The Insolvency Service
Head of Income and Estates Financial Accounts Team (Job Share 0.6 FTE)
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Manchester and Birmingham – The role will require some face-to-face working with the Job share counterpart, who is based in Manchester.
Job Summary
Join the Finance & Commercial Operating Group at the Insolvency Service!
Do you have a passion for finance and a desire to make a real impact? Are you based in Manchester or Birmingham?
The Insolvency Service is a leading Government Agency, playing a crucial role in supporting businesses and individuals facing financial difficulty. We offer a supportive and inclusive environment where you can develop your expertise and contribute to the Agency's success.
The Agency is seeking to recruit a job share role as the Head of Income & Estates Financial Accounts Team within our Finance & Commercial Operating Group. This role reports to the Head of Core Finance and has line management of 1 SEO directly and 1 SEO indirectly.
The work within this team is unique and at the heart of the Insolvency Service Finance team, it offers flexibility and the opportunity to learn transformational skills.
Inclusive and diverse teams are important to us. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including groups underrepresented in our workforce. The Insolvency Service strives to ensure that the agency is a safe, inclusive, and welcoming place for everybody to bring their true self to work and to help the agency to achieve its diversity objectives. We have 9 active employee network groups available to join or become an ally, these include, Carers Network, Disability network group, Employee Assistance, Representatives, FACES Network Group, LGBT+, Mind Matters, Part Time Workers, The Shed - Men’s Network Group and Women’s Network Group.
We offer part-time, job share and flexible ways of working. We value capability, technical skills and experience and we place great emphasis on lifetime development to support our people. We encourage our employees to become more involved in areas they feel strongly about, whether it be for the benefit of the agency, through our Engagement network or in their own local communities via volunteering opportunities.
The Insolvency Service is a great place to work, learn and grow your career!
Job Description
The first key element of the role is to lead the provision of technical and accounting advice for the Agency’s 16 fees and charges, which total approximately £68m. This includes overseeing annual reviews to ensure charges appropriately recover the cost-of-service delivery, while ensuring compliance with HM Treasury requirements and international accounting principles.
The role also works in close partnership with Strategic Finance, supporting the effective implementation of change and providing expert advice on technical accounting implications. More broadly, it offers trusted advice and assurance to the Finance & Commercial Director, Accounting Officer, Executive Committee and Audit, Risk & Assurance Committee on the overall health and sustainability of Agency income.
The second key element of the role is to lead the delivery of the Agency’s Annual Insolvency Service and Investment Published Accounts, representing approximately £1bn of activity. This involves working closely with the National Audit Office and senior leaders across the Official Receiver Service, while also supporting strategic cash decisions that help maintain the financial health of third-party cash bank accounts.
Overall, the role combines strategic leadership and stakeholder engagement with hands-on delivery, with responsibilities broadly balanced between leading and supporting key stakeholders and directly delivering high-quality financial outputs.
Responsibilities
Fees and Charges
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- lead the annual review of each of the 16 fees and charges, ensuring they support full cost recovery and remain aligned with relevant financial and governance requirements
- partner with Strategic Finance Senior Leaders to provide clear analysis and effective handover, supporting successful first-time implementation of agreed changes
- assess the technical accounting and financial implications of strategic, policy and project-related change proposals
- work closely with the Department for Business and Trade and HM Treasury on netting-off agreements and approvals for fee changes
- support production of the Agency’s Annual Report and Accounts, including the audit of income-related policies and procedures
- ensure Agency compliance with Managing Public Money, International Financial Reporting Standards, Consolidated Budgeting Guidance and the Financial Reporting Manual
Annual Insolvency Service Account and Investment Account
- lead the preparation and delivery of the annual Insolvency Service and Insolvency Investment Accounts, relating to the Agency’s third-party cash holdings. Ensuring laying pre-parliamentary summer recess
- lead engagement and support for National Audit Office reviews of the accounts
- lead an annual financial health review of the Insolvency Service Accounts to support Audit Risk and Assurance Committee on its assessment around the Agency’s stewardship of funds
- oversee the production of regular management reporting on payments, receipts and balances for the Official Receiver Service operations
- oversee monthly bank reconciliation assurance for cashflow across relevant bank accounts
- oversee support to Treasury Management teams on the application and review of working capital policies, including the direct and indirect collection of outstanding cash liabilities each quarter
Person specification
Essential Criteria:
The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate:
- strong technical accounting knowledge, with the ability to explain complex accounting concepts clearly and confidently to non-finance stakeholders
- excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present information clearly, accurately and persuasively
- experience of interpreting and applying International Financial Reporting Standards, alongside a sound understanding of relevant legislative principles
- strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to build trusted relationships across a range of stakeholders and support the delivery of successful business outcomes
- strong organisational and self-management skills, with the ability to work independently, manage competing priorities and respond effectively to emerging challenges
Desirable Criteria:
- knowledge of system accounting and experience of using Power BI to support analysis, reporting and insight
- experience and knowledge of central government financial reporting requirements, including the Financial Reporting Manual, Consolidated Budgeting Guidance and Managing Public Money
- previous experience of fees and charges accounting and/or laying accounts, although this is not a prerequisite
- experience of preparing submissions and papers for senior forums, such as Boards, Audit Committees or other governance groups.
Essential Requirements
Fully qualified and active membership with a CCAB or CIMA professional body or equivalent. Please direct questions about qualifications to: scott.barrett@insolvency.gov.uk
Further Information
Both Grade 7's will drive all elements of the job description, but this part of the role will be assigned Income as their specific area of delivery.
Due to the requirements of the existing job-share arrangement, the working pattern for this post is fixed at Wednesday to Friday and cannot be amended. You will be working alongside an existing job-share partner who works Monday to Wednesday.
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We encourage prospective applicants to get in touch if they have any questions about the role, working pattern or recruitment process before submitting an application.
Qualifications
Full CCAB or CIMA qualification or equivalent.
Memberships
Full active membership of CCAB or CIMA.
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Making Effective Decisions
- Communicating and Influencing
- Seeing the Big Picture
- Delivering at Pace
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- Presentation
Alongside your salary of £57,367, Insolvency Service contributes £16,619 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).
We Want You To Have a Good Work-life Balance And Want To Support You In All That You Do, So We Offer a Great Benefits Package Including:
- flexible working arrangements and flexi-time
- full time new entrants to the Civil Service and those Civil Servants on modernised terms and conditions will be entitled to 25 days leave increasing on a sliding scale to 30 days after 5 years’ service
- in addition to this you are entitled to 8 public/bank holidays plus an additional day of privilege leave
- competitive maternity, paternity and parental leave
- 5 days paid leave for learning and development
- 5 days paid for volunteering
- a Cycle to work scheme
- staff have access to an employee assistance programme, Workplace Wellness, for confidential, independent support and advice during difficult times in either their professional or personal life
Your pension is a valuable part of your total reward package where the employer makes a significant contribution to the cost of your pension. Your contributions come out of your salary before any tax is taken. This means, if you pay tax, your take-home pay will not be reduced by the full amount of your contribution; and your pension will continue to provide valuable benefits for you and your family if you are too ill to continue to work or die before you retire. For more information, visit www.civilservicepensionscheme.org.uk
Some benefits may be adjusted proportionately to reflect the contracted hours worked. Full details will be provided to the successful candidate.
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, Experience and Technical skills.
As part of the sift process, you will be asked to complete:
- CV
- Personal Statement
Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.
Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the CV, assessing candidates against the essential criteria. Only those who meet the essential criteria at this stage will proceed to a full assessment of their
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