The Home Office works to build a safe, fair and prosperous UK. We achieve this through our work on counter-terrorism, policing, crime, drugs policy, immigration and passports.

The Chief Operating Officer Group works closely with the Home Office’s policy and operational commands to enable us together to deliver the department’s priorities. The group is comprised of different teams and professional functions, including Commercial, Finance, People, Portfolio and Project Delivery, Security, Estates and Information and Digital, Data and Technology.

The Finance Directorate ensures that financial decision making across the department is robust, evidence based and aligned to public value. We work closely with policy, operational commands and corporate partners to support strategic planning, strengthen financial governance, and enable effective delivery of departmental priorities.

The Management Accounts Unit (MAU) sits at the centre of this mission. MAU enables confident, well evidenced decision making by producing accurate, timely and transparent management information that explains the financial position, highlights risks and opportunities, and supports leaders in making informed, accountable decisions. As a core part of the Home Office’s financial governance system, MAU provides monthly management accounts, dashboards, forecasts, deep dives, scenario analysis, and financial insight that directly shape how the department allocates resources, budgets, and responds to operational pressures. Working in MAU means contributing to a high performing, fast paced and purpose driven environment where your analysis supports essential public services and national priorities.

Project Accountants provide the same requirements as MAU but will be focused on an individual programme. Alongside the MAU activity, project accountants will also ensure development of whole life cost models for programmes and ensure multiyear financial positions are understood by the programme senior management team.

Key Responsibilities

Reporting Leadership & Insight

• Lead monthly management accounts, dashboards, and Board/Budget Holder reporting, ensuring accuracy, clarity, and timely delivery.
• Produce high quality narrative that explains variances, trends, risks, and forward look insights for non finance audiences.
• Develop and maintain models/trackers with reconciliations, audit trails, and standardised processes.
  
  

Insight, Deep Dives & Commissions

• Lead variance analysis, trend reviews and deep dives, ensuring risks and opportunities are understood and mitigated.
• Maintain risks and opportunities registers, escalating key issues to senior leaders.
• Produce submissions and respond to National Audit Office (NAO), Cabinet Office, Parliamentary Questions (PQs) /Freedom of Information (FOI), or audit requests with timely, defensible outputs.
  
  

Controls, Assurance & Data Integrity

• Embed strong financial controls across the reporting cycle (source to Metis checks, reconciliations, journal governance, Purchase Order (PO) hygiene).
• Provide expert advice on accounting treatment including accruals, VAT, prepayments, and balance sheet management.
• Drive corrective actions where data integrity or process issues exist.
  
  

Forecasting, Budgeting & Planning

• Lead reviews with senior budget holders, challenging assumptions and securing forecast approvals.
• Oversee forecast and budget loading, ensuring reconciliations to control totals and credible profiling.
• Manage BAT (budget allocation transfer) forms and In-Year budget adjustments.
  
  

Leadership & Ways of Working

• Line manage staff: set standards, allocate work, coach and develop capability, and support performance management.
• Work collaboratively with Finance Business Partners and operational teams to ensure a single version of the financial truth.
• Promote continuous improvement, process standardisation and reduced manual handling.
  
  

Working pattern

This role is available on a full-time basis with the option of, job-share and compressed hours working. This role is also suitable for part-time working hours, with a minimum requirement to work [4 days / 32 hours] per week due to business requirements.

Travel

Occasional travel may be required to attend meetings.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

You must demonstrate:

• Proven leadership, including managing and developing staff, coordinating delivery across month end peaks, and fostering effective working relationships within the team and across wider functions.
• Strong analytical and investigative skills, with the ability to interpret complex financial information, explain variance drivers, assess emerging risks, and produce clear, insight rich narrative for senior audiences.
• High proficiency in financial systems and Excel, with experience designing and maintaining trackers, models and assurance tools that meet audit and governance standards.
• Demonstrated experience maintaining robust financial controls, including reconciliations, system integrity checks, purchase order (PO) governance and ensuring appropriate accounting treatment.
• Experience leading forecasting and budget management, reporting, including challenging assumptions, quality assuring submissions, and securing senior leader approval
• Excellent stakeholder management skills, Strong stakeholder management skills, influencing and constructively challenging senior leaders in a multi-stakeholder environment to balance priorities and; drive robust financial discipline and high‑quality decision‑making.
• A continuous improvement mindset, with the ability to identify issues, streamline processes, improve reporting, and embed more standardised, user focused ways of working.
  
  

Desirable Criteria

• CCAB, CIMA or AAT qualified, part qualified, or currently studying.
• Significant financial experience gained over an extended period of time.
  
  

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Leadership
• Working Together
• Changing and Improving
  
  

We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:

• Communicating and Influencing
  
  

Benefits

In addition to your salary, a career with the Home Office offers a range of benefits, including:

• New entrants to the Civil Service will be appointed at the pay scale minimum for that grade but an additional £4,000 allowance is applicable to SEO staff with a full CCAB qualification.
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
• In-year reward scheme for one-off or sustained exceptional personal or team achievements.
• 25 days annual leave on appointment, rising with service to 30 days.
• Eight days of public holidays, plus one additional privilege day.
• Where business needs allow, some roles may be suitable for a combination of office and home-based working. This is a non-contractual arrangement where all employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in an office.
• See more of our benefits on our careers website.

