Senior Finance Business Partner

Health Jobs UK; London; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

The UK Health Security Agency seeks a G7 Senior Finance Business Partner to lead strategic financial initiatives and support business-as-usual functions. This role requires expertise in financial management, influence across levels, and a commitment to enhance decision-making and performance within the organization. Candidates should be experienced finance professionals with CCAB qualification or equivalent, ready to contribute to vital health security initiatives.

Benefits

Generous annual leave

Defined Benefit pension scheme

Flexible working patterns

Cycle-to-work salary sacrifice scheme

Access to retail discounts and cashback

Qualifications

• Qualified with CCAB, CIMA, or equivalent.
• Proficient in budgeting, forecasting, and strategic analysis.
• Ability to influence at all levels of the business.

Responsibilities

• Provide strategic financial advice and manage financial planning processes.
• Challenge process compliance and report on control effectiveness.
• Support development of financial plans consistent with performance.

Skills

Budgeting

Forecasting

Costing

Strategic analysis

Data interpretation

Communication

Education

CCAB or equivalent qualification

Tools

Financial Systems

Job description

The United Kingdom Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is a system leader for health security; taking action internationally to strengthen global health security, providing trusted advice to government and the public and reducing inequalities in the way different communities experience and are impacted by infectious disease, environmental hazards, and other threats to health.

UKHSA's remit, as an agency with a global-to-local reach, is to protect the health of the nation from infectious diseases and other external threats to health. As the nation's expert national health security agency UKHSA will:

• Prevent: anticipate threats to health and help build the nation's readiness, defences and health security
• Detect: use cutting edge environmental and biological surveillance to proactively detect and monitor infectious diseases and threats to health
• Analyse: use world-class science and data analytics to assess and continually monitor threats to health, identifying how best to control and mitigate the risks
• Respond: take rapid, collaborative and effective actions nationally and locally to mitigate threats to health when they materialise
• Lead: lead strong and sustainable global, national, regional and local partnerships designed to save lives, protect the nation from public health threats and reduce inequalities.

Job overview

The Chief Operating Officer Finance Business Partnering team have an exciting opportunity for a G7 Senior Finance Business Partner to provide strategic financial leadership across specific portfolios within UKHSA. This may involve supporting both Business As Usual (BAU) and Change portfolios.

G7 FBPs are business experts with strong interpersonal relationships. As a Grade 7 FBP you will use your strong technical skills and sound understanding of the relevant UKHSA business area to provide advice, challenge and scrutiny to business area colleagues.

The role requires you to be able to:
• Understand the business and are able translate and present complex financial information clearly.
• Provide valuable strategic advice, challenge and influence as required to ensure the best outcome for the organisation.
• Take on larger or more complex areas of the business, often with a focus on business cases and you will deputise, where required, for the Head of Finance Business Partnering.
• Be responsible for line management of up to 3 SEO's, of which some may be training to become a qualified finance professional and will require your support.

Main duties of the job

• Providing specialist strategic financial advice - engaging with experts on behalf of the business and providing advice on key financial planning, processes and budget setting.
• Taking responsibility for all strategic financial information provided to the business, and the associated recommendations, using all available data and analytics tools.
• Challenging weakness in process compliance within the business and reporting on control effectiveness.
• Supporting the development and implementation of credible financial plans and forecasts that are consistent with the department performance and activity plans.
• Attending and influencing senior leader team boards.
• Involved at the start of the idea pipeline, engaging early in the development of policy and business cases.
• Driving evidence based policy-making by inputting financial insight throughout the process.
• Challenging and supporting the business to enhance decision-making and increase performance.
• Providing coaching and feedback proactively to identify gaps in the financial knowledge of the business.
• Supporting and coordinating delivery of financial services to the directorate.
• Horizon scanning to identify potential issues and helping
• Directorates develop solutions.
• Management of team members or oversight of other's work and developing leadership skills within and across teams

Working for our organisation

We pride ourselves as being an employer of choice, where Everyone Matters promoting equality of opportunity to actively encourage applications from everyone, including groups currently underrepresented in our workforce.

UKHSA ethos is to be an inclusive organisation for all our staff and stakeholders. To create, nurture and sustain an inclusive culture, where differences drive innovative solutions to meet the needs of our workforce and wider communities. We do this through celebrating and protecting differences by removing barriers and promoting equity and equality of opportunity for all.

Please visit our careers site for more information https://gov.uk/ukhsa/careers

Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Essential criteria

You will be assessed on the below 8 essential criteria, which have been selected from the Job Description Document.

