Payroll and Pensions Officer

Job summary

Ready to develop your finance expertise in a role that makes a difference?

Could you help deliver high-quality payroll and financial services across DVSA?

Are you keen to grow your skills and build a strong foundation in finance and payroll/pensions?

If so, we’d love to hear from you!

The Financial Control Team plays a vital role in ensuring DVSA’s financial operations run effectively and efficiently. As part of this supportive and dynamic team, you will contribute to the delivery of key financial services across payroll/pensions, banking, accounts payable, and accounts receivable. The role offers excellent opportunities to develop your finance skills and gain broad experience across financial control activities, while working with a range of internal and external stakeholders. This is an ideal opportunity for someone looking to build a strong foundation in finance and develop their career within a professional and customer-focused environment.

Joining our department comes with many benefits, including:

• Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
• 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave), plus 8 bank holidays a privilege day for the King’s birthday
• Flexible working options where we encourage a great work-life balance.

Read more in the Benefits section below!

Find out more about what it's like working at DVSA:

DVSA roles: Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency - Department for Transport Careers

Job description

This role supports the delivery of high-quality, customer-focused financial services across DVSA. Working within the Financial Control Team, you will undertake financial processing, reconciliations, and general ledger activities, ensuring accuracy and compliance with policies and procedures. You will use your Excel and analytical skills to support effective financial control, contribute to continuous improvement initiatives, and identify opportunities to simplify and automate processes within payroll/pensions. The role also offers broad experience across the team, supporting your professional development in finance.

Your responsibilities will include, but aren’t limited to:

• Contributing to managing the monthly payroll, such as submitting payroll information to our Shared Services provider, resolving payroll issues, ensuring records are accurate.
• Support the pension lead in investigating and responding to data requests. Act as first point of contact for queries relating to pensions and replying to ad-hoc queries as appropriate. Maintaining personal records. Support pension lead in complex pension queries from civil service pension provider.
• Provide advice and guidance for staff and deal with queries in the appropriate application of financial processes and promote the continual improvement of services.
• Work in collaboration with other staff across all functions.
• Reconciliation and analysis of reports including reconciliation of general ledger control accounts.

For further information on the role, please read the role profile. Please note that the role profile is for information purposes only - whilst all elements are relevant to the role, they may not all be assessed during the recruitment process. This job advert will detail exactly what will be assessed during the recruitment process.

Person specification

Required experience:

To be successful in this role you will need to have the following experience:

• Experience of payroll and pension processes, procedures and legislation, including tax compliance, ideally from working as part of a payroll team for a medium / large organisation.
• Intermediate Excel skills and knowledge.
• Experience in the use of MS Word, MS Outlook, and MS PowerPoint.
• Experience of ERP systems (g. SAP, Oracle).
• Advanced interpersonal skills, with the ability to engage with key stakeholders.
• Dealing with stakeholders in multiple channels e.g. email, telephone etc.
• Experience of delivering outcomes within tight deadlines.

The successful applicant must hold CIPP level 3 Payroll Technician Certificate or equivalent, or be prepared to work towards it with Agency support.

Additional Information

Full time roles consist of 37 hours per week.

Whilst we welcome applications from those looking to work with us on a part time basis, there is a business requirement for the successful candidate to be able to work at least 30 hours per week.

This role is suitable for hybrid working, which is a non-contractual arrangement where a combination of workplace and home-based working can be accommodated subject to business requirements.

The expectation at present is a minimum of 60% of your working time a month will be spent at either your designated workplace (one of the locations cited in the advert) or, when required for business reasons, in another office/work location/visiting stakeholders. Your designated workplace will be your contractual place of work. There may be occasions where you are required to attend above the minimum expectation.

Occasional travel to other offices will be required, which may involve overnight stays.

If you have a question about hybrid working, part time/job share hours, flexible working, travelling for work, or require a reasonable adjustment, please contact the Vacancy Holder during the recruitment process to avoid possible disappointment later in the process should your working arrangements not be compatible with the requirements of the role (see below for contact details).

Visa Sponsorship

Please note that we do not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker Licence sponsor and are unable to sponsor any individuals for Skilled Worker Sponsorship. Candidates must ensure they have the appropriate rights to work in the UK before application.

Behaviours

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

• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace
• Managing a Quality Service

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £30,485, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency contributes £8,831 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).

Being part of our brilliant Civil Service means you will have access to a wide range of fantastic benefits:

• Employer pension contribution of 28.97% of your salary. Read more about Civil Service Pensions here
• 25 days annual leave, increasing by 1 day each year of service (up to a maximum of 30 days annual leave).
• 8 Bank Holidays plus an additional Privilege Day to mark the King’s birthday.
• Access to the staff discount portal.
• Excellent career development opportunities and the potential to undertake professional qualifications relevant to your role paid for by the department, such as CIPD, Prince2, apprenticeships, etc.
• Joining a diverse and inclusive workforce with a range of staff communities to support all our colleagues.
• 24-hour Employee