DNE Finance In-Year Management Lead

The Defence Nuclear Organisation (DNO) is responsible for the provision of the nuclear deterrent, encompassing our submarines and nuclear warheads, while also advising on UK nuclear planning and fostering international co-operation on nuclear matters. With a multidisciplinary team of over 700 professionals, the DNO brings together expertise in science, engineering, finance, policy, programme delivery, and more. We work in partnership with the Royal Navy, the Submarine Delivery Agency and the Atomic Weapons Establishment as the Defence Nuclear Enterprise (DNE).

Here at DNO we strongly believe that diversity and inclusion is not only the right thing to do but is also essential for a thriving and successful organisation. We have a culture where differences are celebrated, and our people feel supported, included and empowered. Join us and be part of an organisation that truly values diversity and inclusion and makes a positive impact on the world.

This is a highly visible and influential role, offering regular exposure to the Defence Nuclear Enterprise’s senior leadership and boards. You will be working to shape financial strategy, influence key organisational decisions, and strengthen financial performance for a £14bn per annum complex portfolio of spend.

Day-to-day, you will lead the consolidation and interpretation of in-year financial information from across the Defence Nuclear Enterprise, giving senior leaders a robust, accurate and timely view of the in-year forecast, performance against budget, emerging pressures, opportunities, and actions required to maintain affordability and delivery – getting the basics right whilst staying focused on key strategic issues.

You will be leading team of eight finance and analytical professionals at various stages of their career, and be part of creating an inclusive, collaborative and high-performing environment. Your key stakeholder relationships will include working closely with finance business partners, financial planning and accounting teams, and senior finance and programme stakeholders across the MOD and our partner organisations, to build confidence in the quality of the numbers, strengthening reporting standards and processes, and translating complex data into a coherent enterprise-level narrative.

Hybrid and flexible working can be considered for this post. Successful candidates are encouraged to discuss options with the recruiting line manager before starting the role.

This post is advertised at 37 hours per week.

This is a stretching and high-performance Grade 7 role within a wider central finance team, where you will lead the production, assurance and strategic narrative for the Defence Nuclear Enterprise’s in-year financial reporting. Our £14bn per annum portfolio of spend spans various areas of the MOD and includes several large infrastructure programmes within the Government Major Projects Portfolio.

Core responsibilities include:

• In-year consolidation: Ensuring the Defence Nuclear Enterprise’s monthly in-year forecasts, actuals, budgets, risks and choices are accurately reported on corporate systems, taut and complete, and supported by clear evidence, applying constructive challenge where assumptions, data quality or delivery plans require further scrutiny.
• Providing insight: Interpreting complex financial information (often at short turnaround timescales in a nuanced political and delivery environment) to identify trends and dependencies.
• Drawing out the real-world “so what” to give insightful, concise and persuasive analysis for senior boards and leaders on a monthly basis, all the way to the Accounting Officer, Ministers and Boards – communicating clearly and with purpose whether the medium be a slide deck, Word document, or on a spread sheet.
• Coordinating regular and ad-hoc returns on the financial position for the Departmental centre, HM Treasury, and senior DNE stakeholders, including drafting Accounting Officer advice, and responses to Parliamentary Questions and Freedom of Information requests where required.
• Effective stakeholder engagement: Working across organisational boundaries to build effective relationships with the Department’s centre, finance business partners, arms-length bodies, and colleagues across strategy, commercial and HR teams, aligning reporting approaches and ensuring deadlines and quality standards are consistently met.
• Continuous improvement: Driving continuous improvement and getting the basics right across your team and the wider organisation.
• Improving how management information is produced and used, you will ensure recurring reports, dashboards and templates are clear, standardised and focused on stakeholder and user needs.
• Acting as a key stakeholder for Department-wide systems and organisational change initiatives, you will champion automation, self-service reporting and digital dashboards, seek feedback and address any issues identified.
• Managing your team: You will line-manage, coach and develop team members, allocate resources flexibly, set stretching expectations and create an environment in which people can create an inclusive and friendly culture, stay curious and safely challenge existing ways of working, and support each other to exceed and deliver at pace.

As the post holder will have access to very sensitive information, there are limitations on travelling to a small number of countries and we will undertake additional security checks as part of the recruitment process. Applications from candidates with close connections to certain countries may take considerably longer to process, or in some cases result in a withdrawal of an offer of employment. Further details will be provided at the conditional offer stage.

Qualified chartered accountant (CCAB or CIMA Level 7).

Open to UK nationals only.

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Candidates will be required to provide a CV and Personal Statement of Suitability which should be a maximum of 750 words that sets out your motivation for applying and shows how your skills and experience meet the essential/desirable requirements for the role.

At sift, you will be assessed against your CV, and Statement of suitability

• CV
• Personal Statement

At Interview, you will be assessed on your Experience and the following Behaviours:

• Communicating & Influencing
• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace
• Seeing the Big Picture

The interviews will be conducted in person, MOD Main Building, London.

Candidates who are found to meet an acceptable standard at interview but are not successful in this advertised post may be considered for similar roles within the Business Unit.

Further information:

The Defence Nuclear Organisation plays a vital role in supporting the delivery of the UK’s independent strategic nuclear deterrent. To help enhance security, staff working for the DNO are encouraged to always exercise a high level of discretion in sharing information or talking about their work. As part of the application process, we ask that you do not tell anyone other than your partner or close family member about your application to join the DNO. You should not mention your application on social media or discuss it with anyone else at this stage.

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

As a result of the changes to the UK immigration rules which came into effect on 1 January 2021, the Ministry of Defence will only offer sponsorship for a skilled worker visa under the points-based system, where a role has been deemed to be business critical. This role does not meet that category, and we will not sponsor a visa. It is therefore NOT open to applications from those who will require sponsorship under the points-based system.

Should you apply for this role and be found to require sponsorship, your application will be rejected and any provisional offer of employment withdrawn.

The Ministry of Defence requires all candidates who are successful at interview to declare any outside interests. These declarations will be discussed with successful candidates following the interview process and before a formal offer of employment is made, as some outside interests may not be compatible with MOD civilian roles. This will not, in the majority of cases, prevent employment in MOD, but it is a measure that must be taken to ensure that appropriate mitigations can be put in place to manage any potential, perceived or actual conflicts of interest from the first day of employment.

The Ministry of Defence adopts a zero-tolerance approach to unacceptable behaviours, which includes bullying, harassment, sexual harassment, discrimination, and victimisation. You will not be eligible and will not be considered for this post if you have been dismissed from a role for such unacceptable behaviours within the last five years. This will also apply if you resign or otherwise leave a role but, because of an adverse decision, would have been dismissed for gross misconduct had you continued in that employment. Pre-employment checks will be carried out.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.