office for students

Senior Officer - Financial Assessment

Bristol

12 months fixed term

£38,261 - £39,838

Plus generous civil service defined benefit pension

 

We are the independent regulator of higher education in England.

We aim to ensure that every student, whatever their background, has a fulfilling experience of higher education that enriches their lives and careers. We also care about supporting and developing our staff, working together to achieve more than each of us can do alone.

We’re proud of our people, our culture and the benefits we offer. At the OfS we want to create a welcoming and engaging working environment which is free from discrimination. We particularly welcome applications from people with a disability or impairment, those who identify as lesbian, bisexual, gay or transgender, and those from a black, Asian and minority ethnic background, as these groups are under-represented within our workforce.

We’re looking for skilled, committed people who care about students and their experience of higher education. Join us and you’ll be part of an energetic, forward-looking organisation with high ambitions and big opportunities for our people.

Job Summary

Are you a qualified or part qualified accountant? Would you like a finance role without the same monthly accounting processes again and again? Then this Senior Officer role in our Financial Assessment team might be the role for you!

It provides an opportunity to learn and apply the OfS's approach to assessing the financial viability and sustainability of higher education providers, working in a well-established, high performing team, that help and support each other to get tasks done. You will enjoy a variety of work, where each assessment is different and no month is ever the same!

The main purpose of the role is to undertake financial analysis based on complex data supplied by the regulated providers, information available about them in the public domain and the general knowledge regarding macroeconomic conditions in which the providers operate, to make judgements on their financial strength. This analysis is key in supporting the OfS’s regulatory decisions, so the post holder will write evidence-based assessments that are intelligible for non-experts, and deliver crucial financial insight and recommendations to decision-makers. The role therefore requires engagement with internal stakeholders, but it also involves interactions with external stakeholders, when necessary to support the decision making. In addition the role will provide an opportunity to input into improving the systems and processes that deliver services to providers.

The Key person attributes to fulfil this role are:

  • Qualified or part-qualified accountant
  • Ability to analyse and communicate complex financial issues effectively, orally and in writing
  • Ability to understand, interpret and identify risks in financial performance in diverse types of organisations
  • Ability to reach and convey reliable and challenge-proof judgements to non-specialists on the basis of complex and imperfect information
  • Ability to work with high levels of complexity and ambiguity
  • Ability to work collaboratively and flexibly in a complex environment to deliver the team’s functions

Enablers

The Office for Students currently uses enablers to evaluate your strengths and ask that your application describes what you’ve done and how you’ve done it. The enablers for this role are:

Knowledge and Learning

  • Maintains a comprehensive knowledge and understanding of the regulatory context for the OfS’s work
  • Maintains the professional knowledge necessary to deliver the team’s financial assessment functions

Planning

  • Plans and manages own workload and works collaboratively with others to resolve competing demands, and copes with changing priorities in a flexible and proactive way
  • Identifies risk to plans and delivery
  • Demonstrates a readiness to contribute to decision-making and to take the initiative and originate action in circumstances where norms are already established

Communication

  • Provides actionable technical and professional feedback to colleagues on financial assessment matters
  • Writes in a clear and concise manner, using appropriate grammar, style and language, which is tailored for the reader. Writing will set out financial assessments in a way that is evidence-based, intelligible for non-experts, and provides confidence to decision-makers
  • Communicates clearly and fluently to individuals and small audiences, using appropriate style and language, and with good presentation skills

Relationships

  • Demonstrates a confident and co-operative style and deals effectively with people at all levels to build positive working relationships
  • Maintains credibility with other teams in the directorate and with external contacts
  • Maintains effective work behaviour in the face of setbacks or pressure and remains calm and professional in such circumstances

Working arrangements

Most of our staff are currently working from home in line with government guidelines. We will provide the equipment and support to ensure that you can do that safely and securely. Our offices are open for those who need to be there for their own wellbeing, or role requirements. As an organisation we are keen to learning from the experiences of the pandemic in terms of working arrangements to support our staff’s continued wellbeing whilst we deliver of our important mission. Once guidelines permit, we are planning a trial of hybrid working, including flexibility in relation to core hours and continuing to work up to 60% of your hours from home.

Working for us

The OfS regulates the higher education sector on behalf of all students. We value diversity and the wealth of perspectives, experience and ideas that it brings to our work, and we strive to embed equality of opportunity in everything we do. We recruit based on fair and open competition and welcome applications from candidates regardless of age, disability, race and ethnicity, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation and socio-economic background. To attract the widest possible field of qualified applicants, flexible working, for example job share and part time working, apply to this role.

Closing date for applications: 8 February 2022

Interviews: 16 February 2022

Apply for this Senior Officer - Financial Assessment role, by clicking the Apply button now.