Vacancy -- Senior Finance Manager

Working for the Civil Service

The Welsh Government's 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 Commission’s Recruitment Principles.

The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

Vacancy Details

Welsh Government
Finance
SEO - £41,700 - £49,370
£41,700
Full time (applications are welcome from people who work part time, as part of a job share or who work full time)
Permanent
Pan Wales
'Pan Wales' means that the location in which the vacancy can be based is flexible, subject to the needs of the business. Please note it may not always be possible to accommodate a preference for a specific office location, but requests will be taken into consideration.
TBC

Purpose of Post:

There are a number of vacancies available at this grade in the finance profession across various Groups in Welsh Government.

More detailed, and specific, role descriptions will be available later in the recruitment process.

There is one unified recruitment process for all roles.

These roles are predominantly described as Finance Business Partners supporting the business, building strong relationships with their directorate and externally, understanding the business and explaining financial information for budget holders in an understandable manner.

Some roles will focus more on internal budget management and others may relate more to reporting and performance of external Government funded bodies.

All roles will need to communicate financial data and other information clearly and provide valuable financial advice, challenge and support, strategic insight and business solutions.

The roles will involve working closely with Policy leads, Ministers and advisors and other Finance team members across the immediate Directorate and the wider finance community in Welsh Government – including Welsh Treasury.

Key tasks:

The following are key tasks common to all roles being advertised:

  • Develop an understanding of the business, its stakeholders and deliverables.
  • Provide advice on compliance with policy, standards, accountabilities and controls.
  • Translating, owning and adding insight to financial data to provide clear information and evidence to support business activities and requirements.
  • Reviewing and providing input to business cases/ strategic documentation
  • Lead or contribute to the annual budget planning cycle, including Draft & Final budgets plus in-year management through supplementary budget changes.
  • Lead or contribute on the monthly reporting process for the relevant Main Expenditure Group (MEG).
  • Provision of specialist financial advice as required.
  • Provide advice for papers and briefings to Ministers including budget and cabinet papers, ad hoc briefings, scrutiny committees and Ministerial Advice (MAs).
  • Internally - Work closely with the Director, Deputy, Head of Finance and wider Finance team in the overall management of the Main Expenditure Group (MEG) budgets.
  • Externally - Develop and maintain professional and effective relationships with senior finance teams in external stakeholders, to provide financial advice, challenge and support as required.
  • Contribute or possibly lead on, the monthly financial report to the Board for the relevant MEG, within agreed central timescales. Provide regular updates on budget issues, highlighting risks and opportunities, for use in briefing the Group Executive Director Team.
  • Identify, and monitor, opportunities and risks to be included within the Group Financial plan and any subsequent financial report to the board and advise the Head of Finance appropriately.
  • Providing ad-hoc analysis and presentations to drive and support business decisions, such as efficiency and cost reduction options, using all available data and analytics tools.

 

Other more role specific tasks may include:

  • Budgetary control including all maintenance of departmental budgets on the SAP financial system and all monthly budget updates to enable accurate financial reporting.
  • Assisting with Counter Fraud Services.
  • Dealing with financial aspects of cross border arrangements with England, UK Government and other devolved Governments.
  • Assist in reviewing Capital bids and business cases, acknowledging and assessing ongoing revenue implications.
  • Agreeing and issuing funding to external organisations.
  • Liaise with, and support policy leads in the financial management of, external organisations.
  • Undertaking comprehensive evaluation and performance assessment of financial monitoring returns submitted by externally funded organisations.
  • Assist with the development of systems to evaluate all aspects of financial performance, providing analytical support and evaluation of financial data. Drafting comprehensive annual financial monitoring guidance in line with the relevant principles set out in the Annual Manual for Accounts and producing related guidance and communication through Government Circulars.
  • Consolidation of large amounts of financial and performance data to produce information on an all Wales basis, undertaking comparative analysis.
  • Contributing to the financial appraisal of short and medium term strategic plans, from external bodies, and providing advice to senior officials on approval\non-approval concerns.

 

Staff Management & Supervision

Please note: There will be some line management responsibility in some, but not all, roles.

