Senior Commercial Finance Manager

Government Recruitment Service; Sheffield; Hybrid; GBP 53,000 - 65,000; Full time

Job summary

Government Recruitment Service in Sheffield is seeking a Senior Commercial Finance Manager to join the Commercial Finance team at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The role focuses on financial negotiating, viability assessment of major contractors, and health workstreams within the team.

You will lead a team of accountants, standardise modelling across critical procurements, and provide expert financial guidance for high‑value contracts while ensuring value for money for the taxpayer.

Qualifications

• Excellent communication skills and an outgoing, proactive approach to financial challenges.
• Open to CCAB/CIMA qualified accountants or part-qualified studying, with higher rate of pay on full qualification.
• You must hold a full Chartered level qualification awarded by a UK recognised accountancy body (CIMA/ICAEW/ACCA/CIPFA/ICAS).

Responsibilities

• Lead a small team of accountants delivering financial guidance for multi‑billion pounds of contracted services.
• Standardise commercial finance modelling across major programmes in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
• Provide specialist financial advice on payment models, investments, make-or-buy decisions and due diligence.
• Design financial analysis during tender rounds and in‑life contract management, including open-book management.

Skills

Communication skills

Proactive mindset

Education

CCAB / CIMA qualification

UK recognised accountancy body qualification

Job description

Senior Commercial Finance Manager

Company: Government Recruitment Service
Salary: from £58,961 a year
Hours: Full-time
Location: Sheffield
Working pattern: Hybrid - 2 days remote
Job type: Permanent
Posting date: 4 Nov 2026
Closing date: 17 Nov 2026

We are delighted to share that we are now hiring for a Senior Commercial Finance Manager to join us in Commercial Finance at Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

The Commercial Finance team is a small team with a broad reach, operating across critical commercial and procurement categories and projects, providing colleagues with financial guidance and support, before and during the life of critical commercial contracts.

As a team we’re responsible for providing financial support to major procurements projects and post contract award support, which includes Open Book analysis, supplier viability analysis, payment modelling, and financial Strategy development.

The position of Senior Commercial Financial Manager will primarily focus on supporting financial negotiating and assessing financial viability of major contractors, supporting the Health workstreams within the Commercial Finance team.

Summary

We are delighted to share that we are now hiring for a Senior Commercial Finance Manager to join us in Commercial Finance at Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

The Commercial Finance team is a small team with a broad reach, operating across critical commercial and procurement categories and projects, providing colleagues with financial guidance and support, before and during the life of critical commercial contracts.

As a team we’re responsible for providing financial support to major procurements projects and post contract award support, which includes Open Book analysis, supplier viability analysis, payment modelling, and financial Strategy development.

The position of Senior Commercial Financial Manager will primarily focus on supporting financial negotiating and assessing financial viability of major contractors, supporting the Health workstreams within the Commercial Finance team.

Essential requirements

This post is challenging. It will require pro-active and innovative thinking, with excellent communication skills and an outgoing and enthusiastic approach to financial challenges.

The roles and responsibilities for this position include, but are not restricted to:

Commercial Finance Activities

You’ll be leading a small team of accountants providing advice to the Head of Commercial Finance, on the safe delivery of £bn’s worth of contracted services. You’ll standardise the approach to commercial finance modelling activities across DWP’s major programmes including:

• Lead and manage financial analysis and cost intelligence projects across high-value procurement activities together with assessing supplier financial viability
• Lead and support commercial finance engagement with stakeholders
• Provide specialist advice and guidance to senior stakeholder and the wider organisation - including payment models, investment, make or buy decisions, ‘should cost’, financial due diligence and contractual terms
• Contract/In-life Management – lead and design financial analysis during tender rounds and in-life contract management, including building a new team to roll out open-book contract management
• Payment methodology and design – working with operational colleagues to design robust and fair payment mechanisms to maximise successful outcomes, whilst managing risk and achieve value for money for the taxpayer

Qualifications

Professional Qualification Requirement

This role is open to CCAB / CIMA qualified accountants or part-qualified accountants who are still studying. Please note the higher rate of pay is only available upon full qualification.

Qualifications

You must hold a full chartered level qualification, or be studying for a professional qualification, awarded by a UK‑recognised accountancy body: CIMA, ICAEW, ACCA, CIPFA, ICAS or Chartered Accountants Ireland.

Memberships

Eligibility criteria for qualified accountants:
You must hold a full chartered level professional qualification awarded by a UK‑recognised accountancy body: CIMA, ICAEW, ACCA, CIPFA, ICAS or Chartered Accountants Ireland. Your membership of one of these institutes must be up to date and live on the day you submit your application. If you are invited to interview, you will be asked to provide evidence of both your qualification status and your membership being current on the date you applied. Please note that membership of AAT or other technician level qualifications does not satisfy the qualification criteria for this role. If you are unsure whether you meet the qualification criteria, you should confirm with our recruitment team before proceeding with your application. If you hold a chartered level accountancy qualification with an overseas body, you will not be eligible to apply for this role. However, most of the UK‑recognised accountancy bodies operate reciprocal agreements and pathways programmes which allow people with overseas qualifications to apply for membership. We would recommend pursuing this if you are interested in a career in UK government finance. You would then be eligible to apply for our future vacancies, once your membership became active.

Eligibility criteria for part-qualified accountants:
You must be studying for a qualification with a UK‑recognised accountancy body: CIMA, ICAEW, ACCA, CIPFA, ICAS or Chartered Accountants Ireland. You must have passed (or been awarded an exemption from) a minimum of 8 exams so far, and your last exam sitting must have been within 12 months from the date you submit your application. Your student membership of your institute must be up to date and live on the day you submit your application. If you are invited to interview, you will be asked to provide evidence of both your exam passes/exemptions to date and your membership being current on the date you applied for the role. Please note that membership of AAT or other technician level qualifications does not satisfy the part‑qualification criteria for this role. If you are unsure whether you meet the part‑qualification criteria, you should confirm with our recruitment team before proceeding with your application. If you are successful in applying for the role, you will be expected to complete your studies and become a fully qualified accountant within a reasonable timeframe. If, ultimately, you do not achieve full qualification with your institute, you may in future be moved into a different role that does not require a professional finance qualification.

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