Deputy Director Government Financial Reporting

Deputy Director Government Financial Reporting

• Salary: £86,000 If the successful candidate is a current Civil Servant joining on level transfer, HM Treasury will honour their current substantive salary if higher.

• Contract Type: Permanent

• Working Pattern: This post is available on a full time, part time or job share basis, and flexible working hours can be accommodated.

• Location: London (1 Horse Guards Road) or Darlington (Feethams House).

Join us as a Deputy Director in the heart of government finance. Are you a strong leader with strong technical financial expertise, excellent judgement and the ability to influence across complex organisations? If so, then we want to hear from you!

About the Team

The Government Financial Reporting team sits within the Public Spending Group and is responsible for setting rules for budget management and the accounting framework and reporting to the public and Parliament on public spending. Its work encompasses:

• Whole of Government Accounts consolidates the audited accounts of over 8,000 organisations across the public sector in order to produce a uniquely comprehensive, accounts-based picture of the financial position of the UK public sector

• Supply Estimates through which Government seeks Parliament's authority for its spending plans and without such authority very little public expenditure could take place

• Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses (PESA) which bring together outturn data on government spending, estimates for the latest year, and spending plans or the rest of the spending review period

• Country and Regional Analysis which are statistical estimates for the allocation of identifiable expenditure between the UK countries and English regions

• Financial reporting policy to set the accounting standards for Government and ensure that the accounting framework effectively supports the reporting of the public finances and departmental performance to Parliament

• Consolidated Budgeting Guidance which sets the budgeting framework that applies for expenditure control across Government

• Advice on National Accounts classifications of organisations and transactions to determine their impact on the public finances

• Providing expert advice and supporting capability across the Treasury and wider finance community

• Setting the sustainability reporting requirements for Annual Reports and Accounts, working in close collaboration with other policy teams in the Treasury, the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

About the Job

This is a varied and influential leadership role at the heart of government finance, responsible for ensuring the effective reporting, transparency and accountability of the UK's public sector finances. Leading work across financial reporting policy, Whole of Government Accounts, parliamentary reporting and public expenditure analysis, the postholder will work closely with senior leaders across government and beyond to provide high-quality financial insight, support decision-making and drive continuous improvement across the government finance system. The role would suit a leader with strong technical financial expertise, excellent judgement and the ability to influence across complex organisations, helping to strengthen financial management, transparency and trust in the stewardship of public money.

Your core responsibilities will include:

• Build, develop and empower a high-quality team of specialist and generalist staff to provide authoritative advice and support to Treasury teams, Ministers and departments in a way that is simple, practical and cuts through complex issues.

• Play an active role in the wider leadership of the Public Spending Group, the corporate leadership of Treasury, and the Government Finance Function. Help to craft and deliver the broader agenda for the Group's and the Government Finance Function.

• Oversee delivery of Whole of Government Accounts (WGA) and provide support to the Director General, Public Spending, to enable them to sign off the accounts as Accounting Officer. Support the WGA recovery strategy to return the publication to pre-COVID timescales and continue to develop the product to meet the needs of users.

• Set and maintain high standards for central government financial reporting and budgeting, through the Financial Reporting Manual and the Consolidated Budgeting Guidance.

• Support departments in implementing recommended practice in financial reporting and sustainability reporting by working with the Financial Reporting Advisory Board (FRAB) and its sub committees to drive high quality, timely financial and non-financial reporting.

• As a member of FRAB, influence the international developments in accounting standards and contribute to maintaining the UK's profile as an international leader in public financial management.

• Work with stakeholders across government to help resolve current financial reporting policy challenges such as local government accounts and audit, and the reporting of Further Education Colleges and Academies.

• Oversee the delivery of Mains and Supplementary Estimates, a focus on timeliness and quality and through collaboration with spending teams responsible for allocating and monitoring departmental budgets.

• Oversee the delivery of key statistical publications, for example Public Expenditure Statistics Analyses and Country and Regional Analysis, to required standards of timeliness and quality, particularly ensuring that political sensitivities are recognised and handled appropriately, in collaboration with teams across Treasury.

• Oversee the Treasury's management of fiscal risk arising from national accounts classification changes, including leading the review of classification risk for material organisations and transactions.

About You

We would like you to have strong leadership skills to support change across complex systems and a willingness to develop and deliver new ways of working. We want you to have experience of leading projects to deliver complex financial outputs in a timely fashion. As well as having a strong ability to advise and influence senior decision makers. We also require you to have significant technical accounting experience of financial management and reporting in the public sector, including understanding of significant developments in financial reporting and able to demonstrate a strong technical understanding of accounts preparation.

Required Qualifications:

The role requires significant experience of financial reporting at a senior level. A professional financial qualification (CCAB, CIMA or equivalent) is required.

Some of the Benefits our people love!

• 25 days annual leave (rising to 30 after 5 years), plus 8 public holidays and the King's birthday (unless you have a legacy arrangement as an existing Civil Servant). Additionally, we operate flexitime systems, allowing employees to take up to an additional 2 days off each month

• Flexible working patterns (part-time, job-share, condensed hours)

• Generous parental and adoption leave packages

• Access to a generous Defined Benefit pension scheme with employer contributions of 28%

• Access to a cycle-to-work salary sacrifice scheme and season ticket advances

• A range of active staff networks, based around interests (e.g. analysts, music society, sports and social club) and diversity

For more information about the role and how to apply, please follow the apply link.