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G6 £62,122 - £74,091 per annum

Head of Financial Decision Support

Welcome letter

Thank you for your interest in the position of Head of Financial Decision Support at the Disclosure and Barring Service.

This is a high-profile role within DBS that is critical to achieving our vision of making recruitment safer. You will be part of a senior team leading significant change and joining the DBS Finance Team at a very exciting time as we evolve to build finance capability within DBS and play a key role in supporting the delivery of the DBS 2025 Strategy.

We have recently completed an externally validated end-to-end process and structural review with members of the current team actively engaged to ensure that we harmonise the end-to-end financial systems and processes to improve the current ways of working within Finance and ensure we have the capacity and capability to deliver on our objectives. You will be joining us to continue with our journey and implement a new strategically focused Finance Business Partner model, encompassing financial planning and strategy.

I am looking for someone who has the skills, experience and presence to drive this implementation and develop the function to support delivery of the strategy and enable us to improve our ability to:

Utilise our corporate business expertise and technical knowledge to support our internal clients in realising the transformational benefits they want to achieve;
Identify and address gaps in financial information or insight to better support business with their financial reporting requirements;
Deliver customer-focused expert advice and specialist financial services by bringing a strategic and cross-cutting perspective, supported by robust data and efficient processes and systems; and
Implement a strategic approach to support our organisation with our objectives and achievement of our Strategy 2025.

We are a collaborative, innovative and inclusive team that provides support, challenge and financial assurance and we are looking for candidates who whilst technically proficient, are also resilient self-starters with a strategic approach. This is a vital role which will include being a key member of the Finance Leadership Team and to be effective in the role you will need to quickly build knowledge of DBS and be able to work collaboratively with the existing team and beyond. One of our strategic objectives is people – our aim is to develop a talented and diverse workforce that understands how their contributions help to achieve our objectives and we are doing this by investing in our people to build and strengthen our capability, while creating a great place to work.

Whilst the role is for DBS, we have a very tangible link to the Government Finance Function community with whom we have a shared vision “ to put Finance at the heart of decision-making. Driving the agenda, not just keeping the score.”

Our vision requires us as a function to drive improvement across all that we do, to support the delivery of high-quality services. Success will only be possible if every member of the finance team demonstrates leadership, commitment, energy and a willingness to challenge the status quo.

If the opportunity to shape and implement a new, strategically focused Finance Business Partner function and Financial Strategy in an organisation at the forefront of safeguarding and protecting people in society appeals to you, I would welcome your application.

Claire Graves, Director of Finance at DBS

Job description

Job Description

Directorate Finance

Location Finance is based in Liverpool however, location can be national

Reports to Director of Finance

Line Management Yes

Security Clearance Standard DBS Vetting

Background

The DBS was established as a Non-Departmental Public Body (NDPB) under the Protection of Freedoms Act (PoFA) 2012. The DBS provides access to criminal records information through its disclosure service for England and Wales and makes independent Barring decisions (for England, Wales and Northern Ireland) about people who have harmed, or where there is considered to be a risk of harm, to a child or vulnerable person within the workplace.

Job purpose

The post of Head of Financial Decisions Support is primarily responsible for leading the Financial Decision Support team, encompassing finance business partnering and financial planning and strategy. As a key member of the Finance Leadership Team, the post holder will work collaboratively with colleagues to ensure customer/stakeholder needs are met, along with public accountability expectations, legislation and professional standards.

As the DBS is a member of the Home Oﬃce family, you will work closely with other members of the Home Office Finance community. Building relationships with people in Home Oﬃce will be key to ensuring DBS and Home Oﬃce expectations, systems and processes are aligned.

You will also play a pivotal part in the design and development of the finance strategy, to support delivery of the DBS 2025 Strategy. Leading and supporting a team of 6 including 5 Finance Business Partners and an Assistant Finance Business Partner, you will implement a Strategic Finance Business Partnering Model to ensure effective resource capability to support the delivery of our strategy.

Key responsibilities

Lead the finance business partner team, providing direction and influence that ensures the team has the required capacity, capability, processes and systems to deliver its objectives.

Partnering with Senior leaders and executives to ensure they receive the information and support they need to fulfil their financial responsibilities and make decisions effectively and be a source of expert and strategic financial advice.

Responsible for reporting the financial position at a strategic level to provide insight and analysis of the key issues and risks and opportunities to senior management, providing the full picture.

Deputising for the Director for Finance and/or representing the function, including at SLT, its committees, and in meetings with external stakeholders.

Lead the development of the DBS Financial Strategy, including a mid-term financial plan which supports the organisation overarching strategy and captures impacts and benefits of investment proposals.

Ensure organisation wide financial planning and analysis is developed to support regular reviews of pricing and the setting of product fees which meet the organisations funding and regulatory requirements.

Review fee levels, ensuring the development and adoption of an appropriate product costing methodology, and lead the process to propose and secure approval for changes as required (based on projections of demand and costs), including working with Home Office and HMT to secure the legislative changes.

