Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)

Location

• Birmingham
• Bristol
• Exeter
• Leeds
• London
• Newcastle-upon-Tyne
• Nottingham
• Reading
• Warrington
• York

Job Summary

About the job

In the Defra group, we deal with a vast range of issues that profoundly impact on people’s lives. We are responsible for England’s environment, our countryside and rural economy, the food and farming sectors and have lead responsibility for protection from a wide range of natural threats and hazards.

We are looking for an experienced finance professional and leader to join our Management Reporting team within the Defra Group Finance function. You will have responsibility for providing high quality, accurate and robust financial management and insight. Through analysing data and applying value added skills to tell the story of the financial position, you will help corporate leaders and budget managers to make well-informed business decisions.

The role also plays a key part in Defra’s finance transformation, contributing to the shift to more digital, self-service ways of working and supporting the transition to a new Finance system.

Job Description

You will be responsible for producing and presenting the monthly financial reports to the senior leaders within Environment Agency. You are responsible for providing effective leadership to your team of Senior Management Accountants to deliver a robust and influential management accounting service. You will have a good understanding of the financial position at a strategic level and the wider operating environment to provide insight and highlight the key issues, risks and opportunities to the budget holders and Finance colleagues. To do this you will need to build a good understanding of their business area and the key delivery risks, while embedding a culture of self-service and digitally enabled finance operations.

Key Responsibilities

• Provide effective leadership including the management and development of the Senior Management Accountants. This will include setting objectives, actively and effectively communicating, managing performance, and creating an inclusive environment where people feel valued, respected, safe to challenge and where contribution is recognised.
• Develop a detailed understanding of the management reports audience and commission solutions. Continually check the wider internal and external environments to ensure that the management reporting continues to meet end user needs and is presented in a medium to best convey key messages using continuous improvement philosophy/principles.
• Lead on the delivery of prompt, accurate management reports, translating data into meaningful outputs, with a breadth of reporting across internal and external environments.
• Provide incisive variance explanations and clear summaries/interpretations for senior management. Provide narrative for management reports using compelling and persuasive language to influence and challenge.
• Deliver intelligent analysis of complex financial information, drawing out common themes and understanding linkages/dependencies.
• Maintain a strong understanding of the overall financial position of Environment Agency.
• Undertake scenario modelling and provide a range of options to inform budget holder decisions.
• Oversee the management accounting aspect of the annual budgeting/forecasting cycle and any in-year changes to the budget liaising with Finance Business Partners.
• Work with Finance colleagues to oversee the month end activities, ensuring the ledgers are ready to close and reporting deadlines are met in accordance with the agreed timetables.
• Liaise with Finance colleagues where the need for additional business support or data analysis is required.