Assistant Finance Manager

This SEO Assistant Finance Manager role is responsible for overseeing all financial aspects of the new Government Commercial & Grants Group (GC&GG), a business unit launching on 1 April 2026. The GC&GG is formed following the transfer of some delivery activities and teams from the Government Commercial Function to the Government Commercial Agency and comprises of four key teams:

• Government Commercial Officers Private Office
• Commercial Policy
• Strategy, Assurance and Standards and
• Grants

The financial responsibilities include managing Cabinet Offices (CO) core funding budget of approximately 20m, alongside securing and administering external income. This role is critical for ensuring that all financial activities align with and support the strategic priorities and objectives of both the business unit and the CO, including the transition of 2 major systems-related transformation programmes.

The GC&GG is formed following the transfer of some delivery activities and teams from the Government Commercial Function to the Government Commercial Agency and comprises of four key teams:

• Government Commercial Officers Private Office
• Commercial Policy
• Strategy, Assurance and Standards and
• Grants

Key responsibilities

• Finance business partnering and stakeholder management collaborating with a diverse range of stakeholders including Directors, senior operational managers, CO Central Finance and the GC&GGs Business Support team. The jobholder will provide appropriate challenge and scrutiny, maintain robust relationships, manage financial data effectively, and ensure finance operational deliverables and timelines are met.
• Lead on all aspects of financial planning, budget management and forecasting work closely with budget holders, service delivery teams and other finance team members to accurately manage budgets, forecasts, and variances, including workforce planning and management.
• Lead the month-end process, reviewing, analysing, accruing and correcting cost centre data as needed. Produce timely, clear, succinct, and accurate reporting packs for diverse stakeholders, highlighting and reporting significant budgetary variances to Directors and Central Finance.
• Project lead and business case management responsible for delivery of finance process improvements and projects. Provide essential finance support for all business case requirements (e.g., budget bids, procurement etc).
• Compliance to ensure strict compliance with internal policies and procedures, financial reporting standards, including principles of Managing Public Money and FReM. Lead on responding to NAO and other audit requirements relevant to the GC&GGs area of work any NAO and other audit requirements relevant to the area of work.
• Governance and financial accountability to provide support with robust data analysis and narrative for various boards and other governance groups to ensure strong financial accountability across GC&GG.
• Oversee financial transactional work relating to the efficient delivery of accounts payable and accounts receivable services for GC&GG. This includes being responsible for all cost recovery/ income collection manage the income against agreed timelines and resolving internal and external issues to recharges to government departments and other public bodies.
• Undertake other work and projects as necessary to support the GC&GG

Essential criteria

• Must be a part or fully qualified accountant (e.g., ACA, CIMA, ACCA, CIPFA) with demonstrable experience in a comparable financial role. Only a UK-recognised qualification will be accepted.
• Highly skilled at managing and influencing multiple stakeholders, including senior management up to Director-General level. Must be able to establish and maintain close working relationships (e.g., with CO Central Finance and the GC&GGs Business Support team). Requires excellent interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills, with the ability to clearly convey complex financial information to diverse audiences.
• Proven experience in significantly contributing to, the full range of finance cycles (monthly, quarterly, annually), including business planning, budget management, and forecasting. Demonstrable track record of providing high-quality finance business partnering services.
• Proven ability to proactively solve problems and issues, work independently and as part of a team, and use initiative to deliver quality outcomes. Possesses strong analytical skills to deep dive into large data volumes and an excellent technical understanding of journals and reconciliations
• Strong organisational skills with a consistent ability to maintain close attention to detail, even in transactional tasks. Confident in managing urgent tasks, challenging data quality when information appears incorrect, and managing conflict/expectations.
• Strong experience in producing key management documents (reports, presentations) for senior stakeholders.
• Experience with the full suite of Microsoft Office and Google products, including minimum advanced-level Excel expertise.

Additional information:

Cabinet Office policy is that a minimum 60% of your working time should be spent at your principal workplace. For some roles, due to their nature and the business need, this may be up to 100%. Requirements to attend other locations for official business will also count towards this level of attendance.