This SEO Assistant Finance Manager role is responsible for overseeing all financial aspects of the new Government Commercial & Grants Group (GC&GG), a business unit launching on 1 April 2026. The GC&GG is formed following the transfer of some delivery activities and teams from the Government Commercial Function to the Government Commercial Agency and comprises of four key teams:
- Government Commercial Officer’s Private Office
- Commercial Policy
- Strategy, Assurance and Standards and
- Grants
The financial responsibilities include managing Cabinet Office’s (CO) core funding budget of approximately £20m, alongside securing and administering external income. This role is critical for ensuring that all financial activities align with and support the strategic priorities and objectives of both the business unit and the CO, including the transition of 2 major systems-related transformation programmes.
Job overview
The GC&GG is formed following the transfer of some delivery activities and teams from the Government Commercial Function to the Government Commercial Agency and comprises of four key teams:
- Government Commercial Officer’s Private Office
- Commercial Policy
- Strategy, Assurance and Standards and
- Grants
Key responsibilities
- Finance business partnering and stakeholder management – collaborating with a diverse range of stakeholders including Directors, senior operational managers, CO Central Finance and the GC&GG’s Business Support team. The jobholder will provide appropriate challenge and scrutiny, maintain robust relationships, manage financial data effectively, and ensure finance operational deliverables and timelines are met.
- Lead on all aspects of financial planning, budget management and forecasting – work closely with budget holders, service delivery teams and other finance team members to accurately manage budgets, forecasts, and variances, including workforce planning and management.
- Lead the month-end process, reviewing, analysing, accruing and correcting cost centre data as needed. Produce timely, clear, succinct, and accurate reporting packs for diverse stakeholders, highlighting and reporting significant budgetary variances to Directors and Central Finance.
- Project lead and business case management – responsible for delivery of finance process improvements and projects. Provide essential finance support for all business case requirements (e.g., budget bids, procurement etc).
- Compliance – to ensure strict compliance with internal policies and procedures, financial reporting standards, including principles of Managing Public Money and FReM. Lead on responding to NAO and other audit requirements relevant to the GC&GG’s area of work any NAO and other audit requirements relevant to the area of work.
- Governance and financial accountability – to provide support with robust data analysis and narrative for various boards and other governance groups to ensure strong financial accountability across GC&GG.
- Oversee financial transactional work relating to the efficient delivery of accounts payable and accounts receivable services for GC&GG. This includes being responsible for all cost recovery/ income collection – manage the income against agreed timelines and resolving internal and external issues to recharges to government departments and other public bodies.
- Undertake other work and projects as necessary to support the GC&GG.
Person specification
Essential criteria
- Must be a part or fully qualified accountant (e.g., ACA, CIMA, ACCA, CIPFA) with demonstrable experience in a comparable financial role. Only a UK-recognised qualification will be accepted.
- Highly skilled at managing and influencing multiple stakeholders, including senior management up to Director-General level. Must be able to establish and maintain close working relationships (e.g., with CO Central Finance and the GC&GG’s Business Support team). Requires excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills, with the ability to clearly convey complex financial information to diverse audiences.
- Proven experience in significantly contributing to, the full range of finance cycles (monthly, quarterly, annually), including business planning, budget management, and forecasting. Demonstrable track record of providing high-quality finance business partnering services.
- Proven ability to proactively solve problems and issues, work independently and as part of a team, and use initiative to deliver quality outcomes. Possesses strong analytical skills to deep dive into large data volumes and an excellent technical understanding of journals and reconciliations
- Strong organisational skills with a consistent ability to maintain close attention to detail, even in transactional tasks. Confident in managing urgent tasks, challenging data quality when information appears incorrect, and managing conflict/expectations.
- Strong experience in producing key management documents (reports, presentations) for senior stakeholders.
- Experience with the full suite of Microsoft Office and Google products, including minimum advanced-level Excel expertise.
Additional information
Cabinet Office policy is that a minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace. For some roles, due to their nature and the business need, this may be up to 100%. Requirements to attend other locations for official business will also count towards this level of attendance.
Qualifications
Must be a part or fully qualified accountant (e.g., ACA, CIMA, ACCA, CIPFA) with demonstrable experience in a comparable financial role. Only a UK-recognised qualification will be accepted.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Making Effective Decisions
- Changing and Improving
- Communicating and Influencing
- Delivering at Pace
We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:
- Making Effective Decisions
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- 1 technical question covering finance/accounting knowledge
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £43,760, Cabinet Office contributes £12,677 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).
- Learning and development tailored to your role.
- An environment with flexible working options.
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity.
- A Civil Service Pension which provides an attractive pension, benefits for dependants and employer contributions of 28.97%.
- A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by one day per year up to a maximum of 30.
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience.
Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.
Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.
Application process
As part of the application process you will be asked to submit a CV, Statement of Suitability and a behavioural statement (Making Effective Decisions).
Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.
For your Statement of Suitability, please demonstrate how you meet the essential criteria as listed in the 'Person specification' section of the job advert
At application stage candidates will be assessed on the CV, Statement of Suitability and the behaviour.
Selection process
At interview candidates will be assessed on the listed technical skill, behaviours and strength-based questions.
Expected timeline (subject to change)
- Expected sift date – TBC
- Expected interview date/s – TBC
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
A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.
Any move to Cabinet Office 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 Adjustments
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 [email protected] 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 an interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.
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 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 [email protected] 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 [email protected].
New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.
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.
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
Feedback
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Nationality requirements
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).
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
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.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).
Apply and further information
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.
The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Contact point for applicants
Job contact
Recruitment team
Further information
Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and wish to make a complaint, then in the first instance you should contact Government Recruitment Service by email at: [email protected].
If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission at [email protected].
For further information on the Recruitment Principles and bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission, please visit their website at: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/.
Attachments
Cabinet-Office-Employee-Offer - Opens in new window (docx, 762kB)
Cabinet Office Terms and Conditions - External 2025-02-20 - Opens in new window (docx, 83kB)
