62881 - Management Accountant

The national salary range is £31,265 - £34,446, London salary range is £35,405 - £39,000. Your salary will be dependent on your base location
3
12 Months
National
National
NATIONAL
Please note: Some of our MoJ Office locations, such as our Liverpool Justice Collaboration Centre, require higher levels of National Security Vetting. The MoJ is working to open more Justice Collaboration Centres and Justice Satellite Offices over time. Click here to learn more about where our currently open Justice Collaboration Centres and Justice Satellite Offices are, to identify where you may be based and understand National Security Vetting requirements of each location.
HEO
HEO
Permanent
Full Time
Finance

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about how we do this visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity.

Job Title/ Position

Management Accountant

Band/Grade

HEO

Number of Vacancies

1

Business Group

Chief Operating Officer

Directorate

Financial Management & Control

Location

National

Hours

37

Working Pattern

Permanent

Role Type/ Team

Finance / Management Accounting Centre of Excellence 

Ministry of Justice an Inclusive Employer

We recognise the challenges that people with (multiple) protected characteristics may experience on the job market and in their career progression. We are fully committed to being an inclusive employer of choice and ensuring equity of opportunity for all. We welcome the unique contribution diverse applicants bring in terms of their culture, ethnicity, race, nationality or national origin, age, sex, gender identity or expression, religion or belief, disability status, sexual orientation, educational or social background or any other factor. To find out more about how we champion diversity and inclusion in the workplace please visit https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity

Overview

  • The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) sits at the heart of public service delivery and the government’s wider social reform agenda, working to protect and advance the principles of justice. The department has been at the forefront of the Government’s wider efficiency agenda making our finance roles an exciting and challenging opportunity.
  • The MoJ Management Accounting Centre of Excellence team sits within the Financial Management and Control Directorate and supports the department by providing a centralized, professional service to the department and individual business areas, adhering to the key principles in Managing Public Money, the Estimates Manual, the Spending Controls Framework and Budget Holder Responsibilities. It supports all MoJ operational Agencies, Arms-length Bodies (ALBs) and Head Quarter (HQ) functions (resource budget ~£10bn, capital budget ~£1.7bn) in providing robust, timely and transparent management accounting services.
  • The MoJ Management Accounting Centre of Excellence works with other Finance teams, including the Finance Business Partnering teams, to provide a high-quality finance service to the department. The teams are structurally separate with clearly defined roles and responsibilities and work closely together to deliver an effective end-to-end process of data extraction, analysis, reporting, insight and advice.
  • The MoJ Management Accounting Centre of Excellence will promote and maintain best practice in management accounting, business intelligence, data integrity and visualisation, reporting from a standard suite that is tailored where It will also seek to exploit new and existing technology as an enabler to delivering more efficient services and focus on streamlining and optimising processes.

Role Purpose

This role is within one of the operational MA teams withing the MoJ Management Accounting Centre of Excellence.  The postholder will need to be flexible in their approach and may support any of the HQ business units.

This role description applies to all HEO roles within the MoJ MA Centre of Excellence (MA CoE) operational teams. Where more than one applicant meets the minimum criteria for the role, the unsuccessful candidates will be placed on a merit list.  If there are further vacancies for HEO roles within the MA CoE in the next 12 months candidates can be taken from the merit list without running a new recruitment campaign.  Candidates will need to be flexible in their approach as they may be asked to support similar roles in different teams across the MA CoE to meet business needs.

This role offers a great opportunity to become part of the MA CoE and contribute to its’ continued development. It is a team constantly evolving, working towards its’ vision which is:  ‘A Centre of Excellence, recognised for delivering high quality financial management and insight to our customers, by a respected capable team which constantly strives to reform and improve in order to add value’.

The primary purpose of the role is to support the MA CoE Team in providing a time critical management accounting function for the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

The post holder will be responsible to the Lead Management Accountant for ensuring that all monthly, quarterly and annual accounting processes are correctly carried out to MoJ published timescales.

This is a management role, responsible for providing assurance to the Lead Management Accountant regarding the financial position of allocated business area (which could be one or more of operational Agency, ALB or HQ function) within the MoJ.  It provides clear analytical interpretation of financial information.