Sign-up on our website to receive emails with information about careers at the Home Office.

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience.

Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action.

Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Ability and Experience.

This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity.

We will endeavour to conduct the selection process in line with the dates indicated below, but cannot guarantee that these will not, where necessary, be revised.

As part of the application process, you will first be asked to confirm your eligibility by providing some basic personal information.

After submission of this first stage, you will be invited to complete the following Civil Service Numerical and verbal reasoning tests.

1. Online Test – by 11th June 2026.

If you successfully pass the Numerical and verbal reasoning tests, you will be invited to complete the full application form. Please complete the online test(s) as soon as possible (within 24-48 hours is recommended). If you fail to complete the online tests or full application before the deadline, your application will be withdrawn.

There will be maintenance for online tests on Sunday 31st May 2026 (16:00-23:59) and Sunday 7th June 2026 (16:00-19:00). This means you will be unable to access the online tests between these times. Your progress will be saved, and you will be able to continue once the tests are available again.

Where a test is not available due to maintenance, candidates will see a message advising them to try again later. Candidates who are interrupted in the middle of a test will be able to pick up from the same point when the test becomes available again.

Please contact [email protected] if you have any questions.

Guidance for the Civil Service tests will be available when you are invited to take the tests. The online tests are accessed via the Civil Service Jobs website.

You cannot complete the tests on a mobile phone or tablet.

Following successful completion of your tests, you will then be asked to complete the full application form.

2. Application – by 11th June 2026.

As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete:

• CV
• Evidence of the Behaviours - Communicating and influencing (Lead behaviour), (maximum of 250 words per Behaviour).
  
  

Your CV should consist of your career history, qualifications and skills/experience, including any key achievements in each role. Your CV will be scored against the experience required for the role as noted within the essential criteria.

For guidance and information on how to construct your application (CV and Behaviours), you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers website.

3. Sift – commencing 15th June 2026.

The sift will be held on the CV and Behaviours, as listed in the advert.

Should a high volume of applications be received, an initial sift will be conducted on the Lead Behaviour (Communicating and influencing). Candidates who pass the initial sift will then be progressed to a full sift that will consist of the remaining elements submitted (CV). Candidates who fail to meet the minimum pass score for the initial sift will not have their remaining submitted elements scored and will only receive a sift score for that assessed at the initial sift.

4. Presentation assessment - commencing 6th July 2026.

Candidates who pass the full Sift will be invited to a separate Presentation Assessment (5 mins presentation and 5 mins Q/A). The presentation topic/scenario will be disclosed in advance to allow sufficient preparation time.

The presentation will be assessed against the 'Behaviours' on the 'Success Profiles' and will be specifically assessed against the Behaviour Communicating and Influencing.

The Presentation Assessment will take place on Teams.

5. Interview – week commencing 27th July 2026.

If you are successful at both sift stage and presentation Assessment stage, you will be invited to an interview that will be Behaviours (as listed in the job advert) based questions. All behaviours listed in the selection process will be scored at the interview.

The interview will take place on Teams.

For guidance and information on what to expect and how to prepare for an interview, you are encouraged to visit Civil Service Careers.

Problems during the application process

If you experience problems accessing this advert, or you think you’ve made a mistake on an initial application, please contact [email protected], including the vacancy reference, at least two working days before the vacancy closes. Further information can be found on our website.

Do not create or attempt to submit another application, online test or use a different Civil Service Jobs account to proceed as this would be in violation of the candidate declaration.

Location preferences

You can select up to three locations in order of preference. Please ensure that these are locations you are prepared to travel to. If you are offered a role at one of your preferred location(s) and you decline, your application will be withdrawn.

Reserve List

A reserve list may be held for a period of up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made. There is no guarantee that being held on a reserve list will lead to a job offer. Further information can be found on our website.

Reserve lists will be held for each location. Candidates will be appointed in merit order by location.

Breaking Tied Scores

The behaviours and experience, have been ranked in order of importance to enable us to differentiate between candidates with tied interview scores.

Standards

All Civil Servants are expected to comply with the Civil Service Code, and its core values of integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality.

Additional Security Checks

As well as successfully obtaining UK Security Vetting clearance, candidates will be subject to a range of additional checks. The range of checks carried out will depend on whether you are a current Home Office employee, existing civil servant or an external new entrant as well as the role requirements. The level of Criminal Record Check required for this role is [BASIC]. Further details are included in the Notes to Candidates.

Reasonable Adjustments

If a person with disabilities is at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should:

• Contact Government Recruitment Service via [email protected] as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs
• Complete the “Assistance Required” section in the “Additional Requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you're deaf, a language service professional.
  
  

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the ‘Contact point for applicants’ section.

Criminal Record Check

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct.

If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing [email protected] stating the job reference number in the subject heading.

Feedback

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.

Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check (opens in a new window). See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window).

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact

• Name: Home Office resourcing centre
• Email: [email protected] 
  
  

Recruitment team

• Email: [email protected] 
  
  

Further information

If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the Civil Service Recruitment Principles. and you wish to make a complaint, then contact the Government Recruitment Service via [email protected].

If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission.

Attachments

Candidate_Information_v17_April_2026 - Opens in new window (pdf, 207kB)

2025-11-17 Pre-employment Checking - Document Requirements (V17) - Opens in new window (pdf, 231kB)