Financial Control Manager

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Job Description

Base salary: £40750 pa to c.£50950 pa depending on skills and experience. In addition, we offer flexible benefits fund of 20% which is paid on top base salary and is fully pensionable, as well as a range of competitive benefits - check them out in the Benefits section on our website.

HS2 Ltd endeavours to ensure everyone working for us and with us feels included, thrives and achieves their full potential. In practice, this means we are positive and inclusive about making adjustments, providing flexible working, encouraging our staff networks to flourish and providing personal and professional development opportunities.

As a Financial Control Manager you will be responsible for leading all aspects of the Financial Control and Transactional Finance teams.

About the role:

• Developing and maintaining a strong financial controls environment that supports the production of accurate and timely financial information on behalf of the Executive and the HS2 Ltd Board.
• Ensuring that the organisation meets its externally agreed financial targets and complies with its internal and external financial reporting responsibilities. This will include ownership and maintenance of critical policies and processes related to P2P, Travel and Accounts Payable requiring close liaison within HS2 and external to the DfT, Government Internal Audit Agency and National Audit Office.
• Ensure prompt payments of circa £8bn per annum to the supply chain including adherence to DfT and HMT cash management performance targets including management within the HS2 P2P Policy.
• Management of external relationships with Bank of England and Government Banking services to ensure effective Treasury Management and adherence to Foreign Exchange policies.
• Recruiting, retaining, developing and leading a strong financial control team (taking full accountability for their outputs).
• Developing, maintaining, reviewing and updating a strong internal control environment to ensure integrity and timeliness of period end and year end reporting and analysis. Identifying and implementing process improvements were appropriate.
• Manage an effective Treasury and Cash Management function to include; cash flow management, P2P and Accounts Payable and HS2 banking approach including Project Bank Accounts
• Ensuring that the purchase to pay process is compliant with best practice and that all payments are accurate and valid, and that, subject to the over- riding requirement to apply all financial controls, payments are made on time in line with contract commitments and government policy.
• Engage and collaborate with key stakeholders and partner functions (such as legal, procurement, contract management and HR teams) to ensure a holistic view taken to the required capabilities and resources needed to effectively maintain effective controls.
• Provide the key interface between HS2 Finance and DfT Financial Accounting and Cash Management teams to ensure collaborative and effective working relationships are maintained.
• Actively promote and embed Equality Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in all your work, and support and comply with all organisational initiatives, policies and procedures on EDI.

About you:

Skills:

• Communication skills and ability to interpret and communicate complex financial issues to non-financial colleagues
• Champion of robust and effective financial controls
• Suitably qualified Accountant with experience of operating at a senior level in a complex environment which may include infrastructure projects
• Knowledge of accounting systems and the ability to develop and manage off-system analyses and records (e.g. spreadsheets)
• Ability to analyse and interpret complex financial information throughout the programme lifecycle and to see HS2 from multiple dimensions
• Ability to use ERP systems, utilising data analytics software and complex Excel models
• Ability to deliver value adding MI and ensuring effective financial controls within a major project
• Stakeholder management skills, with the ability to engage, communicate and develop consensus with both internal and external stakeholders up to Executive level.
• Ability to manage teams and ability to resolve issues to appropriate deadlines

Knowledge:

• Critically review and challenge processes and performance, assessing performance for compliance and governance including impact on programme delivery;
• Knowledge of accounting systems and the ability to develop and manage off-system analyses and records (e.g. spreadsheets)
• Development of Finance team to deliver strong control frameworks and compliance with accounting standards and regulatory environment to ensure effective finance management within HS2 on behalf of the Executive and the HS2 Ltd Board;

Type of experience:

• Experience of driving financial control and output focussed accounting processes to support the HS2 Project within all statutory regulations.
• Leading the relationship and supporting process for both internal and external financial controls audits with GIAA and NAO
• Develop and set clear timetables, guidance, templates and communications for use by the business that capture all relevant supporting information to deliver a efficient financial control environment with clean internal and external audit opinion.
• Engage and collaborate with key stakeholders and partner functions (such as legal, procurement, contract management and HR teams) to ensure a holistic view taken to the required capabilities and resources needed to effectively maintain effective controls.
• Suitably qualified Accountant with experience of operating at a senior level in a complex environment which may include infrastructure projects

The post-holder is expected to behave at all times in a manner consistent with the HS2 values of Safety, Leadership, Integrity and Respect

It is expected that you will actively promote and embed Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) in all your work and support and comply with all organisational initiatives, policies and procedures on EDI.

As HS2 Ltd do not hold a sponsorship license from the Home Office, we are not able to provide sponsorship to any applicant. Applicants must already have the Right to Work in the UK at the time of application and our process involves a Right to Work validation prior to the interview stage. Note, there are certain types of time-bound visas that we cannot accept.

Any offers made to applicants will be subject to satisfactory completion of pre-employment checks which include Nationality & Immigration Status, employment references, DBS, Financial and Education checks.

We ask for a variety of detail in your online application, however we perform the first assessment of suitability for a role based solely on the information in your CV. In a further development of our efforts to create a more diverse workforce, your CV will be anonymised and personal information will be removed during the first stage of the application review. This removes bias from the process and makes it even more important that you attach an updated word version of your CV for each new application ensuring you include evidence directly related to the criteria in the job advert. Watch this video on how we remove bias in the recruitment process: Removing bias in the recruitment process (youtube.com)

Any applications received after the closing date will not be considered.

About Us

High Speed 2 (HS2 Ltd) will be the UK's new high speed rail network. As well as improving capacity, the new scheme will shorten journey times between a number of Britain's major population centres, boost the economy and create thousands of jobs.

HS2 Ltd will create a skills legacy and develop a diverse range of talent. We aim to be a leader in EDI practice by creating a safe & inclusive working environment for all our staff - living our values of Safety, Respect, Integrity and Leadership.

In practice, this means we are positive and inclusive about making adjustments, providing flexible working, encouraging our staff networks to flourish and providing personal and professional development opportunities.

HS2 Ltd is also a safety-critical organisation. Employees are required to ensure reasonable care of their own and others' health and safety by taking personal responsibility for working to our 'Safe at Heart' programme principles and following safe working procedures at all times.

HS2 Ltd endeavours to ensure everyone working for us and with us feels included, thrives and achieves their full potential.