will also be invited to interview as part of the ICO’s commitment to the Disability Confident Scheme.

Location and Working Arrangements

Contracted to our Wilmslow, London, Edinburgh, Cardiff or Belfast office; however, we offer flexible home and office‑based working opportunities. There will be times when you will be expected to attend the office to collaborate with colleagues or travel due to business need. Please note, from Autumn 2026 our head office will relocate from Wilmslow to Manchester city centre.

Benefits

• Pay progression scheme.
• Hybrid and flexible working options.
• 25 days paid holiday per year, plus public holidays.
• Flexi leave (up to 26 additional days leave per year).
• Pension (employer contribution around 28.9%).
• Online discount scheme to save money at major supermarkets, retailers, gyms, restaurants, insurance providers and many more.
• Health Cash Plan.
• Fantastic development opportunities to learn and progress.

Alongside your salary of £79,372, the Information Commissioner's Office contributes £22,994 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.