Department for Education
Senior Financial Analyst
How your CV stacks up
Upload your CV to see how well it fits this job role
?%
Coventry (CV1 2WT), Darlington (DL1 5QE), Manchester (M1 2WD), Sheffield (S1 2FJ)
Job Summary
IMPORTANT - This vacancy is using the Civil Service Numerical and Verbal tests. The deadline for completing these tests will be 2 working days before the advert closing date. Further information is available in the'selection process details' section of this advert.
This position is an opportunity in the Funding and Financial Oversight (FFO) Directorate. FFO ensure the right amount of money goes to the right providers at the right time and is spent in the right way. We lead on issuing funding across the Education Sector and developing the financial and governance framework used by academies and post-16 education providers to manage and report on their spending; identifying institutions at risk of financial failure, providing expert financial assessment and advice; and where necessary undertaking investigations into financial irregularity.
The role is within the Intervention Support team within Specialist Restructuring, a high-calibre team of qualified and part qualified accountants whose primary focus is on providing expert financial advice through the effective analysis and interpretation of financial information of organisations delivering education.
The role's primary focus will be on further education colleges within a wider remit covering all education providers.
Job Description
As a Senior Financial Analyst, roles and responsibilities will include:
- Undertaking reviews into providers with financial concerns, dissect complex evidence, analysis of recovery plans and providing advice on management accounts and financial forecasts to identify and evaluate the level of financial risk.
- Assessing the deliverability of proposed actions to inform providers financial viability.
- Being able to provide expert advice on financial matters including financial underperformance, analysis of recovery plans, management accounts and financial forecasts.
- Commanding respect in the sector and have credibility with senior colleagues internally and with Senior Officers and Finance Directors at external organisations.
- Leading meetings at external organisations, providing challenge and advice on the financial position of organisations as required.
- Being able to hold difficult conversations with senior members of staff in a professional manner.
- Scrutinising and evaluating complex financial cases.
- Acting as a national link between FFO and the DfE teams on all things relating to financial intervention.
- Working as part of a small team of specialists on key cases, where providers require proactive engagement to reduce risk of financial difficulty.
- Contributing to the wider management of the FFO team, including through leading roles in corporate activities and risk management.
- Acting as a national link between PMO and the ESFA territorial teams on all things relating to financial intervention.
- Delivering presentations and training as required to a variety of stakeholders.
- Undertaking project work as allocated.
- Writing concise papers with clear recommendations for senior staff.
- Being able to travel nationally with occasional overnight stays.
Person specification
Essential Criteria
- A background in financial planning and analysis, corporate finance, accounting, or financial audit.
- Experience of being collaborative and working effectively with a wide range of colleagues and stakeholders.
- The ability to persuade and influence senior grades and stakeholders.
- Sound analytical skills and good judgement to inform your decisions or when providing opinions or advice to others.
- The ability to provide expert advice to colleagues on financial issues.
- Excellent report writing and interpersonal skills.
- Have the ability to manage multiple tasks and be able to prioritise where necessary.
- Be professionally qualified - holding an accountancy qualification (i.e. ACCA; CIMA; CIPFA); part qualified is essential.
- Excellent in the use of MS Office 365.
Reasons to use Rodeo
Start with a chat, not a search bar
Grad scheme, placement, apprenticeship? Not sure what you want yet — that's fine. Your agent talks it through with you and turns "I have no idea" into a shortlist.
It searches the market for you
Every day your agent scans the market matching roles against what actually matters to you, not just keywords on a CV.
Only hits
No noise. No "maybe this fits." Just roles with a clear explanation of why they're right — and where to focus when applying.
Desirable Criteria
- Be fully qualified in an accountancy qualification (i.e. ACCA; CIMA; CIPFA).
Desirable criteria will only be assessed at interview in the event of a tie break situation at interview, to make an informed decision.
Qualifications
- Candidate will be partly qualified in an accountancy qualification (i.e. ACCA; CIMA; CIPFA).
