Senior Financial Accountant in London

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is the UK government department responsible for safeguarding our natural environment, supporting our world‑leading food and farming industry, and sustaining a thriving rural economy. Our broad remit means we play a major role in people’s day‑to‑day life, from the food we eat, and the air we breathe, to the water we drink.

As a Senior Financial Accountant working in the Natural England‑facing financial accounting team within Defra group Finance, you will have the opportunity to engage with a range of complex finance and accounting issues in support of Natural England’s vision of achieving thriving nature for people and planet.

The postholder will sit within the team responsible for producing Natural England’s resource accounts, facilitating the external audit, and providing technical financial accounting advice. As the team is part of Defra group Finance, who provide services to Defra’s four largest ALBs along with the department itself as part of the group corporate services model, the postholder will also support service delivery across the function by sharing best practice and working together to ensure quality and timeliness in financial reporting across the Defra group.

This role has specific responsibility for our work on non‑current assets – bringing together a complex portfolio of asset classes extending from the National Nature Reserves and the plant and machinery that maintain them, to software assets at the heart of Natural England’s statutory and regulatory functions. As a senior member of the team, the postholder will provide support and resilience across the team’s responsibilities and proactively identify opportunities to do things in a different way to be more efficient or produce better outcomes.

Key responsibilities include:

• Leading our work on non‑current assets, including exercising oversight of our shared services provider who have day‑to‑day management responsibility of the fixed asset register by ensuring that all additions, disposals, transfers, depreciation and amortisation and revaluations are accounted for correctly.
• Working closely with Finance Business Partners, Management Reporting, and Natural England stakeholders to improve non‑current asset reporting throughout the project lifecycle.
• Proactively manage assets‑under‑construction balances to ensure transactions are correctly recorded, monitored, and brought into service when ready.
• Ensure adherence to International Financial Reporting Standards as adapted and interpreted by the government’s Financial Reporting Manual.
• Lead the non‑current asset verification and impairment reviews, quinquennial valuations, and oversee the use of indices.
• Provide financial accounting advice to Finance and Natural England stakeholders on new transactions, projects, and policies.
• In facilitating the external audit, respond to requests for information, provide walkthroughs, obtain evidence and explain the reasoning for particular transactions, balances, and movements across the financial statements.
• Liaising with the external auditors, including preparing and reviewing accounting assessments.
• Supporting the actions taken in response to management letter recommendations from prior year audits and any internal audit recommendations.
• Contribute to the Synergy programme as the non‑current asset subject matter expert for Natural England.
• Working on other aspects of statutory reporting including the annual report and other aspects of the financial statements as required.

Person specification

SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE

This role would suit somebody who:

• has a high level of digital proficiency including Microsoft Excel, finance systems (preferably Oracle) and Business Intelligence tools (e.g. Qlik or PowerBI)
• can work effectively in a geographically dispersed team
• has experience producing statutory accounts, preferably in the public sector
• works to a high degree of accuracy with keen eye for detail
• has experience in managing a non‑current asset register
• has strong written and verbal communication skills, including being able to discuss complex financial issues in an accessible way
• takes the initiative to identify and solve problems affecting issues in your remit independently
• has experience in applying a range of accounting standards in a practical context, including assessing which standards are most appropriate given a particular scenario
• has been involved with a statutory audit and can identify the underlying audit assertions being tested, selecting the most appropriate evidence and managing a high volume of queries simultaneously
• identifies opportunities for continuous improvement and acts on them, adding value, increasing efficiency and quality of outputs

TECHNICAL SKILLS

This role sits within the team responsible for providing technical financial accounting and reporting advice across the Defra group, so it is important that the postholder can provide credible, authoritative advice on a range of issues. This may include:

• knowledge and practical experience in using the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), including IAS 2, IAS 16, IAS 36, IAS 37, and IAS 38, and IFRS 15
• knowledge of the government’s Financial Reporting Manual (FReM), the Consolidated Budgeting Guidance (CBG) and Managing Public Money (MPM)
• using finance systems, reporting tools, and MS Excel

QUALIFICATIONS

This role is suitable for a CCAB, CIMA, or equivalent qualified accountant. L4 AAT or those studying towards CCAB may be considered if they can demonstrate the necessary technical aptitude that the role requires.

Behaviours

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

• Delivering at Pace
• Making Effective Decisions
• Working Together

Technical skills

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

• Knowledge of the International Financial Reporting Standards: The interview will include a short section to test your understanding of some accounting concepts and the standards the post‑holder is most likely to come across.

For more information and to apply, please visit our website via the apply button below.