About the job

Summary

If you have any questions including about the role, team or flexible working please contact the vacancy manager.

Everyone should be able to have a roof over their head and a place to call their home. But tonight, far too many will be sleeping rough on our streets, cold and vulnerable. Thousands more will be in temporary accommodation or sleeping on their friends’ or family’s sofa, unsure of what the future holds. You can help change this by joining a dedicated and inclusive team of about 100 who are already delivering results. Our work is a top priority for this government and so we are expanding to deliver new initiatives. If you want an exciting and motivating role, with the freedom and the opportunity to develop and deliver interventions that will make a real difference to thousands of lives then we want to hear from you. We are committed to ending rough sleeping by the end of the Parliament.

Job description

This role offers excellent exposure to a wide range of partners and will involve you working collaboratively across the Department, Government and the sector. Committed to your development, we will ensure that you have a role that stretches you, develops your skills and enables you to shine, backed by a line manager who will ensure you receive regular learning and development opportunities and the support you need to thrive in your role.

The homelessness & rough sleeping finance team ensure that the necessary resources are deployed to meet our priorities, manage the programme’s budget and that our financial reporting is accurate. We work closely with finance business partners and policy officials to drive value for money in addition to working with senior officials across the Department.

The current four-person finance team is a central function in the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Directorate and forms part of the Central Unit which is made up of finance, project & programme management, and business management which provide support to the wider Directorate. Our team is dedicated to creating a positive, inclusive and flexible work environment where you can bring your whole self to work.  You will join us at an exciting time having just secured over £2bn of public spend over the next three years to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping. You will be at the heart of this, ensuring that this funding reaches the most vulnerable of our society.

You will be a key member of the homelessness and rough sleeping finance team and will support project teams across the programme to manage their finances through effective budget management, forecasting and payments.

• You will be comfortable working independently as well as leading work across the programme and will be expected to communicate clearly and persuasively to colleagues on complex financial issues.

• You will be able to see the big picture in your work noting wider dependencies and strategic context.

• You will have an eye for detail and be able to pick out key information from project reports, financial statements, and meetings with teams to provide comprehensive financial advice.

• You will be confident in analysing numerical data using Microsoft Excel and providing detailed written and verbal commentary to back up your analysis.

• You will be willing to learn and understand complex processes and governance arrangements within the Department and navigate these to deliver results.

• The homelessness and rough sleeping finance team are approachable, friendly, and here to support the wider programme to deliver services that help those experiencing rough sleeping and homelessness. You will be expected to deliver an excellent service to our internal and external stakeholders, representing the finance team at Departmental meetings and with the voluntary organisations we fund. This includes raising financial capabilities across the team as necessary and building positive relationships with project teams.

• The team are always striving to improve how we work, and you should be proactive in suggesting new ideas, solutions and bring a problem-solving and continuous improvement approach to the team.

Our commitment to you is a role that is stretching and supportive of you wider career goals. There will be opportunities to enhance your responsibilities to ensure you are getting the most out of the role and are continually developing. We ask that candidates have an appropriate qualification for the role, or where they do not, they are willing to work towards one in post supported by the Department as part of their ongoing learning and development.

Responsibilities

Essential

·         Ability to use Microsoft Excel to analyse numerical data and produce financial reports

·         Ability to derive insight & meaning from multiple data sources, including written and numerical, and confidently present these

·         Comfortable learning new processes

·         Comfortable challenging and improving processes

·         Self-starter who is motivated to solve complex problems

·         Accountancy Qualification – the successful candidate must have, or be willing to work towards, an accountancy qualification supported by the Department. Appropriate qualifications include AAT, ACCA, CIMA, ACAEW (ACA), CIPFA.

Desirable

·         Experience working on public sector grants

·         Experience working with a range of stakeholders to achieve positive outcomes

·         Experience in contract management and client services 

Fully qualified candidates may be entitled to a higher starting salary. In order to receive this, you must be fully qualified and in a qualifying post as agreed by the Head of Profession.

Behaviours

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

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Leadership
• Changing and Improving
• Making Effective Decisions

Technical skills

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

• Technical will be assessed at sift.