National Social Work Agency, Finance and Business Manager - C1

The role involves working closely with colleagues in the Scottish Government Finance Directorate and the NSWA's Senior Management Team, building and maintaining excellent working relationships and communication arrangements with them. Understanding the needs of the business while having the ability to connect with and support the corporate financial landscape will be essential in this role. Ability to present complex financial information clearly both verbally and in writing to support organisational decision-making will also be paramount.

In addition, you will be required to oversee the business management functions of the NSWA to ensure that the NSWA is established with robust and efficient management processes in place. It is not essential that the postholder is a qualified Accountant, but it would be desirable; they must though have a strong understanding of SG finance and accounting procedures.

• Responsible for establishment of robust financial planning and management arrangements for the new NSWA.
• Provision of financial advice and guidance to the Agency’s Advisory Board and supporting the Chief Executive in their Accountable Officer role to ensure robust arrangements are in place for accurate financial and business management and reporting.
• Prepare the Agency's annual accounts in accordance with the FReM and other accounting guidelines and regulations, including completing the associated Scottish Government Consolidation and Whole of Government Accounts packs.
• Liaise with Audit Scotland and Internal Audit on both annual accounts and activity audits throughout the year, and provide comments and management responses on draft audit reports.
• Advise the Chief Executive as Accountable Officer on any responses required to audit reports.
• Support the NSWA’s Audit and Risk Committee, presenting timely reports and updates in respect of financial performance.
• Have oversight of the NSWA’s budgets, working closely with policy teams to ensure due diligence in terms of financial decisions in respect of external grants and monitoring expenditure and value for money across the Agency’s budgets.
• Contribute to leadership of the NSWA, working with the Chief Social Work Adviser, Deputy Chief Social Work Adviser and Senior Leadership Team to deliver the strategic priorities of the NSWA.
• Ensure the NSWA has appropriate business management processes to support assurance activity and corporate responsibilities.
• Oversee the management of shared services from SG to support the smooth functioning of the NSWA, including corporate shared services for IT, Oracle, Finance and HR systems.
• Oversee activities to support staff engagement and overall organisational improvement activity, including in response to people survey results and ongoing recruitment.
• Oversee performance of core corporate processes, including Ministerial correspondence, Parliamentary questions, Freedom of Information requests and similar tasks.
• Lead a Business Management Unit consisting of 2x B3, 2x B1 and 1x PA. Line management of B3s.

This role is a permanent level transfer position.

Applications for this position will only be accepted from substantive C1 employees. Please submit a statement outlining your suitability for the role, relevant skills and experience, and what you would bring to the team (maximum 500 words). Vacancy closes at 12:00pm on Tuesday the 17th March.

All applications will be invited to an informal discussion with the hiring manager. Informal discussions are to be confirmed. Read our Candidate Guide for further information on our recruitment and application processes.