Director General, Finance

About the job

Job summary

As Director General, Finance, you will be working at the heart of the MOD as the principal financial adviser for Defence. Director General, Finance is the only Director General on the Defence Board, and acts as a key adviser to and problem-solver for the Secretary of State, junior ministers, Permanent Secretaries and Chiefs of Defence Staff. There is an especially strong link between Director General, Finance and the Permanent Secretary, who is the MOD Principal Accounting Officer and holds overall responsibility for the Defence budget of c.£50bn per annum.

"Accounting Officer" has a particular meaning in the public sector. As set out in Managing Public Money, https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/managing-public-money an Accounting Officer in a public sector organisation is the person who Parliament calls to account for stewardship of its resources.

You will lead a team of c.900 staff with a budget of c. £70M, responsible for all aspects of financial management and control, including the budget and forecasting. The Director General, Finance chairs the Investment Approvals Committee on behalf of the Permanent Secretary. Another area of focus of the Director General, Finance is on improving all aspects of financial management to allow the Defence Board to meet its business and reform objectives, building on a solid basis in financial reporting and financial discipline.

Job description

To give you a sense of the role, you will be responsible for:

• Ensuring there is an effective financial management information and reporting service, providing best in class financial information to the key stakeholders in the Ministry of Defence as well as improving further budgeting and forecasting processes;
• Managing the Department’s in-year performance against targets and budgets;
• Building strong relationships with HM Treasury which will include negotiating the future Defence budget levels and briefing them on strategic finance matters as they arise;
• Contributing to the construction of the forward Defence expenditure programme, including objectives and targets for Ministry of Defence’s top level budget holders and the resources allocated for their achievement, and supporting performance reporting;Setting the framework of and targets for efficiency and value for money work across Defence;
• Overseeing the Department’s risk management and assurance approaches, reporting to the Defence Board;
• Leading the development of the Equipment Plan and oversight of the other investment plans (including infrastructure and operations);
• Leading the Investment, Approval and Scrutiny processes, chairing the Investment Approvals Committee on behalf of the Permanent Secretary;
• Leading the Project Delivery function and driving significant reform to the Defence Acquisition system, which will include providing challenge and support to 50+ Defence Major Programmes Senior Responsible Owners (SROs);
• Providing advice and support to the Department’s Accounting Officers including on regularity and propriety issues, and ensuring a sound system of Corporate Governance throughout Defence to support the Statement of Internal Control for financial management and to disseminate best financial management practice throughout the Department;
• Production of the Annual Report and Accounts and seeking formal Parliamentary approval for expenditure;
• Setting strategic direction and leadership of the Department’s finance function, including the development of necessary skills and competencies. Providing advice and leadership to the internal audit, fraud and assurance and analysis functions in the Department.

You will also join a supportive and collaborative cross government Finance Function and as a DG will be expected to support cross government work on Finance.

Person specification

Please refer to the candidate brief

Qualifications

CCAB

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £149,000, Ministry of Defence contributes £40,230 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%

Apply before 11:55 pm on Sunday 29th October 2023

For further information, and to apply, please visit our website via the “Apply” button below.