Budget Management Lead

Job summary

The Trees and Forestry Division of the Biodiversity, Land-use and Investment Directorate is looking for a dynamic and committed Budget Management Lead. You will help deliver big ambitions to ramp up woodland creation and management in England, getting more of the right trees in the right places. We are wrestling with tricky issues, including analytically bringing together multiple sources of information to understand delivery positions and working with a broad range of stakeholders. The successful candidate will prioritise leading the financial forecasting aspect of the Programme’s deep dive exercise and support the delivery of the annual Business Planning exercise used to determine divisional budgets. We have a statutory target to reach, a new green finance mechanism to create and an ambitious Government agenda to support including the creation of new national forests.

Job description

Reporting to the Head of Budgets and Data this role will focus primarily on supporting the successful delivery of a major government programme, whilst also providing support to the wider Forestry division. The successful applicant will be part of a central, functional team and must be able to work collaboratively with analysts, policy professionals and delivery professionals. The Budget management role is critical to driving forecasts against budgets and reporting to senior stakeholders including the Programme Board on in year progress. This is a great opportunity for budget management professionals looking for a challenging role and those looking to gain project experience.

The role would suit a candidate who is keen to work on a high-profile area with significant political complexity and interest. The role will give you the chance to work at the heart of delivering a government priority and to use your analytical skills as part of a multidisciplinary team to directly shape environmental policy and delivery.

The successful candidate will need to be flexible in light of changing Ministerial priorities. In addition, the post holder may be asked to provide support on wider Departmental/Directorate priorities as needed.

Person specification

Responsibilities

As the Budget Management Lead, your responsibilities may include but are not limited to:

• Confidently advising and guiding project professionals and policy leads on in-year affordability and forecasting best practice in the context of budget planning and resource allocation
• Advising on business context and the interconnected roles of planning, budgeting and forecasting
• Ensuring that the forecasting systems are accurate and up-to-date, reflecting the current budget position
• Communicating and managing the production and assurance of management information and reports aimed at a range of financial and non-financial stakeholders
• Interpreting complex information and making informed management decisions using benchmarking and other planning and forecasting methods
• Providing insightful commentary on the budget position arising from the analysis of the quarterly reporting figures, enabling appropriate decisions to be taken on programmes of work to identify, manage and mitigate financial risks.
• Challenging anomalies and assumptions in figures and instigating required corrective actions
• Supporting the development of the financial dimension for the Programme Business Case and multiple project business cases; working with economists and commercial leads to ensure that their sections accurately reflect costs and financial projections.

Essential Criteria

• Attention to detail and confident handling large amounts of data and information
• Strong communication, negotiation, influencing, and interpersonal skills to build strong relationships and partnerships with both internal and external stakeholders.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to express complex information clearly and tailor content for the appropriate audience.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills
• Strong Excel skills
• Proven experience in financial management or related policy development / delivery, preferably within the government sector.
• Experience in working on large-scale projects and with cross-functional teams.
• Experience of working with senior leaders and providing effective finance support.
• Experience of supporting the development of business cases.

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Changing and Improving
• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service

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

• Making Effective Decisions

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £42,665, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs contributes £12,360 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

• Learning and development tailored to your role
• An environment with flexible working options
• A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
• A Civil Service pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

Things you need to know

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, Strengths and Experience.

Application Process

As part of the application process, you will be asked to provide a CV and Personal Statement to demonstrate your experience relating to the Essential Requirements listed in the job advert and 250 statement on lead behaviour (Making effective decisions).

• A name-blind (anonymous) CV covering your previous job history, qualifications and experience.
• A Personal Statement should be no more than 500 words to detail your experience
• 250 word statement on lead behaviour (Making effective decisions).

Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.

Sift

A sift will be conducted against your CV and Personal Statement and lead behaviour (Making effective decisions).

Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.

• Should there be a large volume of applications, we will sift on personal statement

Interview

If successful at application stage, you will be invited to interview, which will be a blended interview assessing Behaviours and Strengths:

• ​Making effective decisions.
• Changing and improving.
• Working to