13642 - Senior Head of Finance in Belfast

The Northern Ireland Office is seeking a grade 6 Senior Head of Finance. This is an excellent opportunity for an ambitious Finance professional to develop their career and gain a breadth of experience in a wide-ranging role. You will report directly to the Deputy Director for Finance and Operations, one of two Deputy Directors responsible for the Corporate Operations Group, and lead the finance function for the department.

You will be responsible for the leadership, ownership and accountability of the full range of finance activity including contributing to the work of the Departmental Board and Audit & Risk Assurance Committee (ARAC), ensuring robust financial management and control processes. You will be a trusted advisor to key decision makers and provide regular updates to the senior team including the Permanent Secretary. You will be a critical friend to the business and ensure that the senior management is supported in taking high‑level, strategic decisions. You will be solutions focused and work with your team to seek out innovative ways of delivery to maximise value to both the public and the taxpayer.

Leading a small but expert team of 7 staff, you will establish strong communication across the team and support and inspire staff to fulfil their potential as well as to deliver a highly effective service. You will demonstrate excellent leadership and proactively work to ensure your team is engaged to deliver at their best whilst being a role model for inclusive leadership in the department. This role will liaise closely with key internal and external stakeholders, including Ministerial teams, budget holders and teams across the business and Arm’s Length Bodies, internal and external auditors, and HM Treasury.

Duties And Responsibilities:

• Lead the finance team across the full range of finance activity, including (but not limited to): delivery of systems of financial control; technical accounting; financial control and assurance; planning and preparation of the Department’s annual statutory accounts; budget planning financial management; financial business partnering; review of business cases.
• Oversee procurement and commercial management within NIO.
• Leadership and direction of the finance team, developing the priorities and operating model for the team.
• Demonstrate leadership across the wider corporate services team, working collaboratively to achieve common objectives and taking an active role in building the culture of the wider team.
• Support Senior Leaders in achieving departmental objectives through our approach to financial planning and management.

Essential Criteria:

• Fully qualified accountant CCAB, CIMA or equivalent.
• UK Government finance and financial management experience.
• Demonstrable experience of preparing or auditing financial statements.
• Experience of strategic financial planning to deliver organisational objectives.
• Strong track record in leading and developing high performing teams.
• Experience of building positive and effective working relationships across a wide range of internal and external stakeholders, and having a credible impact with senior colleagues.
• Excellent communication skills, including the ability to influence and engage to bring together individuals from across the business and externally to deliver key objectives. Ability to comprehend complex technical information and distil it into a format that is widely understandable.

Desirable Criteria:

• Previous experience of the Spending Review process/other government fiscal events.
• Previous commercial management and procurement experience within the Public Sector.
• Existing Security Check (SC) clearance would be advantageous but not essential.