Financial Reporting and Insight Lead

Defra is the UK government department responsible for protecting and enhancing the natural environment, supporting a world‑leading food and farming sector, and sustaining a thriving rural economy. Our work touches people’s everyday lives — from the food we eat and the air we breathe to the water we drink.

Defra operates a group model, delivering corporate services centrally to Core Defra and four arm’s length bodies: the Environment Agency, Rural Payments Agency, Natural England, and the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

This is an exciting opportunity to join Defra group Finance in a pivotal SEO role supporting RPA. You will lead financial management information, insight and reporting across scheme expenditure and associated running costs, helping strengthen financial control and support effective decision-making in a complex delivery environment.

Working with Scheme and Running Costs Accountants, Finance Business Partners, data colleagues and senior stakeholders, you will improve key MI products, support governance forums, and ensure reporting is accurate, clear, well-controlled and aligned to user needs.

The role offers exposure to senior stakeholders and the opportunity to shape how financial information is presented, understood and used. It will suit someone with strong financial MI and data analysis skills who can work with large datasets, translate complex information into clear insight, and improve reporting through Power BI and AI-enabled tools.

Key Responsibilities

Management Reporting & Delivery

• Lead the preparation and delivery of monthly financial Management Information (MI) products covering scheme expenditure, agency running costs, actuals, variances, risks and opportunities.
• Produce, coordinate and submit key MI and reporting outputs in line with departmental timetables, ensuring they are clear, accurate, well-controlled and fit for use.
• Work with Scheme Accountants and Running Costs Accountants to incorporate agreed budget, forecast and actuals information into reporting products.
• Maintain and improve reporting products so they remain accessible, user-focused and aligned to the needs of finance colleagues, budget holders and senior stakeholders.

Insight & Analysis

• Provide clear financial analysis and commentary, translating complex data into practical insight that explains the story behind the numbers and supports decision-making.
• Identify trends, risks, issues, opportunities and emerging financial pressures, ensuring these are captured, monitored and escalated where necessary.
• Work with finance, data, operational and budget holder colleagues to ensure MI is joined up, trusted and supports constructive challenge and robust financial management.

Governance & Senior Engagement

• Lead financial MI and reporting for senior governance forums, including the Finance, Assurance and Risk Committee and the RPA Board.
• Develop high-quality reporting for director-level and senior stakeholder use, improving the presentation of financial performance, risks, opportunities and actions.
• Ensure reporting supports effective scrutiny and accountability by presenting financial information in a clear, consistent and evidence-based way.
• Support wider finance and external reporting where required, including contributions to departmental, HM Treasury or Parliamentary reporting requirements.

Integration & Continuous Improvement

• Work across finance, operational, data and insight teams to develop more integrated financial MI across schemes and running costs, aligned with operational scheme data and wider Synergy reporting plans.
• Review and improve reporting outputs, strengthening data quality, metrics, commentary, presentation and accessibility for users.
• Maintain and develop Excel-based reporting while extending reporting capability and visualisation through tools such as Power BI, Microsoft Copilot, AI-enabled tools and low-code solutions where appropriate.

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, Experience and Technical skills.

To apply, you will be asked to provide:

• A CV
• A personal statement (maximum 500 words) demonstrating how you meet the essential criteria
• Behaviour examples (as outlined above)

Sift process:

Applications will be sifted on the personal statement and the lead behaviour, Making Effective Decisions.

Interview:

If successful at sift, you will be invited to interview where behaviours, experience and technical skills will be assessed.

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

Your interview will either be conducted face to face or by video. You will be notified of the location if you are selected for interview.

Further Information

Location

As part of the pre-employment process for this post, successful candidate(s) will be able to agree a contractual workplace from those locations listed in this advert. The agreed contractual workplace is then the substantive and permanent place of work for the successful candidate(s).

Where the location is ‘National’ the successful appointee should discuss and agree an appropriate contractual location in line with both Defra’s location policy and site capacity, prior to proceeding with pre-employment processes.

The agreed amount of time spent at a workplace for this post will reflect the requirement for Civil Servants to spend at least 60% of their working time in an organisation workplace with the option to work the remaining time flexibly from home. Working time spent at a workplace may include time spent at other organisational locations including field-based operational locations, together with supplier, customer or partner locations. This is a non-contractual agreement which is consistent with common Civil Service expectations.

Travel costs to non-contractual workplaces will be subject to departmental travel and subsistence policies. Travel costs to contractual workplaces are the responsibility of the employee.

The successful candidate is required to carry out all their duties from a UK location, and cannot do so from an overseas location at any time.

Defra includes the core department, APHA, RPA, Cefas and VMD.

Salary

New entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band. The internal roles rules apply to existing Civil Servants, i.e. level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive 10% increase. Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for a period of 6 months from which further appointments can be made.

Childcare Vouchers

Any move to Defra from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website.

Reasonable Adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

Contact Government Recruitment Service via defrarecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs.

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section in the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

Accessibility

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

Visa Sponsorship Statement

Please take note that Defra does not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker License sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship.

Criminal Record Check

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service /Disclosure Scotland/Access NI on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

For further information on the Disclosure Scotland confidential checking service telephone: the Disclosure Scotland Helpline on 0870 609 6006 and ask to speak to the operations manager in confidence, or email Info@disclosurescotland.co.uk

For further information on the Access NI confidential checking service telephone: the Access NI Helpline on 0300 200 7888 and ask to speak to the operations manager in confidence, or email accessni@ani.x.gsi.gov.uk

Internal Fraud Database Check

Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment.

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government.

All of these posts require the successful candidate to hold basic security clearance. Candidates posted to London may be subject to a higher level of clearance because of the security requirements for that location. Job offers to these posts are made on the basis of merit. Security vetting will only take place after the receipt of a job offer.

For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the Demystifying Vetting website.

Please be aware the levels of national security clearance are changing which may impact on the level needed for this role by the time of appointment. All efforts will be made to keep candidates informed of any changes and what that will mean in terms of vetting criteria. For more information please See our vetting charter

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