Head of Finance and Business Management

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is the UK government department responsible for safeguarding our natural environment, supporting our world-leading food and farming industry, and sustaining a thriving rural economy. Our broad remit means we play a major role in people's day-to-day lives, from the food we eat, and the air we breathe, to the water we drink.

About the Directorate

Strategy, Governance & Climate (SGC) leads Defras overall plan for nature, the Environmental Improvement Plan. They also lead our work on access to nature and green spaces, from national parks to pocket parks. Also, they lead our work on net zero and climate adaptation.

About the Team/Division

Access, Landscapes, Peat and Soils Division (ALPS) sits within SGC playing a central role in increasing access to nature, restoring peatlands and enhancing soil quality. It has substantial programmes of work to restore peatland, enhance soil quality and manage the grant programme for the 44 Protected landscapes. These deliver contributions to Defras climate mitigation and other environmental goals, better health, and development opportunity.

We are looking for a G7 to lead a new Finance & Business Management Function, supporting the objectives of Access, Landscape, Peatland and Soils (ALPS) Division.

You will be a member of ALPS SLT, and work closely with a range of project, policy, delivery and finance professionals.

This is an exciting opportunity which would suit a customer focussed candidate who is enthusiastic about the divisional subject area, as well as skilled in the core remit of finance and business management. You will lead a newly constituted team 4 people so shaping team culture and ways of working will be essential, as well as setting a clear direction for how this new team will work collaboratively with the rest of ALPS to deliver priority outcomes.

Your key responsibilities may include but are not limited to:

• Lead a high quality, strategic financial forecasting, budget management and reporting, and grant management function.
• Manage, mentor and coach the team to deliver a high impact and professional service to support the culture and wider objectives of the division.
• Working with policy, delivery, finance and Arms-Length Body colleagues, lead on the financial aspects of spending reviews and business planning; and ensure the clear and efficient transfer to BAU.
• Work closely with policy teams across the division to ensure a shared understanding of divisional drivers and timing of spend, to maximise the value of our budget allocations.
• Provide technical expertise on finance and budget issues across ALPS, offering advice, challenge and scrutiny to colleagues ensuring that budgets and forecasts are well constructed, accurate, managed and monitored
• Work closely with finance colleagues to resolve complex financial issues; ensure that reporting is timely and accurate; budgets are aligned to demand; and reprioritisation of spend across the division and wider department is enacted.
• Lead the team responsible for delivery of grant management, monitoring and related finance and financial propriety issues for the Protected Landscapes, working closely with the Protected Landscapes and Access policy teams.
• Working with the wider division, lead an effective in house purchasing process that enables a responsive and supportive procurement to delivery pathway for the division
• Lead the business management function to include issues such as: share-point management, induction, learning and development, and business continuity.
• Monitor resourcing across the programme and make recommendations for reallocation of resource spend in line with demand and performance.

Your personal qualities are as important as your professional experience, and we welcome applications from all backgrounds. We are looking for proactive, enthusiastic people who can work confidently on their own initiative, communicate clearly, draw together information effectively, and are motivated by the opportunity to contribute to once in a generation change in a key sector.

If you have the skills and qualities we are looking for, we would be pleased to hear from you.

Defra values a diverse workforce that reflects the communities we serve and is committed to creating an inclusive culture where everyone feels valued, has a sense of belonging, and is empowered to speak up and challenge openly at work.

We want everyone, whatever their background, to be able to contribute fully to our success.

Essential Criteria

The successful candidates will be able to demonstrate the following:

• Experience of leading, coaching and managing a team
• Strong organisational and delivery skills, with experience planning, prioritising and scheduling a complex workload in a policy and delivery setting.
• Experience of complex budget management to include forecasting, reprioritisation and reporting
• Demonstrable leadership and team working skills, including working collaboratively with a range of colleagues across the department and in delivery bodies.
• An enthusiasm and tenacity for problem solving
• Ability to communicate complex information in a clear and impactful way to a range of audiences