Finance and Assurance Lead

There has never been a more exciting time to working in active travel and Active Travel England (ATE) is at the forefront of this high-profile agenda. ATE will deliver the Prime Ministers ambitious plan to enable half of all journeys in Englands towns and cities to be walked or cycled by 2030. It will raise standards of cycling and walking infrastructure in England by overseeing improved design, increasing skills and capacity in local authorities, influencing the planning system and administering the 2 billion cycling and walking budget.Active Travel England was established following the governments commitment of 2 billion for cycling and walking over this parliament. The finance team in ATE will be key to the effective management of the active travel budget and integral to supporting the Accounting Officer in meeting their responsibilities.Within the Chief Operating Officer Group, you will be part of a multi-disciplinary team that covers, Finance, HR, Communications, Programme Management Office and Investments. We are at the heart of everything ATE does and ensuring that the Agency is successful in delivering its objectives.You will be an important member of the Finance and Corporate Services team within ATE, leading the delivering of our external financial reporting requirements including the delivery of our Annual Report and Accounts, and the development of our wider control agenda.You will develop a strong financial control environment working with wider departmental colleagues to ensure we manage risk, fraud, grants, VAT and our engagement with wider functional standards. You will work with external stakeholders including GIAA and NAO to build trust and credibility and work with others to drive improvements in our governance and develop innovative reporting tools for a range of audiences.You will embrace the level of opportunity to influence how we do things, and the breadth of skills the role can provide.We strive to create a positive and open culture where individuals and teams can excel and contribute effectively to the organisation.ResponsibilitiesKey accountabilities of the role include:Lead the production of ATEs Annual Report and Accounts, and the group consolidation exercise within DfTManage the relationship with our auditors, ensuring a high quality audit plan is developed and audit issues are dealt with Develop the agencies risk management framework and policy, embracing challenge from our Audit and Risk Committee and external stakeholders, Work closely with directorates to embed risk management as part of decision making and constructively challenge their assessments, Lead our counter-fraud function including the development of our first action plan and strategy, Working closely with Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA) to monitor and track our outstanding actions, Track and implement actions from the DfT group management assurance exercise, and lead future year responses,For an in-depth insight into the role please refer to the Role Profile.