Provide direct line management to Finance Officers ensuring effective performance through support and supervision and addressing issues of poor performance and ensuring the provision of adequate personal development and CPD opportunities.

Also, all roles will be expected to provide relevant coaching and training to the business.

Development opportunities:

These posts will have regular contact with senior internal staff, including policy Directors and their Deputies as well as other finance leads across the organisation. In some roles there will be significant contact with external stakeholders, so this will provide an opportunity to develop knowledge of working in those specific sectors in Wales. Some of these roles will also include working with Ministers and advisors and other UK Government departments.

The post holders will be expected to meet the CPD requirements of their professional body and will be encouraged to participate in Welsh Government finance staff development programmes.

The roles will also be expected to, occasionally, deputise for other Senior Finance roles within the team and undertake other duties and projects as agreed with the Head of Finance for each Group.

Closing Date:

31/05/2023, 16:00

Eligibility

Posts recruited to as part of this recruitment campaign are broadly open to UK nationals, those with right to remain and work in the UK and those that meet the Civil Service Nationality Rules only. Check your eligibility here:

Prior to appointment, all successful applicants will be required to produce original, acceptable documents as part of the pre-employment checks. If it becomes apparent at a later stage in the process that you aren’t eligible to apply, your application will be withdrawn, or offer retracted.

Equality and Diversity

The Welsh Government is committed to providing services which embrace diversity and which promote equality of opportunity. This is underpinned by the Equality Act 2010 and will be adhered to at each stage of the recruitment process. Our goal is to ensure that these commitments are also embedded in our day-to-day working practices with all our customers, colleagues and partners.

We are committed to being an anti-racist organisation and increasing diversity in the Welsh Government by removing barriers and supporting all our staff to reach their potential. We are committed to recruiting Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people and disabled people who are currently under-represented in Welsh Government.

We welcome applications from everyone regardless of age, marriage and civil partnership (both same sex and opposite sex), impairment or health condition, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, gender identity or gender expression.

We are a Stonewall Diversity Champion and a Disability Confident Level 3 (Leader) organisation. Key to supporting this work and providing peer support are five Board sponsored Staff Networks (Disability Awareness and Support (DAAS); Minority Ethnic Support Network (MESN); Mind Matters (Mental health and well-being); PRISM (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex +) and Women Together.

Disability Confident

A Great Place to Work for Veterans

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.

Welsh Language Requirements

The Welsh Government is a bilingual organisation and Welsh language skills are considered an asset to the organisation. We encourage and support staff to learn, develop and use their Welsh language skills in the workplace. 

The following list of language requirements represents an objective assessment by the line manager on behalf of the Welsh Government of the Welsh language skills required to undertake the duties of this particular post.

Desirable
Can read simple material on everyday topics with understanding
Can hold simple work-related conversations
Can understand basic conversations about everyday topics
Can write simple work-related correspondence

Social Partnership

In Welsh Government, the relationship between the employer and trade unions is based on social partnership. We believe our goals can best be achieved by management and trade unions working together.

Our 3 recognised trade unions are:
•         PCS
•         Prospect
•         FDA

This relationship is underpinned by a partnership agreement. This sets out how our unions work with Welsh Government on issues such as:
•         pay
•         terms and conditions
•         policies and procedures
•         organisational change.

Our Welsh Government trade union colleagues work together to give their members a real say in the workplace. They make sure that the interests of their members are promoted and protected. They also help reduce inequalities and improve terms and conditions.

The Welsh Government has an excellent track record of working in partnership with its trade unions. We encourage staff to get involved. We support you to join a recognised trade union, to ensure your voice is heard in the workplace. and to learn more about trade unions and partnership working.

Competencies / Job Specific Criteria

Competencies

  • Making effective decisions - Identify a broad range of relevant and credible information sources and recognise the need to collect new data, when necessary, from internal and external sources.
  • Collaborating and Partnering - Establish relationships with a range of stakeholders to support delivery of business outcomes.
  • Delivering Value for Money - Work confidently with performance management and financial management data to prepare forecasts and manage and monitor budget against agreed plans.
  • Seeing the Big Picture - Be alert to emerging issues and trends which might impact or benefit own and team’s work.