The post holder will be responsible for building and maintaining effective stakeholder relationships within their allocated business area with finance business partners, the wider finance community and across the business community.

The post holder will typically be part of a geographically dispersed team of up to approximately 12 finance professionals with line management of a small number of direct reports.

Responsibilities

The job holder will be required to undertake the following duties and responsibilities;

  • Management of the monthly accounting cycle. Responsible for providing time critical monthly, quarterly and annual management and statutory financial accounts – for allocated areas at regional/ functional level - meeting local and published timetables.
  • Responsible for ensuring all budgets, forecasts and journals are uploaded/posted in accordance with local and published timetables.
  • Undertake regular reviews and monitoring of expenditure, income, resource, capital and balance sheet/suspense accounts investigating and challenging significant variances, movements and patterns, to inform forecasting and decision making, advising Finance Business Partners of issues for resolution with local budget holders.
  • Responsible for analysing, interpretation and insight of key management information, to inform monthly reporting i.e. feed into monthly dashboards, production, development and presentation of the monthly finance reports for senior management.
  • Responsible for adherence (within team/areas of responsibility) with MoJ and HM Treasury policies and guidelines (journal policy, finance manual, Managing Public Money), including compliance checks e.g. journals are in accordance with the policy and checks are evidenced.
  • Support functions of cash management, financial accounting, governance, control and audit.
  • Ensuring a strong partnership is developed and maintained with all Stakeholders (Finance Business Partners, the Business, Shared Services (SSCL)) to support service delivery.
  • Potentially, direct line management of a small number of Assistant Accountants, employing coaching techniques and actively engaging in MoJ Performance Management policies – undertaking meaningful Touch Point conversations with line manager and with direct reports and effective use of the Reward and Recognition policy. Promoting diversity, inclusion and equality of opportunity, respecting difference and external experience, supporting the principles of fairness of opportunity for all. Ensure direct reports are supported in learning and development by actively engaging in, and encouragement of, learning opportunities through the MoJ Professionalism and Capability Centre of Expertise.  Maintain development plans to support improved capability whilst also supporting individual ambitions.
  • Support the function priorities, understanding how you and your team feed into them through engagement in working groups, updates and team discussions.
  • Actively support Lead Management Accountant and Senior Management Accountant in implementation of new ways of working, adopting smarter processes. Engage in continuous improvement through regular review and sharing of ideas to support improved ways of working and develop ‘thematic’ analytics expertise across the team.
  • Collaborate with colleagues across the wider MA team to develop close and effective working relationships and practices enabling resilience and consistency in delivery, including regular review of MA work instructions and implementation of new ones building on a consistent approach and service delivery.
  • Respond to requests for ad hoc reports and information in a timely and professional manner, demonstrating awareness of departmental and other business drivers.

Other duties

The post holder will be required to work in a flexible way and undertake any other duties reasonably requested by line management which are commensurate with the grade and level of responsibility of this post. This may also include maintenance of functional mailbox; covering team responsibilities; reporting and working closely with other Management Accounting staff to develop solutions/problem-solve and/or engaging in project work to drive financial improvements.

Travel

Some travel to locations across England and Wales may be required, however this will be ad-hoc and not a regular feature of these working arrangements.

Key skills and knowledge

  • Experience of working in a diverse team to deliver an effective and efficient service, in a fast-paced environment.
  • Experience of line management including managing a geographically dispersed team is desirable.
  • The post holder will have a high level of technical ability, including advanced Excel skills and experience in using Oracle based finance systems such SOP Hyperion and SmartView.
  • The post holder will provide clarity and analytical interpretation of the financial management information recognising patterns and trends in a wide range of data and drawing conclusions. They will be able to explore different options outlining costs, benefits, risks and potential responses to each.
  • The post holder will develop proposals to improve the quality of service with involvement from key stakeholders within the Management Accounting Centre of Excellence team, the Finance Directorate and the wider MoJ community, assisting the Lead Management Accountant to maintain a high level of financial performance and providing quality financial and budgetary information for a range of designated cost centres and allocated portfolio.
  • They will undertake specific thematic expertise analysing financial movement and challenging forecast which will demand initiative and self-motivation.