• Qualified with either; The Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (CCAB), Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) or equivalent or working towards qualification.
• Ability to influence at all levels of the business hierarchy, using logical persuasion and consensus building within groups.
• Budgeting, forecasting and costing
• Investment appraisal and evaluation
• Strategic analysis and insight
• Understand the vision for the business, highlighting areas of potential conflict between stakeholders and manages them accordingly.
• A visible, confident communicator, comfortable with challenging senior business leaders.
• Highly proficient in using and interpreting data and analytics to support analysis and decision making, identifying gaps in data and reporting and working with Financial Systems colleagues to develop additional reporting as required.

Selection Process Details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles and will assess your Behaviours, Ability, Experience and Strengths

Stage 1: Application & Sift

Success profiles

You will be required to complete an application form. You will be assessed on the listed 8 essential criteria, and this will be in the form of a:

• Application form ( ' Employer/ Activity history' section on the application)

• 500- word Statement of Suitability.

This should outline how your skills, experience, and knowledge , provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria. The Application form and Statement of Suitability will be marked together .

Longlisting : In the event of a large number of applications we will longlist into 3 piles of:

Meets all essential criteria

Meets some essential criteria

Meets no essential criteria

Please note only pile 1 will be carried through to shortlisting

Shortlisting: In the event of a large number of applications we will shortlist on:

• Ability to influence at all levels of the business hierarchy, using logical persuasion and consensus building within groups.
• Strategic analysis and insight
• Understand the vision for the business, highlighting areas of potential conflict between stakeholders and manages them accordingly.
• A visible, confident communicator, comfortable with challenging senior business leaders.

If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to interview & assessment

Healthjobs UK has a word limit of 1500, but your statement of suitability must be no more than 500.

Please do not exceed 500 words, we will not consider any words over and above this number.
Feedback will not be provided at this stage.

Stage 2: Interview

S uccess Profiles

You will be invited to a (single) remote interview

Behaviours, Ability, Experience and Strengths will be tested at interview. There will be a 5-10 Presentation.

The Behaviours tested during the interview stage will be: -

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together

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

Please note you will not be able to upload your CV. You must complete the application form in as much detail as possible. Please do not email us your CV.

Eligibility Criteria

External
Open to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including by definition internal applicants).

Location

Hybrid any Core HQ

This role is being offered as hybrid working based at any of our Core HQ's. We offer great flexible working opportunities at UKHSA and operate using a hybrid working model where business needs allow. This provides us with greater flexibility about how and where we work, to get the best from our workforce.

As a hybrid worker, you will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of your contractual working hours (approximately 3 days a week pro rata, (averaged over a month) working at one of UKHSA's core HQ's (Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, and London)

Our core HQ offices are modern and newly refurbished with excellent city centre transport link and benefit from benefit from co-location with other government departments such as the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC).

Security Clearance Level Requirement

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is Basic Personnel Security Standard.

Person specification

Application Form & Statement of Suitablity
Essential criteria

• Application Form & Statement of Suitablity

Behaviours
Essential criteria

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together

IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ

Your application may be rejected and/or you may be subject to disciplinary action if evidence of plagiarism is detected. Examples of plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by artificial intelligence (AI), as your own.

This is a Non-Reserved post under the Civil Service Nationality Rules. To be eligible for employment in the UK Civil Service applicants must meet the Civil Service Nationality Rules (CSNRs) which operate independently of and additionally to the Immigration Rules. Applicants must also meet necessary security and vetting requirements, along with any other relevant pre-employment checks.

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

For more information on job nationality requirements and the right to work in the UK, see the Civil Service Nationality rules (opens in a new window) and the UK Visas and Immigration rules (opens in a new window)

For posts on UKHSA Civil Service terms and conditions, new entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band. For existing Civil Servants and roles advertised across government, the rules of transfer apply, i.e., level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive a 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.

The Civil Service pay structure and progression is different from NHS Agenda for Change (AfC), most local authority pay grades and other systems that have annual pay increments. For further details, please refer to the Information Sheet- Starting Salaries & Benefits attachment.

For AfC or Medical/Dental posts, you must have the correct professional registration to be appointed. The pay will follow the AfC or Medical & Dental terms & conditions. You may be asked to provide evidence of previous service whilst we are conducting pre-employment checks to determine your starting salary.

For Temporary Appointments, if you are not currently a civil servant, you will take up the post on a Fixed Term appointment. You may be able to take this role up as a Secondment. If you are an existing Civil Servant, based outside of the UKHSA, you will take up the post as a loan which you will need your department to agree. You cannot take the post up as a fixed term. If you are an existing UKHSA member of staff, you will take up the post as either a level transfer or a temporary promotion as per the UKHSA's Pay policy.

