Location

Southampton

About the job

Are you a qualified or part qualified accountant looking for a role with a purpose, where your job matters?

Would you say you have exceptional communication skills? Do you want to use them to focus on frontline engagement with professionals who work towards preventing loss of life on the coast and at sea.

Would you love the opportunity to get involved in project work and upgrading financial systems.?

Job description

Due to an internal promotion we have an opportunity available for a motivated, forward-thinking accountant (part or fully qualified) to join our team. Providing excellent support to the Senior Finance Business Partner you will also have the rare opportunity to get involved in the financial management of the circa £200m Radio Network Infrastructure Replacement programme. In this role you will also provide high quality analysis of financial and non-financial data to the HM Coastguard Directorate, whilst reviewing and challenging budgeting and forecasting information provided.
 

Responsibilities

• Work closely with the other Finance business partners to identify opportunities for analysis and modelling of financial and non-financial information.

• Work alongside Directors and Deputy Directors and their teams, at all levels, on corporate plans, medium term financial planning, Government Spending Reviews and annual budgeting and monthly forecasting.

• Support the Chief Financial Officer and Senior Finance Business Partner in the delivery of departmental budgeting processes, including Spending Reviews.

• Identify emerging financial pressures and opportunities for savings.

• Work closely with Financial Accounts Team, the Technical Accountant and the other Finance Business Partners to ensure the MCA meets its annual reporting obligations.

• Assist HM Coastguard with financial elements of business cases for spend approvals.

• Provide finance training and guidance to all levels of staff as and when required.

• Keep abreast of accounting developments to ensure continuous professional development is ongoing and up to date.

• Take responsibility for own health and safety, and that of others.

• Ad hoc tasks as required within the MCA.?

About You:
As a qualified or part qualified accountant you have a fantastic grasp on numbers/figures and pride yourself on your exceptional attention to detail. Using your advanced Microsoft Excel skills, you will support our stakeholders with all aspects of their financial management and reporting commitments. Your adaptable communication style is perfect in this role - you will be liaising with a range of stakeholders and will have the confidence to challenge budgets/forecasts/assumptions and requests for additional funds when needed. You will also ensure that stakeholders are given concise, clear direction and explanation to enable them to better understand the rationale behind decisions made and to enable them to make decisions in the best interests of the organisation overall.


CV and Personal Statement
When writing your CV and Personal statement please demonstrate the following:
• Qualified or part qualified CCAB or equivalent.
• Current knowledge of financial management techniques and financial reporting requirements as included in Treasury's Managing Public Money and the Government Financial Reporting Manual (FReM).
• Advanced knowledge and skills in Microsoft Excel.
• Experience of budgeting and challenging financial data.
• Experience of working alongside Senior stakeholders.

Benefits:
Being part of our brilliant Civil Service means you will have access to a wide range of fantastic benefits. We offer generous annual leave, attractive pension options, flexible working, inclusive working environments and much more to support a healthy work/life balance.

About us

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) implements the government's maritime safety policy in the United Kingdom and works to prevent the loss of life and occurrence of pollution on the coast and at sea.

Safer lives, Safer ships, Cleaner seas.

Our vision is to be the best maritime safety organisation in the world.

Find out what it's like to work at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency

We are part of the Department for Transport (DfT). DfT is a great place to work, and our ‘one team’ approach really makes a difference. We value our staff and that’s why we’re committed to nurturing an inclusive environment across the Department.

You’ll be part of an innovative organisation that invests in all our people, ensuring we have the diverse skills to deliver transport that moves Britain ahead now and into the future.

DfT’s inclusion is recognition of our commitment to make the Department a great place to work through our culture of equality and inclusivity and the great strides we’ve made to raise the number of women in senior positions.

Qualifications

Qualified or Part Qualified CCAB or equivalent.

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Working Together
• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Making Effective Decisions
• Seeing the Big Picture

Benefits

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension Things you need to know Security

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.

Selection process details

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

The sift is due to take place on 6th November 2019

Interviews/assessments are likely to be held on the 14th November 2019.

Interview location to be confirmed.

We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change. You will be provided with sufficient notice of the confirmed dates.

The selection process will be designed specifically for the role. As a result, your assessment could include:
• an interview
• an interview with one or more exercises
• a full day of activities including interactive, written and timed exercises

The Department for Transport alongside other Government Departments recruit using Success Profiles. This means for each role we consider what you will need to demonstrate in order to be successful. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity. For further information on Success Profiles please click here

Your interview may consist of a range of question types. These may include questions about:
• what energises and motivates you
• how you would manage situations relevant to the role
• your previous experience
• your professional skills and knowledge

You’re encouraged to become familiar with the role profile, as you may be assessed against any of the criteria recorded within.

Further Information
We have adopted anonymised recruitment. This means that your name, date of birth and other personal details will not be seen by the sift panel.

We may hold a merit list for up to twelve months. During this time, if a similar role is identified and you have been placed on the merit list you may be considered for the post. Within the merit list period, your application form and selection information may be shared across the department and its agencies.

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check maybe carried out.

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Reasonable adjustment
If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

Contact Government Recruitment Service via [email protected] as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs Complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.
Any move to the Department for Transport will mean you will no longer be able to carry on claiming childcare vouchers.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Nationality requirements

Open to UK, Commonwealth and European Economic Area (EEA) and certain non EEA nationals. Further information on whether you are able to apply is available here.

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code 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.

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equality of opportunity. There is a guaranteed interview scheme (GIS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Apply and further information

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

Contact point for applicants Job contact : Name :   Neil Farley Email :   [email protected]   Recruitment team : Email :   [email protected] Further information

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 Government Recruitment Services via email: [email protected] If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: Click here (https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/) to visit Civil Service Commission