Implement and develop the Finance Business Partner function to support and challenge budget holders and managers to ensure they effectively use resources to meet demand, performance targets and business plan priorities.

Build capability in financial modelling, to enable the team to support the commercial team in building, analysing and validating commercial financial models.

Provide commercial financial advice to support DBS and its Commercial function in managing commercial relationships and maximising value for money.

Support the Head of Operational Finance in the budget and forecasting processes, ensuring credible budgets and forecasts are developed that withstand scrutiny by SLT, the Board and its committees, Directorate management teams, and other governance forums as appropriate

Lead steps to change culture to increase focus on efficiency and ensure that DBS achieves maximum benefit from its resources, including leading DBS processes to track and improve efficiency

Provide subject matter expertise and input to support the development of a robust and fit for purpose finance/ERP system.

Develop and maintain good working relationships with key stakeholders including Home Office, Government Internal Audit Association (GIAA), the National Audit Office (NAO) and others

Undertake corporate duties as a senior leader within DBS

Corporate responsibilities

Proactively building effective and influential relationships with senior stakeholders including Directors and DMTs, providing clear and considered advice on financial management, planning and strategy.

Providing robust financial advice, support and analysis to support strategic decision-making. Influencing the development of strategies and adding value by ensuring that financial advice is integrated into their decision making.

Constructively challenging the use of resources in meeting demand, performance measures and business plan priorities. Proactively supporting budget managers and holders to find solutions, ensuring maximum benefit is achieved and the right balance between economy, efficiency and effectiveness.

Supporting in-year budget and forecasts, ensuring the plans are credible, expenditure is with approved delegated limits, and in line with HMT’s Managing Public Money and Consolidated Budgeting Guidance.

Identifying and reporting on financial risks and opportunities, and proactively identifying mitigating actions.

Supporting the development of future mid-term financial plans, ensuring plans support delivery of the organisational strategy.

Providing support to enable effective management of financial resources, providing training where necessary and ensuring the appropriate governance and controls are adhered to.

Providing financial advice and support for the procurement of commercial contracts, delivering maximum value for money for the organisation.

Providing financial advice and modelling to support the annual pay review process

Driving continuous process efficiencies and improvements across the organisation, whilst ensuring effective controls are maintained.

Support and challenge the development of project mandates and business cases for change, continuous improvement and transformation. Ensuring all costs and benefits are identified and captured, controlled and monitored, including the tracking of any benefit realisation.

Developing and leading the implementation of financial performance measurement processes to monitor organisational financial performance.

Reports

Director of Finance
Member of the Finance Management Team

Rider clause

This is an outline of duties and responsibilities. It is not intended to be an exhaustive list and may change from time to time to meet the changing needs of the DBS.

Key relationships

The post holder will be required to establish and maintain strong, positive and effective working relationships with key stakeholders including:

External

Home Office Sponsorship Unit
DBS Partners

Internal

DBS Senior Management

Confidentiality

As a Public Servant, you have a duty to protect official information entrusted to you. You must not give another person or organisation official or confidential information concerning DBS’ business affairs, internal processes or trade secrets to which you have access during the course of your employment. This restriction also applies after you have left the organisation.

Equal Opportunities

Comply with the DBS’s equal opportunities policies and procedures showing an understanding of and commitment to diversity, and how it applies to this role.

Health and Safety

Complying with the requirements of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 (and associated legislation); to take reasonable care of yourself and others, including those employees under your direction at work.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential: Must hold an accounting qualification from a recognised CCAB accountancy body or CIMA

Essential Experience

Leading and developing a finance team with broad responsibilities in a changing environment of comparable scale or complexity
Expert finance business partnering skills
Financial planning and modelling skills, with experience developing/analysing commercial models and providing commercial finance advice
Development and maintenance of financial strategy and a mid-term financial plan
Provide advice on complex accounting issues
Developing financial frameworks and procedures

Desirable

Experienced operating in a regulatory agency or non-departmental public body (NDPB) preferred but not essential

Skills and Personal Qualities

Strategic thinking, planning and analysis skills, with the ability to develop creative solutions to support the management of change and mitigate associated risks
Excellent relationship management, influencing, facilitation and presentation skills
An expert people manager with the ability to build, lead, coach and retain a cohesive and high performing team.
Presence and credibility to work with the SLT team and senior colleagues across the organisation
Highly organised and able to plan and manage a broad portfolio of activities
Resilience in challenging circumstances: ability to work under pressure, remaining calm but decisive.
Highly effective communicator in person, in writing and in electronic media.

Behaviours

The Civil Service has defined a set of behaviours that, when demonstrated, are associated with job success. For this role you should demonstrate the following Civil Service Behaviours:

Setting Direction

Leadership
Seeing the bigger picture

Engaging People

Communicating and influencing

Delivering Results

Delivering at pace
Managing a quality service

Success profiles

During the application for this role, we will be using the new Civil Service Success Profiles.

You may find it helpful to read through Success Profiles online, where you can find various links which sets out the five elements of the Success profile: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/success-profiles

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