Given the nature of the work of the UKHSA, as a Category 1 responder under the Civil Contingencies Act, you may be required in an emergency, if deemed a necessity, to redeploy to another role at short notice. You may also be required to work at any other location, within reasonable travelling distance of your permanent home address, in line with the provisions set out in your contract of employment.

Late Applications will unfortunately not be considered.
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 equality of opportunity. The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles.

If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, in the first instance, you should contact UKHSA Public Accountability Unit via email: [email protected] If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Visit the Civil Service Commission website here .

Reserve List - If more than the required number of suitable candidates pass the interview criteria, you may be kept on a reserve list for 12 months subject to your agreement. You may be contacted, in merit-order, if similar roles with closely matching essential criteria become available and the department choose to appoint from a reserve list.

The panel will assess if candidates meet the requirement of the role first, using a specific benchmark system. If you are interviewed for the post and do not meet the required threshold for the specified grade, your application may be assessed against a similar, lower grade role and you may be offered the post should one be available.

Interview expenses will not be reimbursed.

UKHSA is required to check employment and/or education history covering three consecutive years. Please ensure you give details of at least two different referees, even if you were employed in one company for three years or more.

If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system. Please note, all communication regarding your application will be made via email, please ensure you check your junk/spam folders as emails are sometimes filtered there.

Any move to UKHSA from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax-Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/ .

Benefits of working at UKHSA include:

• Generous annual leave:
  -26 days for the first 5 years of continuous service
  -28 days after 5 years of continuous service
  -32 days after 10 years of continuous service
  -Plus public holidays and one privilege day for the King's birthday
• Access to a generous Defined Benefit pension scheme with employer contributions.
• Access to a cycle-to-work salary sacrifice scheme, season ticket advances and payroll giving.
• Access to a retail discounts and cashback site.
• We also promote flexible working patterns (part-time, job-share, condensed hours). UKHSA views flexible working as essential in enabling us to recruit and retain talented people, ensuring that they are able to enjoy a long-lasting career with us. All employees have the right to apply for flexible working and there are a range of options available including working from home, compressed hours and job sharing.
• We also offer a generous maternity/ paternity and adoption leave package.

Hybrid Working

UKHSA operates a hybrid working model where business needs allow. This provides us with greater flexibility about how and where we work, to get the best from our workforce.

As a hybrid worker, you will usually spend a minimum of 60% of your contracted hours (averaged over a month) working at one of UKHSA's locations (approximately 3 days a week pro rata) and the rest of your time working from home.

Disability Confident Scheme

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria at sift to ensure these candidates are invited to interview. If you wish to be included in this scheme please tick the box on your application form.

Reasonable Adjustments

The Civil Service is committed to making sure that our selection methods are fair to everyone.

To help you during the recruitment process, we will take into account any reasonable adjustments that could help you.

An adjustment is a change to the recruitment process or an adjustment at work.

This is separate to the Disability Confident Scheme .

If you need an adjustment to be made at any point during the recruitment process you should:

Contact the recruitment team in confidence as soon as possible to discuss your needs.

You can find out more information about reasonable adjustments across the Civil Service here: https://www.civil-service-careers.gov.uk/reasonable-adjustments/

International Police Check

If you have spent more than 6 months abroad over the last 3 years you may need an International Police Check. This would not necessarily have to be in a single block, and could be time accrued over that period.

Internal Fraud check

If successful for this role as one aspect of pre-employment screening, applicant's personal details - name, national insurance number and date of birth - will be checked against the Cabinet Office Internal Fraud Hub and anyone included on the database will be refused employment unless they can show exceptional circumstances. Currently this is only for External candidates to the Civil Service.

Security Vetting

Please check the Security Clearance needed for the role and follow the link for more information:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/united-kingdom-security-vetting-clearance-levels/national-security-vetting-clearance-levels

Employer certification / accreditation badges
Documents to download

• Senior Finance Business Partner ( PDF , 368.4 KB )
• Civil Service Recruitment Principles ( PDF , 2.6 MB )
• Civil Service Nationality Rules ( PDF , 195.3 KB )
• Application Form Guidance Notes ( PDF , 77.3 KB )
• Information Sheet - Starting salaries and benefits ( PDF , 129.4 KB )
• Information Sheet - Selection Process ( PDF , 110.1 KB )
• Working at UKHSA and your benefits ( PDF , 219.2 KB )

Accounting for International Development

Accounting for International Development