Project Accountant and Financial Controller
The Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is 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 life, from the food we eat, and the air we breathe, to the water we drink.
Everyone who works with us or in one of our agencies and public bodies has a part to play in achieving our vision of ‘creating a great place for people to live’. The work we do impacts the lives of everyone living in the UK.
About Defra’s Northern Ireland Programme
The Northern Ireland Directorate is working to deliver the requirements of the Windsor Framework. The Windsor Framework is the agreement reached between the EU and the UK to avoid a hard border with Ireland; while ensuring the UK, including Northern Ireland, leaves the EU as a whole, enabling the entire UK to benefit from future Free Trade Agreements (FTAs).
The Framework replaces the previous Northern Ireland Protocol. For Defra, implementation requires changes in relation to the movement of agrifood and involves extensive delivery with the equivalent Northern Ireland department – DAERA, and other government departments.Your role will be critically important to managing risks associated with delivering to the Windsor framework timelines, and upholding agreements made with the EU, and international legal obligations. This is a particularly exciting and high-profile area of work, made up a number of major delivery projects.
You will play an active role in shaping and delivering the Defra group’s priorities, informing decision making, and working creatively and collaboratively with others to deliver excellent outcomes.
DEFRA are looking for enthusiastic and confident individuals to lead on key elements that will enable the successful delivery of various projects within the Northern Ireland Directorate.
Project Accountant:To ensure project budget is allocated and tracked. This is a critical role for Government Major Projects Portfolio (GMPP) projects in general and is required on the SPS infrastructure project which has a budget value of £192M.
Finance Controller:Whilst the Project Accountant part of the role ensures project budgets are allocated and tracked, the finance controller part of the role supports programmes and projects throughout the lifecycle. This part of the role is essential in ensuring the Programme and its Projects are set up and managed on a clear and evidenced financial basis.
This is an exciting opportunity to join a fast-paced team. The NI Directorate is working to deliver multiple complex project requirements to tight timescales, with high-risk potential both politically/reputationally, and in terms of delivery to time, cost and quality requirements.This work plays a significant role in maintaining the UK’s positive relationship with the EU, and the social and political context of Northern Ireland.
The roles and responsibilities are as follows:
Project Accountant:
- Monitor the SPS Infrastructure Project budget, resolving issues and initiating corrective action
- Manage the project profile providing returns on financial governance and budgetary updates
- Manage aspects of project audit, specialist review and internal controls
- Provide advise re the financial planning process including budget/estimate processes
- Provide senior management/ board level financial analysis/recommendations
- Ensure compliance with public expenditure planning, monitoring, control and accountability, corporate governance and risk management systems
Finance Controller:
- Prepare Annual Reports and Accounts
- Work with Project and Programme Managers to establish financial estimates of project and programme and prospective operating costs
- Write the Financial case for Programme or Project Business Cases. Liaising with the Business Case Manager, Analysts Team and the Benefits Manager
- Assist projects in producing and maintaining accurate financial forecasts
- Improve quality of financial information that goes to programme and project boards. This includes the introduction of monthly project level financial reporting
- Provide first line assurance on financial matters, ensuring that projects do not commit to spend without knowing that this is affordable and value for money
- Maintain an overview of all the major items of expenditure for the different projects - involved in the transactional finance for these i.e. know when the invoices are due, so when a forecast converts to an actual
- Improve quality of financial information that goes into GMPP reports and EXCO reporting
- Manage / tracking the whole life costs for each project and feed into the Benefits Manager to understand any impacts of expected benefits
- Oversee finance change control in relation to spend approvals and business cases