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Communicating and Influencing
- Delivering at Pace
- Making Effective Decisions
Alongside your salary of £42,806, Department for Education contributes £12,400 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).
Applicants currently holding a permanent post in the Civil Service should note that, if successful, their salary on appointment would be determined by the Department’s transfer / promotion policies.
As a member of the DfE, you will be entitled to join the highly competitive Civil Service Pension Scheme, which many experts agree is one of the most generous in the UK.
You will have 25 days leave, increasing by 1 day every year to a maximum of 30 days after five years’ service. In addition, all staff receive the King’s Birthday privilege holiday and 8 days’ bank and public holidays.
We offer flexible working arrangements, such as job sharing, term-time working, flexi-time and compressed hours.
Most DfE employees will be working a hybrid pattern, spending at least 60% of their time in an office or work setting. Changes to these working arrangements are available in exceptional circumstances but must be agreed with the line manager and in line with the requirements of the role.
Travel to your primary office location will not be paid for by DfE, but travel to an office which is not your main location will be covered.
As an organisation, which exists to support education and lifelong learning, we offer our staff excellent professional development opportunities.
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 and Experience.
To apply for this role, please select 'Apply Now' at the top or bottom of this advert. CV details need to be included in the template within the application form; attached or emailed CVs will not be considered.
Get help with your application
Your very own career expert that helps elevate your application to the next level.
Stage 1: Civil Service Numerical Test (CSNT)
When you have completed your personal information, you will be asked to complete the CSNT. You must achieve the minimum pass mark to progress to the next stage.
Stage 2: Civil Service Verbal Test (CSVT)
When you have completed the CSNT, you will be asked to complete the CSVT. You must achieve the minimum pass mark to progress to the next stage.
It is important you allow enough time to complete the test online (within 24-48 hours is recommended), and obtain the results before you can complete your full application online prior to the test closing date and time.
Do not leave completing the tests until the last minute in case you experience any access or technical issues. There may not be technical support available after business hours.
While the tests should work on most operating systems and modern browsers with a good internet connection, we cannot guarantee that every combination will work. At the beginning, the test will check which browser you are using, and alert you if it is likely to be incompatible.
It is highly recommended that you complete the online tests on a desktop computer, not a mobile phone or tablet.
If you are unsuccessful in passing the online tests you will be unable to continue any further in the application process. If you successfully pass the tests, you will then progress to stage 3 of completing the full application.
Stage 3: Application
At sift stage, you will be assessed on your Experience in line with the essential skills listed in the person specification section of the job advert.
To Apply For This Role, Please Provide
- A Short CV setting out your career history, highlighting specific responsibilities and achievements that are relevant for this role.
- Your Statement of Suitability – In no more than 1000 words, provide examples of how your personal skills, qualities and experience meet the essential criteria. This is not intended to be a cover letter, instead work through each essential criteria in turn. You may wish to follow the STAR technique to help focus your examples. The key things we are looking for are what you did, how you did it and what the outcome was.
To confirm, the maximum word count for the statement of suitability is 1000 words. Please adhere to this limit as anything over 1000 words will not be taken into account.
The CV and Statement of Suitability will be assessed against the essential criteria detailed in the advert.
Should there be a high volume of applicants, sifting will be restricted to just assessing personal statements.
We reserve the right to increase the minimum pass mark for the CSNT and CSVT where there is a high volume of applications or a particularly strong field of candidates. Where this occurs, candidates who do not meet the revised pass mark will not progress further, and their written application will not be assessed.
Please note, CV details must be contained within the template on the application form. Any CV or Statement of Suitability that has been emailed to our team will not be considered.
Application sifting will take place 10 August 2026 onwards. Please note these dates are subject to change.
If you are successful at application sift stage, your application will be progressed onto Stage 4 part of the Selection process.
Stage 4: Assessment/Interview
The Interview Will Be a 2-part Process
- Part 1: Accountancy Assessment
“It took my CV and asked me questions relevant to understanding what kind of jobs to suggest for me. Suggestions were almost perfect. Jobs were exactly what I’ve been looking for.”
Jessica, London
Skills