Job Specific Criteria 

  1. Experience in a finance role that demonstrates a culture of knowledge sharing and collaboration between the business (or policy teams), finance and other corporate services.
  2. Good communication skills are essential, both written and oral, with the ability to provide clear and concise briefings and finance reports.
  3. Have demonstrable experience of working confidently with complex financial information and possess advanced spreadsheet and analytical skills.

 

Candidates must also be a fully qualified accountant or part qualified accountant to final stage of exams, holding or studying towards a recognised accountancy qualification – Those being any CCAB bodies (ICAEW, ACCA, CIPFA, ICAS, CAI) or CIMA.

Assessment Process

The application process will be as follows:

Stage 1: Candidates will be expected to complete the online application form and upload the following supporting documentation:

  • A CV no longer than 2 pages setting out your career history with key responsibilities and achievements. We recommend paying particular attention to the “purpose of the post” and “key tasks” to ensure your CV reflects the skills and experience we are looking for.
  • A copy of your accountancy qualification or a document detailing the accountancy qualification you are studying towards and a copy of the exams passed, along with the name of the educational provider and your student number. These are full time roles that would allow an individual a limited number of additional study leave days, as support.
  • A personal statement of no longer than 2,100 words. Anything over this will be discounted. This should explain how your professional qualifications, skills, qualities and experience match both:
    • the four competencies and
    • the three job specific criteria.

We recommend aiming for around 300 words for each of the 7 categories.

Stage 2: Candidates who have been deemed to meet the minimum criteria for stage 2 will be invited to an interview and assessment. This will take the form of a technical assessment and interview that will assess the competency behaviours and job specifics. Details of the technical test will be provided to candidates closer to that time.

Other Information

  • Unless stated otherwise in ‘actual starting salary’, all candidates will start at the minimum of the pay scale being appointed to (this includes existing civil servants).This is not negotiable.
  • Unless stated otherwise in ‘type of opportunity’, this recruitment advert is not open on a Loan or Secondment basis.
  • For more information on the eligibility criteria and terms and conditions for Loan and Secondment positions in Welsh Government, please see external recruitment candidate guidance.
  • Unless stated otherwise in ‘Location of Post’ the role/s recruited to via this campaign can only be worked in the UK, not overseas.

In addition to basic salary, staff can also receive an allowance based on their training and qualifications gained.

Part qualified allowance is £3,400. Fully qualified allowance is £6,801, but capped at £3,750 above the top of the SEO pay scale.

Gareth Haven - ExternalRecruitment@gov.wales / RecriwtioAllanol@llyw.cymru

How to apply

All applications for this vacancy should be made online via the Welsh Government's online application system.  If you have an impairment which would prevent you from applying on-line, please e-mail SharedServiceHelpdesk@gov.wales to request an application pack in an alternative format, or to request a reasonable adjustment related to an impairment in order to submit your application.

To apply, you'll need to have an account on our online application system.  Click the 'Apply' button below, and you'll be asked to 'Log in' if you already have an account, or 'Register' if you don't yet have an account.  Registration takes just a few minutes to complete.  You'll need an e-mail address to be able to register.  Once you've registered for an account and logged in, you'll be taken to the online application form, which you'll need to fully complete and submit before the deadline on the closing date.  

If you’d like to apply for this vacancy in Welsh, please use the ‘Newid Iaith / Change Language’ link at the top of this page, to take you to the Welsh version of this advert, from which you can apply in Welsh.

For further information regarding the Welsh Government recruitment process, please see the Recruitment Guidance for External Candidates (link).

When evidencing your suitability for the post, it is recommended that you refer to the Civil Service Competency Framework (link)

Grievance and Complaints

Anyone who believes they have been treated unfairly, or has a grievance or complaint, about how the process was conducted should either write to the Head of Resourcing, Welsh Government, Cathays Park 2, Cardiff CF10 3NQ or email SharedServiceHelpdesk@gov.wales.  If you are unhappy with the outcome of the complaint raised with the Welsh Government and feel that the principles of appointment on merit through fair and open competition have not been met you have the right to pursue your grievance with the Civil Service Commission.

This vacancy is closed to applications.