Success Profiles  

Success Profiles will enable a fairer and more inclusive method of recruitment by enabling us to assess the range of experiences, abilities, strengths, behaviours and technical/professional skills required for different roles. This flexible approach to recruitment focuses more on finding the right candidate for the specific role. To find out more about Success Profiles to support your application please click here for further guidance.

Civil Service Behaviours

The following HEO Civil Service Behaviours are essential to this post and will be assessed upon application:

  • Managing a Quality Service
  • Working Together
  • Communicating and Influencing
  • Delivering at Pace

Please refer to the Civil Service Behaviours Framework, which can be found here, to complete this application: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/717275/CS_Behaviours_2018.pdf

In the event that we receive a large volume of applications we reserve the right to conduct the sift based on one lead behaviour. The chosen lead behaviour for this campaign is Managing a Quality Service.

Professional Competencies / Requirements

  • Association of Accounting Technicians Level 4 is desirable for this post though not essential
  • MoJ candidates who are on a specialist grade will be able to retain this on lateral transfer

The Selection Process

To apply please complete the online application form. Applications will be sifted by a panel who will look at the Civil Service Behaviour framework and what is evidenced in your application. Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the lead behaviour, Managing a Quality Service. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to interview. Applicants will be expected to demonstrate the essential role requirements within the application behaviour responses. 

Candidates who are successful following the sift process will be invited to interview, where the behavioural elements and strengths will be tested further alongside other elements of the post. Further details will be provided to shortlisted candidates in advance of the interviews.

Training

The Ministry of Justice is committed to staff development and offers an extensive range of training and development opportunities.

Networks

The opportunity to join employee run networks that have been established to provide advice and support and to enable the views of employees from minority groups to be expressed direct to senior management. There are currently networks for employees of minority ethnic origin, employees with disabilities, employees with caring responsibilities, women employees, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees.

Interview dates: Expected Mid-Late September

Closing Date:   31/08/22, 23.55 hours.

For further information please feel free to contact Gary.Smith@justice.gov.uk

Working Arrangements & Further Information

The MoJ offers Hybrid Working arrangements where business need allows. This is an informal, non-contractual form of flexible working that blends working from your base location, different MoJ sites and / or from home (please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas). Some roles will not be suitable for Hybrid Working. Similarly, Hybrid Working will not suit everyone’s circumstances. Arrangements will be discussed and agreed with the successful candidate(s) and subject to regular review.

For nationally advertised roles, the successful candidate(s) will be appointed to a MoJ office location, which may include their nearest Justice Collaboration Centre or Justice Satellite Office. This will be discussed and agreed on the completion of pre-employment checks.

Some of MoJ’s terms and conditions of service are changing as part of Civil Service reform. The changes will apply to staff joining MoJ who are new to the Civil Service. Staff joining MoJ from other civil service employers will transfer onto the new MoJ terms if they are already on 'modernised' terms in their current post or onto 'unmodernised' MoJ terms if they are on 'unmodernised' terms at their current post. Details will be available if an offer is made.

Flexible working hours

The Ministry of Justice offers a flexible working system in many offices.

Benefits

The MoJ offers a range of benefits:

Annual Leave

Annual leave is 25 days on appointment and will increase to 30 days after five years’ service.

There is also a scheme to allow qualifying staff to buy or sell up to three days leave each year. Additional paid time off for public holidays and 1 privilege day. Leave for part-time and job share posts will be calculated on a pro-rata basis.

Pension

The Civil Service offers a choice of pension schemes, giving you the flexibility to choose the pension that suits you best.

Training

The Ministry of Justice is committed to staff development and offers an extensive range of training and development opportunities.

Networks

The opportunity to join employee-run networks that have been established to provide advice and support and to enable the views of employees from minority groups to be expressed direct to senior management. There are currently networks for employees of minority ethnic origin, employees with disabilities, employees with caring responsibilities, women employees, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees.

Support

  • A range of ‘Family Friendly’ policies such as opportunities to work reduced hours or job share.
  • Access to flexible benefits such as voluntary benefits, retail vouchers and discounts on a range of goods and services.
  • For moves to or from another employer or moves across the Civil Service this can have implications on your eligibility to carry on claiming childcare vouchers. You may however be eligible for alternative government childcare support schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. More information can be found on UKor Childcare Choices. You can determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.
  • Paid paternity, adoption and maternity leave.
  • Free annual sight tests for employees who use computer screens.

