Head of Management Accounts

Location

Bristol, Leeds, Manchester

From healthcare to artificial intelligence, energy to national security, we provide legal advice to government departments on nation-changing subjects.

AtGovernment Legal Departmentwe have a vital, single-minded purpose: to help the Government govern well within the rule of law.

This is complemented by our exciting vision to be an outstanding legal organisation, committed to the highest standards of service and professionalism and a brilliant place to work where we can all thrive and fulfill our potential.

Our work touches almost every aspect of public life. We are the largest provider of legal services across government, workingon high profile matters.

Our respected professionals are involved in everything from regulation and litigation to advice on drafting legislation. They provide expertise to the full range of government departments. We are at the heart of delivering the government’s priorities and our success depends on our people.

GLD is a non‑ministerial government department headed by the Treasury Solicitor, our Permanent Secretary, and employs nearly 4000 people, including nearly 3000 legal professionals. We have offices nationwide, in Bristol, Leeds, inner and outer London and Manchester. Our lawyers can also be located within other departments and overseas.

GLD also depends on a range of cross‑functional professionals to provide our corporate services. There are nearly 1000 colleaguesplaying an essential part in helping GLD to achieve its purpose and truly deliver much more than law.

This is an exciting time to join GLD, with cutting edgelegal work on global issues and a transformation agenda which is ensuring the Department exemplifies the Modern Civil Service.

The aim of the Finance, Planning and Performance Division (FPPD) is to ensure that GLD has effective business planning and sound financial and performance management processes that meet its business needs.

The Division has approximately 50 staff covering transaction processing (accounts payable, customer billing, treasury functions such as banking, expenses and travel payments), financial and management accounting, planning, performance, finance policy, procurement and Bona Vacantia (BV) Finance.

The external reporting requirements places on GLD are the same as those of larger government departments, and in addition, GLD having only limited resources, needs to have a robust internal performance and finance regime to ensure we get maximum value for money for our clients.

The variety of work offered by GLD’s FPPD is very diverse when compared to finance roles in some larger organisations.

The Accounts team, of which this role is a key part of, manage the month and year‑end accounting processes, budgeting and fee setting, forecasting and tax reporting, supporting senior management with decision making and the Accounting Officer in fulfilling statutory reporting responsibilities.

We also provide financial services to the Attorney General’s Office and HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate.

FPPD is based predominantly in Central London but also has team members based in the Croydon, Salford and Bristol offices.

We are looking for a motivated and suitably experienced individual to join the Accounts Team as Head of the Management Accounting function.

The team, of one, Grade 7 and Higher Executive Officer (HEO) are responsible for planning and co‑ordination of the Department’s annual budget and quarterly forecasting exercises alongside month management accounts reporting and fee setting. As GLD is almost entirely funded through the fees we charge for legal services and needs to balance its income and costs throughout the year, this is a key role in supporting senior management with financial decision making.

The post holder will be working in a fast‑paced environment, working with a range of stakeholders, and significant amounts of data to challenging cyclical reporting deadlines.

This will require someone with strong communication skills to communicate complex messages in an…