Location

Multi-location from one of our FSA Offices (Belfast, Cardiff, Birmingham, London or York), or home based in the UK. Occasional UK travel required Please be aware that this role can only be worked within the UK and not overseas.

About the job

The FSA is a non-ministerial department of over 1,300 people, with a big vision – to drive change in the food system so that it delivers “food we can trust”. Our primary goal is to continue to protect public health and consumers’ wider interest in food. As we have now exited the EU the FSA faces a significant period of change and activity.

Job description

The overwhelming majority of income for the FSA is derived from the statutory activities that we are obliged to provide. This means that the Finance teams within the Agency have a significant role to play in securing this income and helping ensure that the FSA is able to continue our vital work so that people can trust that the food they buy and eat is safe and what it says it is.

We manage the accounts of over 1,000 customers from across England and Wales - most of these are meat premises that work to provide the nation with the meat on their dinner tables, but we also work closely with the dairy sector and other parts of government. The FSA issues over 6,000 invoices to these customers each year, and to ensure the smooth running of our budgets and operations, it’s vital that we are able to monitor and initiate debt recovery whenever needed.

The Revenue Accounting and Debt Recovery Manager leads a team of four whose dedicated purpose is to help the Agency secure the income that comes from these customers. From the issuing of invoices through to the recovery of debt, the team is responsible for bringing in around £30m per annum in invoiced income from England and Wales, whilst co-ordinating with Northern Ireland’s own Finance team. Ensuring that these practices are carried out efficiently, effectively and accurately is a key priority for the Agency.

The successful candidate will be a strong and clear communicator who can both confidently lead their team but also develop good relationships with various stakeholders including our customers, directors and senior managers within the Agency and external bodies like the Shared Services Connected Limited (SSCL), who are the providers of our finance system.

If you are capable of managing a high-quality service that can deliver at pace in order to offer vital support to the FSA’s work, and are always looking for ways to improve on established approaches, don’t hesitate to apply for this fantastic opportunity.
 

Responsibilities

Please read the attached Candidate Pack to discover further details about the role, our organisation, who we are looking for and the criteria we will assess against during the selection process. We look forward to receiving your application and wish you every success.

Behaviours

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

• Changing and Improving
• Communicating and Influencing
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace

Benefits

Our candidate pack details the benefits that the FSA has to offer. Please also refer to the attached Terms and Conditions statement.

Things you need to know 

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.

People working with government assets must complete basic personnel security standard checks.

Selection process details

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

Full details of the selection process are detailed in the attached candidate pack. This will consist of a numerical/verbal reasoning test and then shortlisting against the essential and desirable person specification criteria stated. If successful at shortlisting stage, you will be invited to the final selection stage consisting of a behaviours-based interview.

If applying on a job-share basis, the expectation would be that you are already in an established job-share partnership.

Candidates are advised to note that the application, sift and interview process all follow the Civil Service Success Profiles framework. You should familiarize yourself with this framework so that your application meets the necessary requirements and so that you can prepare for interview if invited. Information about Success Profiles is available on this link.

In the event of receiving a large number of applications an initial sift may take place on just the identified lead criteria indicated below:
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to alter the style to a wide range of internal/external stakeholders

We particularly welcome applications from black and minority ethnic candidates as they are under-represented within our organisation at this level. All appointments are made on merit.

We actively review the deployment of talent on a periodic basis in the interests of optimising personal development and the achievement of business plans.

Our candidate pack details the benefits that the FSA has to offer. Please also refer to the attached terms and conditions statement.

A reserve list will be held for a period up to 12 months from which further appointment may be made.

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

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service
• relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service
• certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals

Further information on nationality requirements

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 equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) 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 :   Richard Collier Email :   [email protected]   Recruitment team : Email :   [email protected] Further information

If you wish to raise a complaint then please email [email protected] in the first instance.
 

Attachments Candidate Pack Opens in new window(pdf, 1250kB) Terms and Conditions as at April 2020 Opens in new window(pdf, 61kB)