Finance Officer

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is pleased to announce the opportunity to apply for the position of Finance Officer for the Digital Information Directorate (DID).

This post is within the DID Finance Team that manages finances by forecasting expenditure, managing budgets and providing assurances to senior management as well as other key work.

The postholder will be in a busy team and will be required to undertake a range of financial tasks relating to the directorate’s operating costs. These will include performing reconciliations, producing reports, and taking responsibility for the accuracy of accounting information.

The Crown Prosecution Service is based in England and Wales. If you’re applying for this role and live in Scotland or Northern Ireland, you must let us know when accepting this offer as you need permission to work from your home address if hybrid working is part of your role. There’s no guarantee that we will grant this approval.

You must be aged 16 or over at the point of starting in this role. The expected start date is approximately 8–12 weeks after the application closing date. You are expected to commence employment as soon as possible following the expiry of your notice period. Requests for significantly later start dates may not be accommodated.

Your roles and responsibilities

• You monitor the overall integrity of the Oracle general ledger and monitoring specific GL accounts relating to Operating Costs, supervising their accurate reconciliation each month.
• You provide detailed analysis of the impact of FTE changes and payroll transactions on GL, identifying errors and advising on the corrective action required.
• You provide support to all Month End and Year end activities relating to Salaries/FTE and other general Admin Expenses (GAE), such as accruals generation and reconciliation and preparation of accounts.
• You support key day to day activities such as monitoring the finance mailbox, preparing invoices for payment and raising Purchase Orders ensuring the correct cost and accounting codes are used.

A copy of the full job description is attached.

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

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

Recruitment process

The recruitment process consists of an online application and interview.

Personal statement

We ask you to complete a personal statement of no more than 1,250 words. You need to address the core behaviours for this role, which are:

• Making Effective Decisions (Lead Behaviour)
• Delivering at Pace
• Managing a Quality Service

You also need to demonstrate the following experience required for this role:

• a high level of technical competence and willingness to learn new skills
• a good level of competence in managing and reconciling Finance data and producing high quality management information or contributing to production of management reports
• good customer service and communication skills with the confidence to constructively challenge colleagues, where appropriate
• strong MS Excel skills in order to review and manipulate large volumes of data effectively.
• good knowledge of the monthly finance cycle and practical working experience in relatable finance role

In addition, you need to demonstrate the Crown Prosecution Service or Civil Service values.

The panel has the right to assess the lead behaviour ‘Making Effective Decisions first. If the standard on this behaviour isn’t met, the other behaviours won’t be considered and your application won’t progress. The panel also has the right to raise the minimum standard pass mark. The panel may also refer to the lead behaviour at the interview stage to determine merit order.

CV

You’re not required to upload your CV. However, when submitting your application there is a ‘CV section’. You are required to provide information about your employment and/or academic history for the past three years, skills, and qualification details.The CV section will be assessed.

It’s your responsibility to provide the specified information in the requested format to ensure that you're considered for the post.

If you're unable to cover three years through employment or academic history, you must provide a character reference for clearance purposes.

Interview

The interviews are expected to take place on 12 November 2026.

Your interview takes place online through Microsoft Teams. A member of our recruitment team will be in touch with guidance. If you have any queries about this, contact benjamin.ross-russell@cps.gov.uk

You should keep this date free or notify us if you're not available. We'll make every effort to accommodate your date preferences but we can't guarantee it.

We use behaviours to help us understand your experience, to see if you're a good fit for the role. You are assessed against EO in the Civil Service success profiles behaviours framework. We are assessing 3 behaviours at interview stage:

• Making Effective Decisions (Lead Behaviour)
• Delivering at Pace
• Managing a Quality Service

Other

This is a full-time post. We do consider requests for flexible, part-time working and job share, always considering the operational needs of the department.

Please note that the CPS is unable to offer visa sponsorship. If you require visa sponsorship to work in the UK, you will not meet the eligibility criteria for this role.

Clearance

If successful, you are required to secure a Disclosure and Barring Service check, for which you must have a current valid UK address.

If successfully appointed, we ask you to complete a character enquiry form, and nationality and immigration questionnaire.

If you're a Crown Prosecution Service member of staff, you won’t need to do a Disclosure and Barring Service check as you already hold this clearance.

The job you’re applying for is covered by Article 3(a) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975, consequently Section 4(2) of that Act doesn’t apply. You’re required to disclose all previous convictions and cautions including spent convictions. Failing to make a full declaration will result in withdrawing your offer of employment if our checks reveal convictions that haven’t been disclosed.

Reserve list

If you're recommended by the selection panel but not appointed to the current vacanc(y/ies), you’re put on a reserve list for 12 months. You may be offered another Finance Officer post in the CPS if a vacancy comes up during this period. We may also approach candidates on the waiting list to fill other roles that require similar knowledge and experience.

Civil Service Commission

If you’re dissatisfied with the recruitment process and wish to make a complaint, please contact Strategic.Resourcing@cps.gov.uk with your concerns.

If you remain dissatisfied and wish to make a further complaint, please click on the following link to the Civil Service Commission complaints page Recruitment Complaints - Civil Service Commission

Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles can be found at https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/

Details of the Civil Service Nationality Rules are located at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rules

Candidates are subject to UK immigration requirements. For the most up-to-date information on the requirements of working in the UK, please go to the UK Visas and Immigration website at https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas

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