Financial Reporting and Insight Lead

Job summary

Defra is the UK government department responsible for protecting and enhancing the natural environment, supporting a world‑leading food and farming sector, and sustaining a thriving rural economy. Our work touches people’s everyday lives — from the food we eat and the air we breathe to the water we drink.

Defra operates a group model, delivering corporate services centrally to Core Defra and four arm’s length bodies: the Environment Agency, Rural Payments Agency, Natural England, and the Animal and Plant Health Agency.

This is an exciting opportunity to join Defra group Finance in a pivotal SEO role supporting RPA. You will lead financial management information, insight and reporting across scheme expenditure and associated running costs, helping strengthen financial control and support effective decision-making in a complex delivery environment.

Working with Scheme and Running Costs Accountants, Finance Business Partners, data colleagues and senior stakeholders, you will improve key MI products, support governance forums, and ensure reporting is accurate, clear, well-controlled and aligned to user needs.

The role offers exposure to senior stakeholders and the opportunity to shape how financial information is presented, understood and used. It will suit someone with strong financial MI and data analysis skills who can work with large datasets, translate complex information into clear insight, and improve reporting through Power BI and AI-enabled tools.

Job description

Key Responsibilities

Management Reporting & Delivery

• Lead the preparation and delivery of monthly financial Management Information (MI) products covering scheme expenditure, agency running costs, actuals, variances, risks and opportunities.
• Produce, coordinate and submit key MI and reporting outputs in line with departmental timetables, ensuring they are clear, accurate, well-controlled and fit for use.
• Work with Scheme Accountants and Running Costs Accountants to incorporate agreed budget, forecast and actuals information into reporting products.
• Maintain and improve reporting products so they remain accessible, user-focused and aligned to the needs of finance colleagues, budget holders and senior stakeholders.

Insight & Analysis

• Provide clear financial analysis and commentary, translating complex data into practical insight that explains the story behind the numbers and supports decision-making.
• Identify trends, risks, issues, opportunities and emerging financial pressures, ensuring these are captured, monitored and escalated where necessary.
• Work with finance, data, operational and budget holder colleagues to ensure MI is joined up, trusted and supports constructive challenge and robust financial management.

Governance & Senior Engagement

• Lead financial MI and reporting for senior governance forums, including the Finance, Assurance and Risk Committee and the RPA Board.
• Develop high-quality reporting for director-level and senior stakeholder use, improving the presentation of financial performance, risks, opportunities and actions.
• Ensure reporting supports effective scrutiny and accountability by presenting financial information in a clear, consistent and evidence-based way.
• Support wider finance and external reporting where required, including contributions to departmental, HM Treasury or Parliamentary reporting requirements.

Integration & Continuous Improvement

• Work across finance, operational, data and insight teams to develop more integrated financial MI across schemes and running costs, aligned with operational scheme data and wider Synergy reporting plans.
• Review and improve reporting outputs, strengthening data quality, metrics, commentary, presentation and accessibility for users.
• Maintain and develop Excel-based reporting while extending reporting capability and visualisation through tools such as Power BI, Microsoft Copilot, AI-enabled tools and low-code solutions where appropriate.

Person specification

Essential Criteria

Please demonstrate in your application how you meet the following criteria:

• Experience of delivering management reporting or financial reporting that turns financial data into clear, usable MI for budget holders, senior stakeholders or governance forums

• Ability to interpret complex data and provide clear, actionable insight to stakeholders

• Experience of producing reporting for senior stakeholders or governance forums, with the ability to present complex financial information

• Proven ability to manage competing priorities and deliver at pace in a complex environment
• Experience of improving reporting processes, systems, or outputs, including the development of Excel-based reporting, use of Power Pivot, data modelling, dashboard development, visualisation tools such as Power BI, and AI-enabled or low-code tools to enhance financial reporting

You may also be assessed against the following:

• Experience of end-to-end management reporting cycles

• Strong Excel and data analysis skills, with the ability to develop and maintain reporting models, work confidently with large datasets, and use functions, formulae, pivots, Power Pivot, data modelling, dashboard development, and other appropriate tools effectively
• Experience of using, reporting and visualisation tools such as Power BI to enhance insight, accessibility, and reporting capability
• Experience of using Microsoft Copilot or similar AI-enabled finance and productivity tools to improve reporting efficiency, commentary and insight across the wider team

• Ability to work with multiple data sources and ensure consistency

• Ability to work with data and insight teams to align financial reporting with operational scheme data and ensure coherence between RPA Finance products, future Synergy ERP and associated reporting tools

Behaviours

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

• Making Effective Decisions
• Delivering at Pace
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together

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

• Making Effective Decisions

Technical skills

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

• Strong Excel skills, including formulas, PivotTables, Power Pivot and data modelling; experience analysing large datasets and creating clear Power BI dashboards and visualisations; confidence using Copilot and other AI-enabled tools.

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

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