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. Should you feel that the recruitment process has breached the recruitment principles you are able to raise a formal complaint in the following order

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As a Disability Confident employer, MoJ are committed to providing everyone with the opportunity to demonstrate their skills, talent and abilities, by making adjustments throughout all elements of the recruitment process and in the workplace. MoJ are able to offer an interview to disabled candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns.

You will be able to request reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process within the application form. If you need additional help completing the application form, please contact the SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team.

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society that we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging. To find out more about how we do this visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/equality-and-diversity.

Expected mid-late September

31/08/2022, 23:55 hours.

If you require any assistance please call 0845 241 5359 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com Please quote the job reference - 62881.

To apply for roles in MOJ you will need to confirm your employment history for at least 3 years prior to the date of application so that pre-employment checks (BPSS) can be undertaken. If you have spent significant time abroad (a total of 6 months in the past 3 years) you would be required to give a reasonable account of the reasons why. 

For some roles you will be required to successfully complete National Security Vetting at Counter Terrorism (CTC), Security Clearance (SC) or Developed Vetting (DV) level as a condition of appointment. To meet CTC/SC/DV requirements you will normally need to have been resident in the UK for at least 3/5/10 years prior to the date of application (The level of checks that are required are stated in the advert).

If you do not meet the above requirements, you may still be considered if, for example:

  • You've been serving overseas with HM Forces or in some other official capacity as a representative of HM Government
  • You were studying abroad
  • You were living overseas with parents

In such cases you will need to be able to provide referee cover for the period(s) of residence overseas. The duration of overseas residence and the country of abode will also be taken into account.

Success Profiles will enable a fairer and more inclusive method of recruitment by enabling us to assess the range of experiences, abilities, strengths, behaviours and technical/professional skills required for different roles. This flexible approach to recruitment focuses more on finding the right candidate for the specific role. To find out more about Success Profiles to support your application please click here for further guidance.

In the event that we receive a large volume of applications we reserve the right to conduct the sift based on one lead behaviour. The chosen lead behaviour for this campaign is Managing a Quality Service.
if you feel that your application has not been treated in line with the Civil Service Recruitment Principles, please contact SSCL (Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com) in the first instance

We have provided detail of the assessment stages and areas being assessed to help you prepare for completing your application form, and to advise of what will be assessed following this, if you successfully pass the application stage.


Application form stage assessments

Behaviours
Managing a Quality Service - 250 word limit
Working Together - 250 word limit
Communicating and Influencing - 250 word limit
Delivering at Pace - 250 word limit
Experience
Work History
Statement of Suitability - 250 word limit
A sift based on the lead behaviour, Managing a Quality Service, may be held if a large number of applications are received. If a large number of applications remain after the initial sift, your application will be progressed to a full sift, where all behaviours will then be considered.

Interview stage assessments

There is 1 interview stage for this vacancy.
Behaviours
Managing a Quality Service
Working Together
Communicating and Influencing
Delivering at Pace
Strengths may also be assessed at interview but these are not shared in advance.

A Great Place to Work for Veterans

The "Making the Civil Service a Great Place to work for veterans" initiative includes a guaranteed interview scheme to those who meet the minimum criteria to provide eligible former members of the Armed Forces with opportunities to secure rewarding jobs. Allowing veterans to continue to serve their country, and to bring highly skilled individuals with a broad range of experience into the Civil Service in an environment, which recognises and values your previous service in the Armed Forces.
For further details about the initiative and eligibility requirements visit : https://www.gov.uk/government/news/making-the-civil-service-a-great-place-to-work-for-veterans

Redeployment Interview Scheme

Civil Service departments are expected to explore redeployment opportunities before making an individual redundant. The MoJ are committed, as part of the Redeployment Interview Scheme, to providing opportunities to those who are 'at risk of redundancy'.

MoJ are able to offer an interview to eligible candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns. Candidate's will not be eligible for the Redeployment Interview Scheme if they are applying on promotion.

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment.

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

· UK nationals

· nationals of the Republic of Ireland

· nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK

· nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window) https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families

· nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)

· individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020

· Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window) https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rules

This Vacancy is closed to applications.