Home Office

 

Head of Finance and Commercial
Central London
£65,500 - £77,550

 

Ref: 260583

Job summary

The establishment of the Inquiry into Undercover Policing was announced by the then Home Secretary, Theresa May, in March 2015. The inquiry operates as an independent organisation, under the Inquiries Act 2005, sponsored by the Home Office. As such, the inquiry runs its own corporate services, including the finance function and commercial function, both of which this role is responsible for.

The inquiry team is made up of a mixture of solicitors, barristers, paralegals, civil servants, and contractors. The Head of Finance and Commercial role is based in the inquiry’s busy Secretariat team, which provides corporate and other support services to the whole inquiry as well as managing the relationship with the inquiry’s sponsoring department, the Home Office. This is a newly created role, which merges two previously separate roles, now that the inquiry is operating in steady state having completed its administrative set up.

It is intended that this role will see the inquiry through to its closure, which will include preparation and publication of final accounts and the close down management of exit from its contracts for goods and services.

The Head of Finance and Commercial is responsible for two corporate functions.

The inquiry’s finance function is responsible for managing the inquiry’s budget on behalf of the Secretary to the Inquiry, who is the budget holder. The key activities are in-year financial management (including transactional finance, reporting, and forecasting), ensuring compliance with the budget delegation and identifying future funding requirements. The inquiry uses the Home Office’s METIS enterprise resource planning system.

The inquiry’s commercial function is responsible for procurement and contract management of the goods and services required by the inquiry.

The post holder will manage a small finance team and a small commercial team. The role reports to the inquiry’s SCS PB1 Programme, Finance and Commercial Delivery Manager.

Conflict of Interest

Current or previous employment or work within the policing field, or for associated bodies may constitute a conflict of interest given the work of the Inquiry. Any potential conflicts of interest which could affect the independence of the Inquiry should be declared at the time of application and will then be assessed.

D&I statement

The Undercover Policing Inquiry (UCPI) is committed to encouraging a diverse range of candidates to apply. The UCPI operates a policy of diverse interview panels and will strive to ensure all interview panels are ethnically and gender diverse. The UCPI endeavours to meet this requirement on all interview panels for Civil Service posts, but on occasion this may not be possible.

Job description

The key areas of responsibility for the role are as follows:

Leading the finance function for the inquiry, with day-to-day responsibility for key deliverables, including:

  • In-year management of the budget, processing transactions efficiently to meet Home Office finance deadlines, ensuring that currency and taxation treatment is correct and that accurate figures are on the Home Office finance system, and providing forecasts that support decisions by the budget holder and Senior Leadership Group.
  • Internal and external financial reporting to inquiry and Home Office deadlines, including budget reports to the budget holder, inquiry Overview Board, Home Office, and public.
  • Identification of future funding requirements, including in year, next year and through the whole life of the inquiry.
  • Enabling the inquiry secretary to meet the terms of the management statement and financial delegation, including by ensuring compliance with financial policies and processes and through assurance on compliance and management of financial risks.

Leading the commercial function for the inquiry, with day-to-day responsibility for key deliverables, including:

  • Commercial strategy, to ensure business needs are met; including advising on ‘make or buy’ decisions, writing the Commercial Case for inquiry business cases, ensuring timeous procurements, contract extensions and re-competes.
  • Procurement projects, to maximise value for money and comply with all applicable public sector procurement rules, policies and guidance.
  • Management of contracts, including variations, to ensure that goods or services are delivered to the standards, performance and costs agreed in the contract.
  • Supplier relationship management, to support effective delivery of the objectives of inquiry contracts and realise opportunities for continuous improvement and increased value.
  • Exercise delegated procurement authority on behalf of the Home Office in line with applicable rules, policies, guidance and governance.
  • Maintain constructive relationships with the inquiry’s Home Office finance and commercial business partners, working collaboratively to ensure the requirements of the Home Office, as the inquiry’s sponsor, are met.
  • Championing robust financial and commercial practice within the inquiry, including by providing constructive challenge to colleagues.
  • Representing the inquiry within the HO finance and commercial professional communities and ensuring that the inquiry is up to date with relevant developments.
  • Liaise with other inquiries to share best practice in finance and commercial and provide mutual support where capacity permits.
  • Ensuring the inquiry interacts correctly with the Home Office’s METIS enterprise resource planning system, in respect of finance and commercial permissions, approvals and transactional actions.
  • Other relevant activities, including responding to information requests, developing financial and commercial awareness within the inquiry, liaising with the Home Office sponsor.
  • Line management of the inquiry’s finance and commercial staff in line with Home Office process, including coaching and developing.
  • As the inquiry is a small team and vacancies and absences can and do occur, the post holder will be required to personally carry out finance and commercial tasks, including transactional tasks, where this is necessary to get the work done.
  • Undertake other duties appropriate to the grade.

This is a 2-year fixed term appointment / loan to complete a finite piece of work with the possibility of extension.

Person specification

Skills and Experience

Essential

  • Applicants must be fully qualified management accountants. (Evidence of qualifications will need to be provided if invited to interview.)
  • Experience of Oracle or SAP enterprise resource planning finance systems.
  • The post holder has relevant commercial experience and is willing and able to undertake further training and development activity in procurement and contract management, if required.
  • Experiencing of managing and developing a team.
  • Good oral and written communication skills.

Desirable

  • Experience of the finance and commercial functions in a public sector context (ideally central government).
  • Professional membership and/or qualifications from MCIPS, ACCM or equivalent.
  • Experience of the Home Office METIS enterprise resource planning system.
  • Experience of financial modelling.
  • Strong Excel skills.

Qualifications

Accounting qualifications - ACCA, CIMA or equivalent

Note: An employee may be required to carry out other duties within the scope of the grade and within the limits of their skill, competence and training.

Closing date: 11:55pm, Friday 3rd February 2023.