The Scottish Government
Finance Business Partner
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Job Description
Are you a finance professional who wants to help support students in Further and Higher Education?
This role provides qualified financial support to either for SAAS expenditure.
As part of SAAS, a national public body responsible for delivering student support on behalf of the Scottish Government, the postholder will contribute to the effective financial management of a high volume, high impact service operating within a complex policy and governance environment.
Working within the Finance team, the role provides broad exposure across budgeting and forecasting, stakeholder engagement, influencing and challenge, product and project costing, and financial accounting.
It offers a high degree of autonomy and the opportunity to build strong relationships across the Scottish Government, supporting informed decision making and ensuring sound stewardship of public funds within the Scottish Government framework.
This role sits within the Business Partnering Team in the Finance team at SAAS and plays a key part in supporting the organisation’s financial stewardship and strategic delivery.
The team provides high quality financial reporting, analysis and advice across the organisation, ensuring robust financial management, appropriate treatment of expenditure and compliance with governance and control frameworks.
Responsibilities
General Job Particulars:
- Provision of high quality monthly financial reports to required timescales, providing accurate, relevant and timely management information.
- Provide financial advice and assistance to stakeholders, and build and maintain effective working relationships with business areas including with the wider Scottish Government.
- Contribute to the completion and quality assurance of input to corporate financial exercises in accordance with corporate timetable. Ensuring working papers provide a full audit trail and are retained and easily accessible during the audit process.
- Providing assistance in updating the financial ledger for example performing monthly reconciliation’s and preparing and processing journal entries.
- Review budget monitoring returns, undertake the first check of forecasts, year to date actuals, and budget data, and ensure that explanations make sense and support the figures, challenging areas where more explanation is required.
- Assisting in the maintenance of overall financial control, to ensure the integrity of financial data on the ledger and the accuracy of the supporting systems and records.
- Ensuring adequate financial controls and clear audit trails are in place around accounting and reporting processes. Working flexibly across the team and shifting direction quickly to meet changing priorities and demands.
- Management of staff across the finance function.
- Leading the annual accounts and audit processes.
Specific Job Particulars
- Budget management including forecasting, and in year adjustments.
- Leading budget monitoring return for an entity (Agency/Programme).
- Relevant monthly and quarterly reporting.
- Reviewing of work undertaken by other finance team members.
- Monthly meetings with budget holders.
- Running the annual accounts process for the entity and being the lead contact for auditors.
- Project work specific to the entity.
- Deputising for the Head of Finance (Agency/Programme)
- Staff Management.
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Qualifications
The successful candidate must be fully CCAB (or equivalent) qualified with up to date CPD and relevant finance experience.
Proof of qualifications will be checked at the assessment stage.
Success profile
Success profiles are specific to each job and they include the mix of behaviours, experience and technical criteria (if applicable) that candidates will be assessed on.
Technical / Professional Skills
- Budgeting, Forecasting and Costing - Practitioner
- Government finance – Working
- International Accounting Standards – Working
You can find out more about the skills required, here: insert link to framework
Experience
- Technical financial accounting skills and ability to communicate financial information clearly and succinctly to a wide range of audiences, including to non-finance colleagues.
- Strong analytical skills with the ability to use information from multiple sources to inform decision making and identify areas for improvement.
- Working collaboratively to support change and build effective relationships, trust and credibility with a range of stakeholders
Behaviours
- Communicating and Influencing - Level 3
- Delivering at Pace - Level 3
- Working Together - Level 3
- Making Effective Decisions - Level 3
Find out more about Success Profiles.
How To Apply
Apply online, providing a CV and supporting statement (of no more than 1000 words) providing evidence of how you meet the behaviours, experience and technical skills listed in the Success Profile above. Both the CV and the supporting statement provided will be assessed against the criteria for the role.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools can be used to support your application, but all statements and examples 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, and presented as your own) applications will be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.
Please see our candidate guidance for more information on acceptable and unacceptable uses of AI in recruitment.
Skilled Worker Sponsorship being offered
This role has been assessed as eligible for Skilled Worker sponsorship and is therefore being advertised with the option of sponsorship where required. Any offer of sponsorship remains subject to the individual meeting all other relevant Home Office eligibility and compliance requirements at the time of appointment.
Skilled Worker Sponsorship being offered at reduced rate
This role has been assessed as eligible for Skilled Worker sponsorship only where a reduced salary threshold applies. Sponsorship may therefore be offered to candidates who meet the Home Office criteria for a reduced rate (for example, but not limited to, New Entrant eligibility), subject to all other relevant eligibility and compliance requirements at the time of appointment.
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Skilled Worker Sponsorship not being offered
Skilled Worker sponsorship is not available for this role. As a result, we are unable to appoint candidates who require Skilled Worker sponsorship now or in the future. Applicants must have an existing and ongoing right to work in the UK.
If invited for further assessment, this will consist of an interview and presentation.
Assessments are scheduled for w/c 19th October 2026 in person at Saughton House, Edinburgh. However this may be subject to change.
Recruitment Principles
As a government organisation, we adhere to the Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles and we investigate any complaints received in relation to recruitment cases.
About Us
The Scottish Government is the devolved government for Scotland. We have responsibility for a wide range of key policy areas including: education, health, the economy, justice, housing and transport. We offer rewarding careers and employ people across Scotland in a wide range of professions and roles.
Our staff are part of the UK Civil Service, observing the Civil Service Code and working for Ministers and senior stakeholders to deliver vital public services which improve the lives of the people of Scotland.
We offer a supportive and inclusive working environment along with a wide range of employee benefits. Find out more about what we offer.
As part of the UK Civil Service, we uphold the Civil Service Nationality Rules.
Working pattern
Our standard hours are 35 hours per week and we offer a range of flexible working options depending on the needs of the role, including Flexi-leave. Scottish Government staff in hybrid-compatible roles should aim to work in-person 40% of the time, either in an office or other agreed work location. If you have specific questions about the role you are applying for, please contact us.
Security checks
Successful candidates must complete the Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), before they can be appointed. BPSS is comprised of four main pre-employment checks – Identity, Right to work, Employment History and a Criminal Record check (unspent convictions).
You can find out more about BPSS on the UK Government website, and read about the Government Vetting Charter, or about all the different levels of security checks in our Candidate Guide.
Internal candidates may need to gain higher security clearance than they currently hold if successful in their application.
Equality statement
We are committed to equality and inclusion and we aim to recruit a diverse workforce that reflects the population of our nation.
Find out more about our commitment to diversity and how we offer and support recruitment adjustments for anyone who needs them.
Further information
Find out more about our organisation, what we offer staff members and how to apply on our Careers Website.
Read our Candidate Guide for further information on our recruitment and application processes.
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